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Ruthie Foster: Runaway Soul |
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Track List 1. Runaway Soul To hear sound clips go here
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(Blue Corn) Sometimes even Texans get the
blues...and mix it up with a little gospel, folk and country. Such can be said
about Gause, Texas native Ruthie Foster. While growing up in this small Texas
town, Ruthie was surrounded by the sounds of gospel and blues. Blessed with an
outstanding voice, her mother encouraged her daughter to "Open your mouth and
sing, girl!"
Ruthie's musical journey took her from a earning a
degree in commercial music in Waco, to a four year tour with the U.S. Navy
band "Pride," to a recording contract with Atlantic Records in New York City.
However, in 1993, she received word her mother was extremely ill and returned
to College Station, Texas to care for her, taking a job with a local TV
station to support herself. She began performing for the elderly she met while
caring for her mother, which in turn led her to get involved in other
community programs at which she also often performed. This is when she also
met her present manager and musical partner, Cyd Cassone. Ruthie's mother
passed away in 1996, after which, Ruthie then turned her full attention back
to her music. She released her first album Full Circle the following
year in 1997. Her second album Crossover produced a single "Where Do
We Go >From Here?" which was featured in the Civil Rights Movement documentary
of the same name. She's toured extensively across the U.S. and Canada, playing
such prestigious dates as the Kerriville Folk Festival, Willie Nelson's 4th of
July Picnic, and Bluesapalooza.
Ruthie's third album Runaway Soul is her
finest to date. Here she truly transcends genres, and with Lloyd Maines at the
production helm, he lets Ruthie mix and match blues, gospel, soul, folk and
country with covers, traditionals and originals, to create her own unique
style and powerful musical voice. Runaway Soul opens with the
straight up Texas blues of the title track, about a woman set free from things
holding her back, with some tasty harmonica licks from Gary Primich. She
takes the traditional spirituals, "Woke Up This Morning," and "Death Came
Knockin' (Traveling Shoes)" to new heights, with infectious rhythms and her
glorious voice. Ruthie exquisitely covers Brownie McGhee's "Walk On" in a
gospel-blues vein, complete with a shout out chorus, without ever going over
the top with vocal histrionics, as she also does with disc closer, her
original penned "Joy."
"Smalltown Blues," with it's contagious rhythm,
shows off Ruthie's country/blues side. Runaway Soul has a few real
highlights, one being the gorgeous "Home," where she mixes country, folk and
soul into this mellow and oh-so-sweet sounding stew, where she sings of the
realization as to where the things that really mean the most in life are.
Another is Ruthie's soulful and soaring cover of Terri Hendrix's "Hole In My
Pocket." The next is "Giving You My Love," a stripped down slice of sweet
soul, with only a piano as instrumental accompaniment.
Ruthie's own songs are even better than those she
covers. Her voice has the power of Aretha Franklin's, the grace and
sophistication of Ella Fitzgerald's, and the soul of Etta James. Her music is
a mixed bag of genre crossing styles, very much like many of her fellow Texans
like Delbert McClinton, Toni Price, Marcia Ball, and Lee Roy Parnell, just
with a bit more of an acoustic, "organic" feel to it. With Runaway Soul,
Ruthie Foster should be making her mark right along side them.
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AnnMarie Harrington
Take Country Back January 2003