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A CONVERSATION WITH RUTHIE FOSTER

Wherever Ruthie Foster goes, so does Gospel! Born in Gause, Texas
(US), Ruthie was raised in a family of gospel singers. As such, she
became a soloist in her church choir at age 14. From her first self-
released album in 1997, right through to her current release,
“Ruthie Foster Big Band Live At The Paramount”, gospel comes
through as her signature style. The genre is definitely where
Ruthie is most comfortable.

Ms. Foster has had a long and varied career which has included
time serving in the United States Navy! She’s received three Grammy Award
nominations and nine Blues Music Awards. She’s traversed her musical journey
exploring the Blues, Soul and

Ruthie Foster photo by Mary Keating Bruton Gospel. On January 26, 2020,
Ruthie stepped onto the 105-
year-old stage of Austin,
Texas’s grand-dame Paramount
Theatre with literally a big
band, consisting of a guitarist,
keyboards, a bassist, a

drummer, 10 horn players,
three backing vocalists and one
conductor! The recorded-live
performance was released on
May 15, 2020 as “Ruthie Foster

Big Band Live At The
Paramount”, but it’s not at all
what you might expect it to be.

I asked Ruthie to tell me a bit
about her career and her latest release. This is what she told me:

LL: What was it like growing up in Texas in the mid 60’s-70’s?

B RF: Growing up in a small town in Texas had its ups and downs. I grew up close to my family of lots
of aunts, uncles and 20 cousins so I was never without someone to play with! Downside was that it
was far from any proper city, so you had to be creative about things to do. Hence, my taking up the

piano then the guitar. In the 70's we had variety TV shows such as the Flip Wilson Show and the Mac
Davis Show, Glen Campbell etc. These were the TV programs I watched a lot of and are a huge
reason I wanted to be able to entertain people one day.

LL: What made you decide to join the Navy and what was that like?

RF: I knew there was a big world outside of my hometown and I wanted to explore it. I tried to join

the Armed Forces right after high school, but my mother was against it. So, I went to college to study