Ruthie Foster
Ruthie Foster has a voice that some have likened to Mahalia Jackson and others to Aretha Franklin.
Ms. Foster, raised in rural Texas, will be performing for CHIRP’s audience on Tuesday, Aug. 19, in Ballard Park, in a concert underwritten in part by William Leventon, a New Jersey friend of CHIRP. Rain venue is the Ridgefield Playhouse.
Ms. Foster is the 2011 and 2012 winner of the Blues Music Awards Koko Taylor Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist of the Year, 2010 Grammy Nominee for Best Contemporary Blues Album, and 2010 Winner of Blues Music Award’s Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year.
This singer makes an indelible impression wherever she goes leaving nothing but adoring fans behind her. “When someone with real chops like Ruthie Foster steps up, attention must be paid,” wrote The Boston Globe. “Foster’s voice is simply drop-dead gorgeous, commented Elmore Magazine.
Ruthie’s voice emerged from humble church choir beginnings. She served a tour of duty with the U.S. Navy Band, took some years off to care for an ailing mom and returned to performing in 2002 with a breakthrough album, Runaway Soul, that received national acclaim. It earned her several Austin Music Award nominations as well as wins.
Her 2005 release The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster was precisely that. Her 2009 release The Truth According to Ruthie Foster led to the above mentioned awards. In January of this year she released Let it Burn, recorded in New Orleans with special guests The Blind Boys of Alabama. It is a combustible blend of soul, blues, rock, folk and gospel.
A word of advice, however: First time listeners, don’t come with empty pockets. You’re not going to be satisfied with one Ruthie Foster album, you’ll want more.