By Brian Wise
Ruthie Foster’s tenth studio album Mileage finds the folk-blues singer-songwriter reflecting on a musical journey as a self-described “little Black girl with a guitar” singing at churches in rural Texas, to multiple Grammy nominations, notable collaborations and tours around the world.
When Ruthie Foster hit her 60th birthday in February last year she could point to half a lifetime in music and a host of achievements. A multiple Blues Music Awards winner and Grammy nominee she has also been inducted into the Texas Music Hall of Fame and now has 13 albums, studio and live, to her credit. But Foster’s journey that helped put the miles on that gave her latest album its title didn’t just start with touring when she became a full-time musician.
After graduating from college and fronting a blues band, Foster joined the Navy and sang in the naval band. Moving to New York City after her naval service, she started playing folk venues but moved back to Texas to care for her mother. That is where her career really took off with her debut album, Full Circle, being released in 1997. Austin, Texas, is where I first interviewed Foster in 2006 as we stood on a hill at Zilker Park during a hot and dusty Austin City Limits Festival just a week or so after Hurricane Katrina had devastated New Orleans. It’s been a long journey capped off by being named Contemporary Blues Female Artist of the Year at the 2023 Blues Awards in Memphis and also last year for Song of The Year and Vocalist of The Year.
“I love my blues community,” says Foster who adds that her music is broader and that being classified as a blues artist has ‘been kind of a curse and a blessing’. “They just don’t know where to put me. I’m okay with that because music is music for me, and I’ve been doing very well with doing just that for a living. I’ve got great guys behind me. So, I’m okay with a little mixture being diverse, a very diverse blues singer.”
In March, Foster will return to Australia to appear at the Port Fairy Folk Festival in duo format with keyboard player Scot Miller (who will also be doing a solo set of his own). Foster says that she will be highlighting songs from the latest album, Mileage, which has been released on the legendary Sun Records label.
“There ain’t no road I ain’t been down,” sings Foster on the title songs which opens the album. It is a big ballad that is followed by the soulful and hopeful ‘Rainbow’ after which the album runs through a variety of styles, including the (ironically) upbeat ‘Slow Down’, the very bluesy ‘Done’ and a great version of ‘That’s Alright’.
A hit in the ‘50s for Elvis Presley Foster’s interpretation came about as a result of a suggestion from her producer Tyler Bryant. They wanted to pay homage to the song’s originator Arthur Crudup, who wrote and first recorded it in 1946.
“We were in Nashville at his home,” explains Foster, “and I would fly into Nashville pretty much every month to just go record for a couple of days. He mentioned that we had access to Sun Records catalogue, and he brought up that song. He just started a groove with his incredible national steel, and I just walked in front of it. He put me in front of a microphone, and I just started singing to what his groove was. So, that’s pretty much the first or second take that you’re hearing on the release where we put that down real quick.”
Foster says that, after being with the Blue Corn label, she’s excited to be recording for a label with the legendary Memphis name.
“I loved Blue Corn Music and they gave me their blessing to make a step to Sun Records when Sun showed an interest in what I was doing,” says Foster of the revamped the record label. “It is a full-blown record label again and they are really, really behind me in particular. I’m really looking forward to getting into the vaults because they’re refurbishing the tapes. All of those reels from when Sam Phillips recorded people, a lot of those tapes are really close to being dilapidated, but they’re trying to restore a lot of the music from Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. So, I’m kind of looking forward to not only hearing what they come up with but now that I have access to everything in that catalogue. I’m so looking forward to digging into it and doing some more songs from it.”
Is there the chance of an entire album of Sun Records classic songs from Foster?
“You know what I love about what Sam Phillips did – and I did meet his son, who’s also a recording artist – [he] started out recording gospel and Black church sermons and white church sermons because he was honing his skills as a recording engineer during that period. So, these are the people he had access to and the places he had access to. So, he recorded a lot of black artists back in those days and all of this stuff is in that vault. That is why I chose to go with Sun Records. I want to get my hands and my voice on some of these recordings and on the band, on this record label and the studio.”
Anyone who has visited the original Sun Studio in Memphis will attest to the fact that it is evidence that you don’t need a big, fancy, technologically advanced studio to make great music.
“No, not at all,” agrees Foster. “In fact, Tyler and I went back and recorded a video in the same studio, the same studio where they still have the peg walls on the sides. They’re still there and they still run everything through the board that they used at that time because that board is sweet. We ran everything through that. So, you might want to look for some videos to come out soon from the Sun Studios that just me and Tyler just sat with acoustic guitars and recorded right there in the room.”
Tyler Bryant’s partner, Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe, was also involved in the recording. (Larkin Poe also just happened to win an Americana Award in late 2024 as duo/group of the year).
“She was definitely very, very involved,” explains Foster who adds that Lovell and Bryant even helped come up with album title. “The sisters were off tour so Rebecca would show up and she’d just sit on the couch and she and I would just sit and talk. Tyler would just put his guitar on, and he just started playing. We would start talking and Tyler would pick up on our conversation and he would come up with a title while we’re talking. When I was talking about how coming off the tour, I have to make sure I see my therapist, my massage therapist, my physical therapist. I have to see all of these people to make sure my body’s back in shape to go out again. I call it my team. It’s the Ruthie team.
“My doctor actually told me it’s not about your age, it’s just a mileage – you’ve put on so much mileage. I was talking to Rebecca about this, and here’s Tyler. He’s walking around the room, he goes in the kitchen, and he comes back and he goes, ‘Mileage. That’s a title.’ He just starts playing, and this is how the tune was born.”
Ruthie Foster plays the Port Fairy Folk Festival and other gigs around Australia. Mileage is available now through Sun Records.
Wednesday March 5, 2025
St Kilda, Australia
Memo Music Hall
Thursday March 6, 2025
St Kilda, Australia
Memo Music Hall
Saturday March 8 – Sunday March 10, 2025
Port Fairy, Australia
Port Fairy Folk Festival 2025
Friday March 7, 2025
Queenscliff, Australia
Queenscliff Town Hall
Thursday March 13, 2025
Brunswick, Australia
Brunswick Ballroom
Friday March 14, 2025
Castlemaine, Australia
Theatre Royal
Saturday March 15 – Sunday March 16, 2025
Katoomba, Australia
Blue Mountains Music Festival 2025
Tuesday March 18, 2025
Canberra, Australia
The Street Theatre
Wednesday March 19, 2025
Wollongong, Australia
Centro CBD
Friday March 21, 2025
Chatswood, Australia
The Concourse
Saturday March 22, 2025
Bowen Hills, Australia
Old Museum Brisbane
Sunday March 23, 2025
Edge Hill, Australia
Tanks Arts Centre