By JENNA MELANSON CanadianBeats.ca
Published - April 26, 2024
HI GLEN, GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN. WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN UP TO SINCE YOU RELEASED THE LAST SONG?
Well, last weekend we held our album release event by performing the entire album to a full house in our hometown of Nanaimo. That involved a lot of marketing, going on a live radio show, doing an interview for the local newspaper, and hustling to invite everyone we knew to the show. Of course, we rehearsed like crazy and I had pages of lyrics to memorize from the new songs I’d written. Just the sheer volume of work required to finalize and release a new album is a little daunting when you’re the artist, manager, booking agent, and your own record company. Plus, I’ve personally produced music videos for every track on Unnatural Tendencies and have been releasing them with each song as ‘singles’ over the last nine months.
YOU’VE BEEN CREATING THIS FOR A WHILE NOW. WHAT KEEPS YOU GOING?
I believe most musicians in my position will tell you that it’s the love of music and performing that keeps us going. We all know it’s not for the money. It doesn’t take long to lose any allusions of grandeur about being a big star or composing the world’s next best-selling hit record ever. Still, there is the gratification that comes with achieving incremental degrees of success in the music business and in your own personal pursuit of excellence as a professional musician, songwriter, singer, or whatever you do. Every time you get to perform your music in front of people you get to experience how people are reacting to it and enjoy their praise and applause when you’ve done a good job. That gratification is often what keeps us coming back for more. It’s sort of like the feeling of hitting the perfect golf shot or slamming a home run out of the park.
HOW DO YOU THINK TECHNOLOGY HAS IMPACTED THE WAY WE LISTEN TO AND CREATE MUSIC TODAY?
I understand how technology has radically changed the playing field when it comes to creating music, in as much as being able to record an entire album on a handheld device. Digital files allow us to create sounds synthetically without having to use real musicians playing traditional instruments. Personally I embrace the new technology but I prefer to maintain the human elements of a band playing together, in tune, keeping time, adding dynamics and emotional response to what they are feeling and thinking when they perform. On my new album Unnatural Tendencies I utilized an authentic sitar, banjo, accordion, bagpipes, Tibetan singing bowl, violins, saxophone, hand drums, percussion, backup singers, etc. It’s all real.
How we listen to music today has changed and almost everyone knows what I mean. Myself, I’m making music that can be performed live on a stage or listened to in its entirety as a recorded work of art. The majority of songs on this album are longer than 4 minutes, and Suite: Unnatural Tendencies is 16:25 minutes long. The listening experience is meaningful.
WHAT’S YOUR GO-TO SONG WHEN YOU NEED AN INSTANT MOOD BOOST?
I have a song called Me and Maggy that we re-recorded for this project. I originally wrote it some fifty years ago and still have my original demo. I’ve been playing it ever since because I love it and it means so much to me. I recorded it around 1978 with Daniel Lanois, Ed Roth, Bob Doidge, Sonny Del Rio, and others at Grant Avenue Studio in Hamilton, as a disco song! Whenever I play it I feel like it’s the perfect expression of who I am and what feels right to me. So I really wanted to record a modern version for everyone to hear and enjoy. I’ve also created a wonderful music video of it that expresses who I am, where I’ve been, and what I’m doing.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS FOR THE SPRING AND SUMMER?
We have a few outdoor festivals and concerts that I’m playing with my band Glen Foster Group. I’m also playing smaller rooms, folk houses, and such as a duo with my wife Maggy. Other than that I plan to relax and enjoy the sunshine this summer as much as possible, do a little travelling, recharge the batteries, and prepare to come back bigger and better than ever.
By Michael Limnios Blues Network
Posted on April 28, 2024
Special Thanks: Eric Alper
How has the music influenced your views of the world? What moment changed your music life the most?
I guess you could say I 'cut my teeth' on the music of the 60's when I was in my first band, learning how to play and write songs. The emphasis on Peace and Love in that generation struck a chord in me which remains today. It's helped to give me a World View through music. The first time I played one of my own songs in front of a live audience showed me that I could have influence and make a difference writing songs.
How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your lyrics creative drive come from?
The only way I can broadly describe my sound is Soft Rock. I'm a singer-songwriter playing acoustic and electric instruments. It's not 'heavy' but has an edge. As a Songwriter my lyrics are expressly important in the majority of my songs. I occasionally write a song 'off the cuff' but I need to be truly inspired to create something that I feel has some originality and tangible value to add to the collective of world music. Lyrics typically come from a unique experience that happens to me, or something I read or hear about that I believe is unusual and worthy to be the subject matter of a song.
How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started making music? What has remained the same about your music-making process?
After writing a couple hundred songs (and then stopped counting) I can look back and see that not every new song is going to be my best. But it's nice to hit upon something that people start talking about and say they really like. You realize that every now and then you come up with something that you feel strongly about and know that it's a step ahead. Sometimes I start with music that sounds different and special to me, and other times I come up with lyrics that I really feel good about.
Are there any specific memories or highlights of your career that you would like to tell us about?!
It's funny but I still remember the first time I got up in front of people to play my guitar at a 'home and school meeting' when I was 10 yrs old. That was very exciting! I was in a folk group once that opened for Jose Feliciano at Massey Hall. We also played the Ian Tyson Television Show which was a bit of a thrill.
What do you miss most nowadays from the music of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?
I used to look forward to hearing the 'guitar heroes' of the 60s and 70s, when they would release new music that I would practice for hours to learn. It seems like musicianship and virtuosity on your instrument is not as important nowadays. I hope we don't lose that, and also that things come back to placing more value on songwriting as a skill and an art form.
What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?
Basic humility is a big lesson to learn and it's never ending, it's a practice. You have to believe in yourself and what you're doing. At the same time, it's important to be able to listen to advice and know what's good for you. Also, practicing your skills on your instrument, singing, songwriting, etc. is critical and there is no substitute for hard work.
What's the balance in music between technique (skills) and soul/emotions? What is the role of music in today’s society?
The balance in music is different for everyone. It's our individualism that sets us apart, so developing those things that are unique to the individual is very important. Music is still big business in our world today so anybody who wants to participate needs to figure out where they fit in and what unique skills, they have to carve out their own niche. That's just my opinion and I could be out to lunch...but I don't think so.
Life is more than just music, is there any other field that has influence on your life and music?
Physical fitness is like a life skill that I value. So, exercise, music practice, eating well and having well rounded interests are important for my mental and physical well-being. I try to appreciate all forms of music and arts, which in turn helps me better assess and evaluate what I'm trying to accomplish with my art.
Submitted By
Cashbox Canada
Published - Apr 25, 2024
After four decades in the music business, Glen Foster has earned the right to break any rule he wants. And this happy iconoclast shows no signs of compromise on “White Funeral,” a whimsically morbid country-blues number that appears on his latest album, the trend-bucking Unnatural Tendencies.
Like a winking eulogy to a vanishing era, the song finds Foster chronicling the impending demise of one Old Snake, a “hardened old metaphoric character” who gets stranded in the desert just as it’s starting to snow.
It’s a sure sign of winter, the geese are flying south
A sure sign of winter, when you see that harvest moon full out
A sure sign of winter, it don’t leave much room for doubt
It’s going to be a White Funeral if Old Snake don’t make it out
Snake’s truck isn’t the only thing that’s breaking down here: It’s his life itself, as Foster’s plaintive yet sardonic vocal makes painfully apparent. All the while, the singer-songwriter-instrumentalist’s Dobro curlicues circle like hungry buzzards over the tasteful burial plot of a backing track laid down by his bandmates in the Glen Foster Group: Marg Foster (harmony vocals, percussion) Marty Steele (keyboards, harmony vocals), Colin Stevenson (bass guitar, harmony vocals) and James McRae (drums).
Playful elegia is just one of the many moods to be discovered on Unnatural Tendencies, a nonconformist manifesto of a record that plays like a defiant response to the winnowed attention spans and fixation on salability that are setting the direction of today’s musical culture.
Few marketing consultants, after all, would encourage an artist to begin his album with a title track that’s nearly 17 minutes long and moves fluidly through three different songs, each in a different key but with the same chord progression and tempo. Nor would an A&R executive be turning cartwheels if said artist chose to include another number that incorporated a rapped intro, heavy guitar riffs, a satirical sitar hook, an accordion solo set to a polka beat, a bluegrass banjo break, and a highland bagpipe solo—oh, and a disco finale, complete with walking bass and falsetto vocals. Throw in some lyrical references to the plight of First Nations peoples and the pitfalls of religious obsession, and whammo! Instant anathema to the TikTok generation.
And Foster couldn’t be happier about it. This far into his career, he’s still willing to risk it all to remain genuine.
“Natural tendencies are what we tend to gravitate towards in life,” he says. “My concept of Unnatural Tendencies includes thinking outside the box and attempting things that we would normally shy away from. It involves taking risks and trying different things that could be glorious or disastrous.”
But then, it’s been that way for the Nanaimo-based rock/folk maverick since he burst onto the scene in the ’70s with his original band, Falcon, whose 1980 single “Los Angeles” won a talent contest on CKOC Radio Hamilton. Since then, Foster has worked with the likes of Daniel Lanois and Ray Materick (“Linda Put The Coffee On”) and has taught more than 20 years’ worth of students in his side gig as a professional music teacher, receiving two silver medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music in the process. But the biggest feather in his cap has been his stellar run as a solo artist, which encompasses 10 albums of music in a breathtaking diversity of styles—from the “Rockabilly Fever” of 2020’s Not Far Away to the seasonal side he explored on The Spirit of Christmas the very next year.
Now he takes another bold step into the great unknown with Unnatural Tendencies, which he co-produced with Rick Salt (The Irish Rovers, Kerplunks, Jack Connolly, Gerry Barnum, Phil Dwyer) at Nanaimo’s Mountainview Studio. It’s seeing release on Foster’s own Rescue Records label, which is part of the reason he felt the freedom to stretch out in multiple directions at once.
“This is my tenth album (which prompted the word ‘Tendencies’ in the title), and I’m making it fit for me,” he says. “It’s the way I like to hear music, in album form the way I believe my fans do. These are some of my best songs ever; I’m singing and playing guitar better than I ever have, and I brought in the best musicians I could find, rather than use synthesizers and samples.”
So even though the devil-may-care approach he took to composition this time might not have been devised expressly with the stage in mind, he and his band still have all the ammo they need to further their reputation for killer live work when they do take the new material on the road. Venues across Canada have witnessed the little miracle Glen is live, both on his own and sharing the bill with the likes of Lighthouse, Sammy Hagar, Dr. Hook, Jose Feliciano, Valdy, Jesse Winchester and Stan Rogers. With the new album done, look for them at a showroom, festival, park concert or pub near you. You will be glad you did.
By Mandy Moraes THE NEWS BULLETIN Published - April 17, 2024
Glen Foster Group and String Fever perform at Simonholt on April 21
Marg and Glen Foster on stage at last summer’s Parksville Beach Festival. The married couple will appear onstage again for Glen’s upcoming album release event at Nanaimo’s Simonholt April 21. (Angie Ooms photo)
A Nanaimo musician’s latest album has a tendency to explore the unnatural.
Singer-songwriter Glen Foster’s latest work, Unnatural Tendencies, will release on Saturday, April 20, and the musician will hold an album release show at Simonholt on Sunday, April 21, at 7 p.m.
Foster said the title represents his stand against the direction the music industry is heading.
“Rather than doing the same thing that myself and other musicians have been doing over and over and over again for the last few years, I’m trying something different now. Trying a lot of things different,” he said.
Even the album’s artwork which depicts Foster floating weightlessly in space symbolizes him dealing with his fear of heights and motion sickness.
The musician’s YouTube channel already includes released music videos and songs from Unnatural Tendencies.
The title of the album is also the name of a suite of songs, one of which was released last September before the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, called Seeing Red.
The singer-songwriter’s music does not keep quiet on social commentary, especially when in dialogue with topics about bullying or idolization leading to manipulation.
Although most of the songs on Unnatural Tendencies were created within the last three or four years, Foster said one song in particular dates back to 1980 and was originally released on his first album – at the time, with a heavy disco influence.
The song, titled Me and Maggy, refers to the musician and his wife, and has now been contemporized with “more of a pop-rock flair” and well-rounded sound.
“It’s just been the one song that I’ve never stopped playing all the years that I’ve been playing music, and it’s kind of neat to think that it’s still just as relevant. Seems just as fresh to me today as when I started it,” Foster said.
The “do-it-all-himself” musician has been performing professionally for more than 40 years, earning two silver medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has released 10 original albums of his own composition.
Tickets for Sunday’s performance are available at Simonholt restaurant or online at www.quadwranglemusic.com.
By Mandy Moraes THE NEWS BULLETIN Published - May 15, 2023
Glen Foster’s latest single Different Highway to appear on forthcoming album
Nanaimo-based musician Glen Foster’s latest single Different Highways was released mid July and will appear on his forthcoming album ‘Unnatural Tendencies.’ (Submitted image)
A Nanaimo musician has captured “the ease and breeze of the perfect summer road trip.”
As noted in a release, singer-songwriter Glen Foster used a 12-string electric guitar to imbue “a little bit of twang” and purposely sought a ’60s “summer of love” vibe in his latest single, Different Highway.
The single, which will appear on the musician’s forthcoming 10th album Unnatural Tendencies, offers introspection and philosophical musings on Foster’s life.
“The concept is that musicians may be on a different highway, but still chasing the same old dream,” Foster said in the release.
For the past two decades, the musician has worked intermittently on the song, drawing inspiration from his own life on the road.
“When you’re on the circuit, you end up coming back to the same cities, seeing the same faces. Hence the girl I refer to … who was ‘standing in line waiting there, ticket in her hand, excited to see me again,’” he said.
The music video, available on YouTube, features a performance at Nanaimo’s Queen’s Hotel, interspersed with driving scenes on Vancouver Island with Foster behind the wheel.
The “do-it-all-himself” musician has been performing professionally for more than 40 years, earning two silver medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music, and has released nine original albums of his own composition.
Different Highway released mid July and is available to stream on YouTube and Spotify.
READ MORE: Nanaimo musician Glen Foster releases live concert album
By Mandy Moraes THE NEWS BULLETIN
Published - May 15, 2022
Glen Foster will play the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery on May 20
In his upcoming recording project, Unnatural Tendencies, Foster hopes to raise further awareness on “heavier” than usual topics, such as missing and murdered Indigenous women, residential schools and the spread of misinformation related to COVID-19. Although he said the album is “a bit of a departure” from his previous works, which he described as “easy-to-digest, upbeat songs,” he believes some subjects are too important not to talk about. “Music is a way to express not only your musical ideas, but also things that are important to us as people,” he said. “So when I see issues in the world that I think deserve not only my attention, but the attention of people around me, then I think it’s something that’s important for me to write about.” To ensure his words respectfully contained the right content, Foster said he sought help from friends on how to appropriately get the message across, friends such as Tal James of the Penelakut First Nation, and Gabriola Island’s Dinah D of the Kerplunks. “You start hearing about it in music – people listen to music for enjoyment. So there’s always a chance to get an important message through,” Foster said On Friday, May 20, Foster will play the Ladysmith Waterfront Gallery, as promoted by the Arts Council of Ladysmith and District. For the first time in many months, he will take the stage with his wife, Marg Foster, who sings harmonies and plays percussion. Attendees can expect to see Foster with his usual guitar and harmonica. Friday’s show at 444 Parkhill Terrace will begin at 7 p.m. and run until approximately 8:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $25 and can be purchased online at www.ladysmitharts.ca.
JOSEF JACOBSON Dec. 1, 2021 ENTERTAINMENT LOCAL ENTERTAINMENT
Nanaimo musician Glen Foster revisits 35-year-old songs on first Christmas CD
‘The Spirit of Christmas’ features remastered versions of two ’80s singles
Glen Foster recently released his first Christmas album, The Spirit of Christmas. Along with a number of new recordings are remastered versions of The Spirit of Christmas and The 12 Guitars of Christmas, Side A and B of a 45 Foster released back in 1986.
“I think they sound just as good today as they did back then,” he said of the recordings. “I really enjoy them. I think we did such a good job of it back then that it’s one of those songs that I think stands the test of time.”
Aside from the two singles from the ’80s, the album includes a collaboration between Foster and local keyboardist Marty Steele called Christmas in Vancouver, as well as Foster’s own instrumental arrangements of Christmas carols.
The instrumental pieces feature Foster on all instruments. He recorded those tracks at home using equipment he describes as “the most basic thing that you could imagine short of just having a tape recorder.”
“It’s not high-tech. I’m not even recording on a computer,” he said. “I can’t cut and paste on it so I had to be very good and practise really hard so I could get good takes all the way through.”
Foster said originally he didn’t even set out to make a CD. At first the idea was only to record some songs to give to family and friends for Christmas.
“That was the whole concept behind doing an album: just record enough songs that I could share some joy at Christmastime and share my music with people and it just grew from there,” he said. “And I realized that it had potential for something greater.”
With the Christmas season approaching, Foster is taking part in a pair of fundraisers for the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank. The first takes place at the Wheatsheaf Pub in Cedar on Dec. 4, the other happens at the Queen’s in Nanaimo on Dec. 22.
The Spirit of Christmas and the original vinyl 45s are available at Fascinating Rhythm, 51 Commercial St., The album can also be purchased from Foster’s website.
David Morrison : Fascinating Rhythm, Nanaimo, BC / www.thefreelancewriter
Professional Writers Association of Canada, Federation of BC Writers
The enduring appeal of Christmas albums can never be overstated, and they can occasionally be big business: released in 2011, Michael Bublé’s Christmas has sold over 12 million copies worldwide, and is the only holiday album to have ever scooped the Album of the Year Juno Award. Yes, as this illustrates Christmas music always sells and always will, so there’s plenty of room for more titles yet!
To that end, a decade on from fellow Canadian Bublé’s history-making blockbuster, as the first full calendar year of the Covid-19 pandemic grinds to its weary conclusion 40-year veteran musician GLEN FOSTER (Falcon/Ray Materick) is determined to spread some much needed Christmastide cheer with his unique take on seasonal music in the form of his 9thfull-length release, the GLEN FOSTER GROUP’s The Spirit of Christmas.
Amazingly, albeit unwittingly, the seeds of this project were originally planted 35 years ago. In 1986 Foster issued a now highly collectable 7” (red) vinyl single, The Spirit of Christmas, the flip side being The Twelve Guitars of Christmas. Both titles appear here, now remastered, and are bolstered with ten tracks recorded in 2021 – so, there are 12 in all, neatly mirroring the beloved holiday anthem, The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Co-produced by Foster and RICK SALT, the 35-minute collection kicks off with the lead single, Christmas in Vancouver, one of two Foster originals alongside fresh arrangements of evergreen standard Christmas fare. Foster already had the lyrics for the opener on the backburner, but no music to suit until the Glen Foster Group’s keyboardist and local jazz luminary, MARTY STEELE, offered up a seasonal-sounding tune that fitted perfectly in respect of the atmosphere Foster was seeking. In recruiting local singer-songwriter ELISE BOULANGER to join him, the result is a contemporary Christmas duet echoing such holiday duet nuggets as Baby, It’s Cold Outside. The track also features a who’s who of great local jazz players, with LARRY SMITH on tenor sax, and a rhythm section of drummer JAMES McRAE and bassist MARISHA DEVOIN joining Foster, Steele, and Boulanger for a solid start to proceedings.
The second Foster original follows, being the remixed, melodious 1986 title track, intact with Foster’s wife and bandmate, MAGGY (or Marg), and their then 4-year-old son, FREDDY, on vocals, accompanied by BILL KONSORADO on electric piano. Lyrically, with mention of Santa, his sleigh and reindeer (natch); green and red ribbons; holly and ivy; sleigh bells, and snowflakes, the resurrected archive song’s stockings are positively stuffed with yuletide imagery, as all good Christmas numbers should be.
The other two songs with vocals - Christmas Time’s A-Comin’ and Jingle Bells Jig – are both delivered in a joyous country style, but the rest of The Spirit of Christmas is handed over to beautiful instrumental treatments of holiday standards. Foster is known and respected Canada-wide for his silky six-string skills, so his guitar playing is front and centre on the remaining eight tunes, all dedicated to showcasing his fluidity along a fretboard on a dozen or so vintage guitars, as well as dobro and his hand-crafted cigar box ukulele. In doing so, however, while displaying his seemingly effortless musicianship Foster in no way compromises the chestnuts-roasting-on-an-open-fire coziness all holiday albums set out to achieve.
Across The Christmas Song, I’ll Be Home for Christmas, Sleigh Ride, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Winter Wonderland, Frosty the Snowman, The Twelve Guitars of Christmas– in reflecting its instrumentation as literal a title as you could imagine – and a Christmas Medley comprising O Little Town of Bethlehem, Away in a Manger, and Silent Night, Foster adroitly spans solo folk, fingerstyle, classical, and jazz styles to breathe new life into tunes so familiar they’re indelibly embedded into public consciousness.
The original 45 RPM single’s B-side, The Twelve Guitars of Christmas, was recorded with OSCAR DEMERS on pedal steel guitar, and another of Canada’s great and renowned guitarists, KEN HAMM, on National Steel guitar, so as a wonderful illustration of Foster’s stock-in-trade across an envious range of his impressive guitar collection it’s only fitting it should conclude this Christmas gift of an album.
While The Spirit of Christmas is hardly likely to ‘do a Bublé’ - only Elvis Presley’s Elvis’ Christmas Album has ever sold more copies of a holiday album than the Juno winner – Foster’s lovely seasonal offering is a most welcome addition to a genre that can never grow old or tired. For that, we should be as grateful for it as waking up to a delicious eggnog on Christmas morning.
By Darryl Sterdan TINNITIST
Published - August 20, 2020
https://tinnitist.com/2020/08/20/20-questions-with-glen-foster/
If Tinnitist were a bar, Glen Foster would be a regular. The B.C. singer-songwriter and guitar slinger has been a familiar face in these parts, premiering his videos for Party Out There Tonight, Rockabilly Fever and Brains Brawn & Beauty, along with his latest album Not Far Away. Today, he puts his own brain to work on my simpleminded questions. He deserves a drink on the house for that. Hell, let’s all have one. Crack a Corona and read on:
Introduce yourself: Name, age (feel free to lie), home base and other details you’d like to share — height / weight / identifying marks / astrology sign / your choice.
That’s Glen with one n: one’s enough, two’s too much, three’s ridiculous. I’m a country boy who grew up on a farm and now lives in a city on Vancouver Island. I’m a working musician who plays solo or with my band, Glen Foster Group. I have toured all across Canada more than once.
What is your musical origin story?
Grew up listening to country music on the radio, took Hawaiian guitar lessons at age 10, was a teenager during the ’60s learning rock guitar by emulating my music heroes.
What’s your latest project? Tell us everything we need to know.
We released a four-song EP in April 2019 called Party Out There Tonight that had two very strong singles and professionally made videos that got a lot of attention. We totally reworked the other two songs, recorded five more and released the album Not Far Away in April 2020. This is my best work ever: composition, lyrically, musical performance, vocal performance, arranging and producing, and heart. I’ve incorporated strings, choir, and have blended acoustic with electric instruments for my best production yet over seven albums. I guess maybe seven is my lucky number!
What truly sets you apart from other artists?
From my perspective I’m original, never get stale, and keep creating interesting music that defies pigeon holes and cliches. Others would argue but I only have to appease myself and I don’t try to conform to any genre specifics. Ultimately I’m happy being me.
What will I learn or how will my life improve by listening to your music?
If you ‘really listen’ you’ll identify lyrics that you can relate to, that may in some small way add value to your life, and hopefully confirm that your rudder is aimed in the right direction. When that happens, it’s hard not to relate to music in an emotional way that touches your ‘inner self’ in a very satisfying and comforting way. (Wow, did I really just say that?) That’s what music does for me at the best of times.
What album / song / artist / show changed your life?
Harvest / Heart OF Gold / Neil Young / Rust Never Sleeps concert.
Tell us about the first song you wrote and / or the first gig you played and what you got paid.
The first song I wrote was A Key To Your Heart for a girl who jilted me and broke my heart (it was sad, but not bad!). My first gig was on Hawaiian guitar at a Home and School meeting when I was 10 or 11. No money, I played strictly for adulation. People adored me. lol
What is the best / worst / strangest / most memorable performance you gave?
A line in my song Songwriters Circle goes “Now my best I can’t recall, the worst is still hard to forget, but if I never even tried, how would I know how far I’d get?” If you play long enough you may eventually have a ‘magical night’ where everything seems perfect, you perform better than you ever have, you play things you’ve never played before and never knew you could, and the crowd is with you 100%. I’ve had a few of those.
What is the best / worst / strangest / most memorable performance you’ve seen another artist give?
Best: The Who at MLG, a guitar smasher / Worst: Wouldn’t be nice to say but drugs and alcohol may have been involved / Strangest: A 22-year-old son singing at his dad’s funeral (!) / Most Memorable: Pink Floyd — Dark Side.
What do you want to be doing in 10 years?
Making ‘relevant’ music.
What living or dead artists would you collaborate with if you could?
Brian Wilson.
What artist or style of music do you love that would surprise people?
I’m fascinated by exotic cultural music, Indian sitar, Tibetan throat singers, Russian folk music. I used highland bagpipes for a recurring theme on my album Leaving The Lagoon.
What are your favourite songs / albums / artists right now?
Misirlou, Apache, Sleepwalk / Surf Music / The Ventures — we’re planning to do a show of all classic guitar instrumental music. It’s very exciting.
How about some other favourites? Authors / movies / painters / philanthropists / you name it.
Author: Edward Rutherfurd / Colour: Red / Movies: LOTR / Painters: Picasso / Guitars: Martin, Gretsch / Car: 66 TBird / Country: Canada / Vacation: Hawaii / Composer: Dylan / Rock Band: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers / Sport: Baseball / Meal: Halibut & chips / Food: Potato.
Who would you be (or have you been) starstruck to meet?
David Foster, but he keeps ignoring me!
Tell us a joke.
I have a lot of jokes about retired people, but none of them work.
What do you drive and why? What do you want to drive and why?
I drive a run-of-the-mill North American SUV that I can fit all of my stage equipment into. I want to drive a black 1959 Cadillac Coupe de Ville — even better if it was a hearse; then I could fit all my gear into it.
What superpower do you want and how would you use it?
I want to be able to make people stop fighting and just love each other. I would write more songs and sing them if I could make that happen.
What skills — useful or useless — do you have outside of music?
Math – I’m good at counting off ‘bars.’
What do you collect?
Guitars. Memorabilia including press and promo photos of every band I’ve ever been in, meticulously recorded details of every professional gig I’ve ever done since my Hawaiian guitar gig at age 11
If I had a potluck, what would you bring?
Taco salad and Coronas.
What current trend or popular thing do you not understand at all?
TikTok.
Tell us about your current and/or former pets.
I’m a dog person, had them on the farm, had them in the city, man’s best friend.
If you could have any other job besides music, what would it be and why?
No one could ever pay me enough money to leave what I’m doing right now. I’m my own boss so I do whatever I want to do already.
What’s the best advice and/or worst advice you were ever given?
My dad taught me whenever you borrow something, return it in better condition than you when got it. My Grade 12 home room teacher told me ‘just pull in the horns a little bit”! hahah
Hear (and buy) Not Far Away below, and connect with Glen Foster on his website, Twitter and Facebook.
Fri May 15, 2020 Submitted By Cashbox Canada
https://cashboxcanada.ca/reviews-album/glen-foster-not-far-away-new-single-do-you-do/3938
Life and death. Love and hate. Wealth and poverty. Sickness and health. Whatever it is you want in this life — or want to avoid in this life — it might be closer than you think. "Time, distance, events: They're all relative," he says. "Some things seem like they're a long way off when in fact they're very close, while other things seem so close when they're actually far off. Life is full of coincidences and connections and uncertainty."
That's never been truer than today. Even so, there are still some things you can count on — like the impeccable craftsmanship, stellar musicianship and life-affirming positivity this respected B.C. veteran always brings to the table.
Watch and Listen to “Do Like You Do.” Here:
“I don’t care what anyone says,” Foster offers off the top about the new release. “Listen to music however you want, but I still like albums! “My albums are always a journey that takes you somewhere,” he continues. “And the best way to get there is from start to finish. Not Far Away reflects on places, things, and concepts that can seem distant but really are not far away, by measure of distance, time or attitude.”
And so goes the foundation for Foster’s fifth album in a decade with the Glen Foster Group.
Life and death. Love and hate. Wealth and poverty. Sickness and health. Whatever it is you want in this life — or want to avoid in this life — it might be closer than you think. "Time, distance, events: They're all relative," he says. "Some things seem like they're a long way off when in fact they're very close, while other things seem so close when they're actually far off. Life is full of coincidences and connections and uncertainty."
That's never been truer than today. Even so, there are still some things you can count on — like the impeccable craftsmanship, stellar musicianship and life-affirming positivity this respected B.C. veteran always brings to the table.
Not Far Away is no exception. With nine tracks that run the rootsy gamut from country-pop and rockabilly to skiffle, Celtic folk and even soul-stirring gospel — not to mention arrangements that incorporate everything from strings and choir to harp and ragtime tack piano — it's far and away the most ambitious and multi-faceted work of his career. "This album could easily be a vinyl LP with lively uptempo songs on Side 1, while Side 2 is more folky and laid back, with violins and strings," he says, jokingly christening his sound "Cathedral Rock" after the album's title photograph featuring the famous Arizona butte.
For all its grandeur and majesty, however, Not Far Away also houses some of the most spiritual, philosophical and emotionally grounded lyrics Foster has penned. The playfully titled album opener “Dusty Roads: Ode To Dusty Rhodes” is not a tribute to a wrassler, but a moving salute to a stage manager whose biker persona masked a heart of gold. Fittingly, the track is anchored by a gorgeous Fender Rhodes electric piano, superbly played by longtime go-to-guy Marty Steele. Then there's “Brains Brawn and Beauty,” a classic rocker whose lyrics "speak to determination, making it and not being denied," Foster says. He ought to know — he's been performing the song for more than 25 years. For its long-overdue debut on vinyl, he pulled out all the stops, adding a tense silent movie-style interlude that begs to be depicted on video. Equally scenic is “Dalgety Bay,” a Celtic folk number inspired by a village on the Firth of Forth that is home to friends.
Speaking of friendship, connection and closeness: “Fruit of the Spirit” fuses Biblical quotes, honky-tonk country, violin and even a harp to create a song that Foster calls "a message for all of humanity and faiths without borders: Love, joy, goodness, kindness, peace, faithfulness, patience, gentleness, self-control." Finally, “Somewhere Over The River: Somewhere Under The Rainbow” closes the album with lush gospel tones featuring a bass solo by Jay Stevens, tenor sax from Pierre Komen, the Cryptomnesia Choir, and B3 organ played by Foster — all united in a song that came to him in a dream, as sung by Tom Petty during a mid-concert blackout. Between those touchstones, you'll find rockabilly rave ups, party-hearty anthems and even a shot of old-school, harmony-rich skiffle inspired by influential British legend Lonnie Donegan. And of course, all the tracks boast Foster's tastefully blazing fretwork and casually personable vocals.
Whether working the fret board or the microphone, he makes it all look easy. Of course, easy is easier said than done. It only comes with decades of blood, sweat, toil and tears. Foster knows that first-hand. For him, music is a lifelong labour of love. He grew up on a balanced diet of guitar bands like The Ventures and Santo and Johnny, pop icons like The Beatles and Beach Boys, and singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Paul Simon. He's criss-crossed the country with countless bands, backing Ray Materick of Linda, Put the Coffee On fame and fronting his own group The Falcon. He's gigged with everyone from Lighthouse, Dr. Hook and Stan Rogers to Valdy and Sammy Hagar. He's played Massey Hall, the El Mocambo, The Ian Tyson Show and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. He worked with Daniel Lanois when the famed producer's studio was still in the basement of his mother's house. Bottom line: He's been there, done that.
Along the way, he's created an impressive catalogue of adventurous, meticulously crafted music: Two Falcon albums, and five with the Glen Foster Group. GFG's 2010 debut Trusted Tried and True featured guests like David Gogo, Gerry Barnum and The Turtle Doves. The 2012 concept album The Reckoning raised the bar with political lyrics inspired by the Occupy Movement and Arab Spring. 2015's acoustic outing Leaving the Lagoon featured bagpipes, while 2017's groovy, celebratory Music Alchemy co-starred a horn section. He's even got a best-selling holiday single: “The Spirit of Christmas,” released in 1986 and re-mastered in 2011 for its 25th anniversary.
If it sounds like Foster changes his tune with every release, you're right. "I don't bother to write a song that sounds like something else," he says. "For me to be inspired about something I'm writing, it has to be new. It has to be fresh. That's the kind of thing that lights my fire and gets me excited. I am kind of a stickler for excellence. But then it's great to improvise. That's when the free spirit will flow."
With Not Far Away finally arriving and a slate of narrative videos in the works, it's abundantly clear that Foster's creative spirit is flowing as strong as ever. Or, to put it another way: So far, so good.
By Darryl Sterdan TINNITIST
Published - April 9, 2019
https://tinnitist.com/2019/04/09/glen-foster-party-out-there-tonight-exclusive-video-premiere/
Glen Foster is throwing a Party Out There Tonight in his new video, premiering exclusively on Tinnitist.
The veteran singer-songwriter takes his fun seriously on his upbeat new single.
The veteran singer-songwriter and accomplished guitar slinger takes his fun seriously. Especially these days. “Right now I’m into creating a positive message,” he explains. “I want to be encouraging and not just concentrate on all the negative things in the world. As a musician, an entertainer, I want to be uplifting, put a smile on somebody’s face and maybe make them laugh a little bit. I don’t want to be on a platform or be a preacher. I just want to make great music that people like.”
The respected B.C. artist’s positive mission statement couldn’t be made any clearer — or more enjoyably — than it is on his latest single Party Out There Tonight and its high-spirited video. An old-school rockabilly raveup fuelled by a tastefully twangy Telecaster lick and driven by a bouncing boogie beat, the lighthearted retro-rocker is guaranteed to be in heavy rotation at your next hoedown or throwdown.
PHOTO INSERT From left: Comic Glen (That Canadian Guy) Foster & musician Glen Foster.
Of course, that’s to be expected from a song co-written by someone who shares Foster’s desire to make people laugh — along with his name. “Thanks to the marvels of the Internet, I hooked up with the well-known comic Glen Foster — That Canadian Guy,” says the musical Foster. “We even did a show together once to coincide with one of my album releases. It was pretty neat. Then about a year ago, he sent me some lyrics. I came up with what I thought was a very cool guitar lick and wrote the song from there. When we played it for people, everybody liked it.”
The video shoot at a farm came together almost as serendipitously — though it was close. “I got ahold of my friend who owns and operates the farm and said, ‘Let’s have a party.’ He’s got a stage out there and a PA because he has a party there every summer. But this was November. Still, we got everybody on board. Then we had rain for two weeks. It was terrible. But lo and behold, on the Saturday of the shoot, it was warm and the sun was shining. So we went out and lit a bonfire and it was pretty neat. I think it reflects Canadian life: People are bundled up but we’re still outside playing rock ’n’ roll.”
Along the way, he’s created an impressive catalogue of adventurous, meticulously crafted music: Two Falcon albums, and four with the Glen Foster Group. GFG’s 2010 debut Trusted Tried and True featured guests like David Gogo, Gerry Barnum and The Turtle Doves. The 2012 concept album The Reckoning raised the bar with ambitious songcraft and political lyrics inspired by the Occupy Movement and Arab Spring. 2015’s acoustic outing Leaving the Lagoon featured bagpipes while 2017’s groovy, celebratory Music Alchemy co-starred a horn section. He’s even got a best-selling holiday single: The Spirit of Christmas, released in 1986 and remastered in 2011 for its 25th anniversary. But really, the party’s just getting started.
Watch Party Out There Tonight above, or keep up with Foster via his web site, Twitter and Facebook.
TINNITIST Hearing Music 24/7/365
By JOSEF JACOBSON The News Bulletin Published - Apr. 9, 2019
Foster co-wrote title track with comedian also named Glen Foster
Glen Foster’s new EP features an unexpected collaborator: Glen Foster.
When the Nanaimo guitarist learned that there was a comedian from Ontario with the exact same name, he sent him an e-mail saying, “Hey, here’s another Glen Foster,” and they had a laugh about it.
The next time Foster the comedian was performing in Vancouver, Foster the musician invited him to be his opening act at his next show at the Queen’s.
“It was pretty successful. We billed it as ‘The Glen Fosters Experience’ and from there it wasn’t too long after he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea for a song,” Foster said.
The pair started exchanging lyrics online and soon came up with Party Out There Tonight, title track for Foster’s latest EP. The single is being released on April 9 with CD release shows set for April 12 and 13 at the Lighthouse Bistro.
Foster said his comic counterpart was an apt accomplice.
“Being a comedian and a performer, he’s conversant with dialogue and being able to deliver a succinct message to an audience that would either make them laugh or make them listen,” Foster said of his co-writer. “So between the two of us we had some pretty good ideas.”
The other three songs on the album are Feel Alright, a tune that’s been part of Foster’s repertoire for 20 years; Rockabilly Fever, a song he wrote to play at the rockabilly festival in Chemainus; and Somewhere Over the River, which Tom Petty gave to him in a dream.
“After [Petty] died I had a dream that he was on stage and I’m in the audience watching and the power went out,” Foster said. “So he’s on stage with nothing but a guitar so somebody yells out, ‘Just play something we can all sing along to,’ and so he started singing this song, ‘Somewhere over the river, not far away,’ and I woke up.”
The song includes a choir recorded at Christ Community Church.
Foster said Party Out There Tonight will form the basis of his next CD. In the fall he plans to record a few more songs and eventually release a full-length record.
WHAT’S ON … Glen Foster CD release at the Lighthouse Bistro on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. No cover.