Guitar Magic

10 GRANDE / SEPTEMBER 2018

Guitar Magic

Native son Radney Foster takes a little bit of his hometown along for the ride.

Story by MEGAN TACKETT; Photos contributed by RADNEY FOSTER

Radney Foster was born

in Del Rio in 1959, as the title of his first solo album announces. Since moving to Tennessee after high school, he’s released 11 albums, a book of short stories and written songs for a stellar array of country artists.

Foster crafts songs that echo Del Rio’s simplicity, easygoingness and honesty. And while his undeniable talents have carried him all over the world, everywhere he travels, a little bit of his hometown goes with him.

Foster, a Nashville-based singer/songwriter, grew up in south Del Rio, surrounded by tall pecan trees, the gentle flowing waters of the San Felipe creek and its attendant canals, a rich Hispanic influence and the strumming of his father’s guitar. This environment nurtured the southwest Texas instrumental

stylings that infuse his albums and recently published book of short stories.

“I learned as much about structure and harmony from rancheras as I did from Willie Nelson,” Foster said.

In 1977, Foster graduated from Del Rio High School and left Texas to pursue an education near the epicenter of country music, Nashville, Tenn., he said. He studied at Sewanee: The University of the South and signed a record deal with RCA as a duo group with his friend Bill Lloyd.

The duo, Foster and Lloyd, released three albums before both members decided to pursue solo projects, Foster said. Foster recalls brainstorming a title for his first solo album with friends when one of them asked him where and what year he was born.

“I said, ‘Del Rio, 1959,’”

Foster said. “And we all went, ‘That’s the title of the record.’”

“Del Rio, TX 1959” included two Top 10 hits on Billboard’s country charts: “Just Call Me Lonesome” and “Nobody Wins.” Following singles, “Easier Said Than Done” and “Hammer and Nails” also reached Top 40 country music status, according to Billboard archives.

While his songs feature Del Rio-derived themes, Foster also made sure his album covers reflected his border town upbringing. On the cover of his first album, Foster wears Smith-toe boots with a customdesigned Barrera-style jacket made by a Chicago-based modern artist.

Foster has held on to the iconic jacket, even bringing it back for the cover of his “Del Rio TX Revisited: Unplugged and Lonesome” album cover. The album is an acoustic

GRANDE / SEPTEMBER 2018 11

homage to his debut album. Reprising the 20-year-old album evoked not only nostalgia, but also gave the songs surprising new meaning, he said.

“You can never stand in the same river,” Foster said. “You can stand in the same place, but it’s always different water.”

In addition to releasing his own music, Foster writes songs for well-known country artists like Sara Evans, Hootie and the Blowfish, Kenny Chesney, and recently, the Dixie Chicks.

Three years ago, Foster extended his writing abilities to short stories as a means of distraction when his doctor forbade him from speaking and singing after contracting pneumonia and laryngitis. He developed short stories from songs he was writing for a new album, he said, and if the song couldn’t support a stronger narrative, it was trashed.

“If I couldn’t find a short story in the song, it wasn’t

12 GRANDE / SEPTEMBER 2018

going on the record,” Foster said.

One song in particular, which would eventually become the album and corresponding book’s title, tells the story of the heartbreak he felt after his father died, and the love he rediscovered for his wife who supported him through that dark time. The song, book, and album were titled, “For You to See the Stars.”

“She walked me through my grief, and it’s one of those things that made me fall in love with her all over again,” he said.

The book and album cover depict Foster in a southwest Texas landscape, looking out at a starspangled horizon lit with distant building lights, holding a cardboard box, an image explained in the book’s first story. The cover perfectly represents Foster’s love of the Texas border landscape, which he still considers home.

“Where the desert meets the pecan groves, that sort of oasis is such a unique thing,” Foster said. “There are not very many places like it.”

Foster said he is currently working on a novel, part of which is set in Del Rio. He plans to conduct research at the Val Verde County Library so the book will accurately recreate the area’s unique history.

Foster still regularly tours the nation, performing his Del Rioinspired songs at every stop. Thanks to him, there’s a little bit of Del Rio left inside everyone who has witnessed him perform. •

GRANDE / SEPTEMBER 2018 13