RUTHIE FOSTER * JUST SAY YES *
Ruthie Foster still remembers sitting in front of the TV in the Seventies, trying to convince her brother and sister to watch the Grammy Awards. On the screen, formative heroes like Janis Ian and Roberta Flack would take the stage, teaching Foster what was possible.
“I’m amazed at how I got to this place,” Foster says. Just last year, the blues legend took home her first-ever Grammy, winning Best Contemporary Blues Album for her album Mileage. The award was a long time coming for the star, who has been hustling to make a life as an artist possible for over three decades. Foster was first signed to a major label after completing her tour of duty as part of the US Navy. She then abandoned music in 1993 to help take care of her mom who had fallen ill. Shortly after her mother’s death, the singer decided to find a path back to music as an independent artist.
“I wrote this thing on a sticky note and it just said ‘Just say yes,’” she recalls. That little note-to-self stuck with Foster as she re-pursued her dream. She has that sticky note to thank for all that’s come after, so she’s honoring it with her latest album Just Say Yes (out August 28 via Sun Records).
Just Say Yes follows Foster in another moment of transition. Last year, she blew out her meniscus while running to catch a flight and needed to get knee surgery in December. The injury and subsequent recovery have put much of Foster’s life into perspective; she’s made adjustments to her live show to make sure she doesn’t put too much strain on her body.
“It’s not just about age. It’s really about the miles I’ve put on,” she says. “Every step matters.”
Foster decided to take advantage of her winter break from touring by planning a week in Nashville to record before getting her knee surgery. She reunited with her Mileage collaborators Tyler Bryant and his wife Rebecca Lovell (of Larkin Poe) in Nashville, staying at an AirBnB near their house so she could work out of Bryant’s new studio.
“I consider them my people,” Foster says of the pair, beaming every time she talks about them. Foster first discovered Bryant through a random YouTube video of him giving a tour of his home studio. When she found out he was married to Lovell, whom Foster had met before, she decided to call them up. This time around, it became a larger family affair: Lovell’s sister and Larkin Poe collaborator Megan Lovell joined them in the studio as well as Megan’s husband Mike Seal.
“They take my memories, my words, my experiences and just lift it,” she says. “They put a cloud under it.”
Just Say Yes started the same way Mileage had: Foster talked through her life and experiences as Bryant listened. “I come from a family of preachers and talkers, so I was just talking about being on the road and how I got here and being amazed at how I got to this place,” she recalls.
Bryant would pace around the room with his guitar, grabbing ideas and bursts of musical inspiration the whole time.
“Every last one of these songs are about some aspect of my life,” Foster explains. She ruminated on the transitions of this moment, both physical and emotional. As she was enduring her injury, she was also going through a separation with her partner at the time. She felt like both her body and her defenses were breaking down simultaneously, forcing her to peel away the layers and re-discover herself at the core.
“This was my way of being true to who I am and knowing that I’m in yet another transition in my life, which is how these albums tend to happen,” she continues.
The discomfort Foster was enduring was softened by the warm energy of Bryant, the Lovell sisters and Seal. One day, after she had a difficult conversation with her partner at the time, Bryant cooked up something special for Foster – literally.
“He made a soup that made me feel so comforted,” she recalls. “We just sat, ate soup and wrote ‘Tangled Up.’ I didn’t know I needed that.”
On “Sitting Still,” the typically guitar-wielding Foster shows off her piano skills. The song directly addresses her knee injury but also about the type of life and tour adjustments she’s made that have forced her to slow down. “There’s something about being in the quiet that’s good for you,” she reflects.
Title track “Just Say Yes” reflects on her previous life transition. Inspired by the sticky note, Foster remembered how hungry she had been when she decided to give music another shot. She would take two hour trips from her home in Bryan-College Station, Texas to Austin to perform with any band that would have her. “It’s like this little spark and it grew from there,” she says.
The song “Thank You” was first written back in September when Foster was in Nashville for Americana Fest. She reflects on feeling of imposter syndrome and being questioned of her authenticity as a blues performer, even as she has racked up awards for said blues performances, including the Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy in 2025 for Mileage. Foster has always seen herself as a mix of many genres and influencers, including folk, gospel and country. Many of those can be heard in the album.
“There’s a front door but there’s also a window and back door. There are ways to get in,” Foster says. “I never put any kind of constraints on myself. I’m showing up with all of this.”
Info:
ruthiefoster.com
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| Photo: FACEBOOK |
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