Gimme some truth

Texan singer and guitarist Ruthie Foster's bluesy soul sound is scheduled to resound across a Manukau field next month*. Edward Rooney spoke to her in advance of her visit.
Being something of a soul sensation comes quite naturally to Ruthie Foster.
That's probably because the singer and guitarist - who performs at the inaugural Grassroots Festival at Puhinui Reserve this Easter - has returned to the soul sounds of her childhood after exploring blues and folk music first.
Speaking to The Aucklander from Texas, Ruthie Foster says she's been to Australia twice and is looking forward to going the extra miles to Auckland. "I've never been to New Zealand. I don't know much about it except it's beautiful. I'm looking forward to to seeing whatever we can in the time we're there. We'll be flying in just the day before the festival so we'll be trying to fit in as much as we can.
"Hopefully it's not the last time we get out to New Zealand."
So did she ever think music would take her to the last country to be populated by mankind on planet Earth?
"I think I always knew that it would take me out and around the world. It was the reason I got into music you know, to get me out of where I was, that's part of growing up in a small town."
Foster grew up in Brazos Valley in Central Texas and was pushed into music by her family.
She debuted in her uncle's choir at 14 and studied music and audio engineering by day at Waco's McClennan Community College while visiting clubs at night.
Eventually, Foster cut her chops singing for a blues band in biker bars and other venues from Dallas to San Antonio. It's a long way to her breakthrough album in 2009, The Truth According to Ruthie Foster. But we'll let her tell us how she got there.
"The Truth According to... that came about getting back to the sounds like Patty Griffin's When It Don't Come Easy. Then it moved into the more funky with Robben Ford's guitar on [the song] Truth."
It is interesting that Foster cites folk-rock singer Griffin as a guiding force to such a soulful album, but that's part of the "truth" to be found in music. Truth is, soul music was born from country and folk and blues.
The combo and it's influences have always been present in Memphis and that's where Foster went to explore it after some initial success with her self-released blues burner The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster in 2007.
"I grew up with that. It had a lot to do with wanting to record in Memphis; to get the real true sound; to eat a little barbecue and bring in people like Jim Dickinson. That was such a blast."
Keyboardist Jim Dickinson played on the Rolling Stones' Wild Horses and worked with numerous other luminaries before he died in August 2009. The Truth According to Ruthie Foster was produced by Chris Goldsmith, known for his work with Blind Boys of Alabama, Aaron Neville and Chrissie Hynde.
Foster says turning up to Argent Studios in mid 2008 was like going to school.
"Chris Goldsmith knew all about these people and sitting behind the glass in the studio really was like being in a classroom. These guys would sit and tell their stories about that the music reminded them of and stuff. It was so inspiring.
"Jim Dickinson compared me to a young Aretha Franklin and that just blew me away. I mean, I was a very shy kid and being in front of people scared me to death. My mother and my grandmother were strong women and they insisted, particularly because I was the oldest, it was something I needed to do.
"So I learned how to speak and how to present in church. That's given me that grounding."
She readily agrees a church in Little Town, Texas is a far cry from the Puhunui Reserve in Auckland, where an audience hasn't been primed to pay attention by the authority of a minister and many will be hearing of her for the first time.
"I do what I can to put my best song up there first or second to get their attention, you know, to put down their beer or whatever," she says. "That first song or two is your chance to grab 'em for sure. That started when I was just setting out and it's never changed."
Having now toured the honky tonk bars as a blues hollerer, the lounges as a folk-singer songwriter and the large festivals of roots music such as the Monterey Bay Blues Festival and, ahem, Grassroots, Foster claims there isn't an ideal venue to see her perform.
"It's a real mixture. I've done a lot of small venues and that's always a chance for me to tell my story, you know. But I do love being in front of a big audience and making an impact."
That impact will be all the greater at Grassroots with Foster bringing her favourite two colleagues of the moment - drummer Samantha Banks and violinist Tanya Richardson, both from Houston, Texas.
"You're gonna have three beautiful African American women on stage, one singing, one on violin and one on percussion."
Recently, Foster's being noticed by more musical collaborators. She's just finished working with numerous blues greats in a collective called the Big Head Blues Club on a 100th-year celebration of Robert Johnson. She was requested by Chris Goldsmith and hasn't yet heard the results. Is she flattered by such invitations?
"They really are starting to come in now and I love doing that. But at the same time I have to be able to add something with my own voice so that's why I'm staying out on my own as much as I can."
So what's coming next and will we hear some of it at Grassroots?
"I'm in the middle of getting some songs together right now. I'm trying to find a producer so I'm listening to a lot of songs, you know, just checking out how various producers are doing things. It's leaning even more towards the soul side of things, more New Orleans I think .
"I haven't decided on the set list for [Grassroots] yet and I've been known to not make a set list at all, much to my band's chagrin sometimes," she chuckles.
Given her background with the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church and folk music origins, one might expect a sermon between songs from Foster. One might be wrong however.
"When I have something to say, I don't mind a little social commentary. But when I don't, I keep my message to what I know and feel."
* Ruthie Foster's visit has been cancelled after the Grassroots Festival was called off. More info, see our story 'GrassRoots pulled' or www.grassrootsfestival.co.nz