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{{short description|American singer-songwriter}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox musical artist
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Josephine Foster
| name = Josephine Foster
| image = JosephineFoster.jpg
| image = Josephine-foster-optimal.jpg
| caption =
| image_size =
| background = solo_singer
| background = solo_singer
| birth_name =
| alias =
| birth_place = [[Colorado]], United States
| birth_place = [[Colorado]], United States
| birth_date =
| death_date =
| origin =
| instrument = Guitar, piano, harp, organ
| instrument = Guitar, piano, harp, organ
| genre = [[Folk music|Folk]], [[art song]], [[psychedelic rock]], [[experimental]], [[New Weird America]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387|title=Which Way to the New Weird America?; That Mellifluous Mojo |last=Mehr |first=Bob |date=November 3, 2005 |website=Chicago Reader |access-date=December 8, 2019}}</ref>, [[Americana]]
| genre = [[Folk music|Folk]], [[art song]], [[psychedelic rock]], [[experimental music|experimental]], [[New Weird America]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387|title=Which Way to the New Weird America?; That Mellifluous Mojo |last=Mehr |first=Bob |date=November 3, 2005 |website=Chicago Reader |access-date=December 8, 2019}}</ref> [[Americana (music)|Americana]]
| occupation = Singer, songwriter, musician, music producer
| occupation = Singer, songwriter, musician, music producer
| years_active = 2000–present
| years_active = 2000–present
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}}
}}


'''Josephine Foster''' is an American singer, songwriter, and musician born and raised in [[Colorado]]. She is known for her anachronistic voice and work that weaves older styles with the modern, escaping simple classification.<ref>{{cite web|title=Endearingly Odd Musician Casts a Spell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/29/josephine-foster-review-endearingly-odd-musician-casts-a-spell |accessdate=November 21, 2019 }}</ref><ref>https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387</ref><ref>https://drownedinsound.com/releases/4192/reviews/12890-josephine-foster-hazel-eyes-i-will-lead-you</ref>.
'''Josephine Foster''' is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from [[Colorado]]. She is known for her anachronistic voice and work that weaves older styles with the modern, escaping simple classification.<ref>{{cite news|title=Endearingly Odd Musician Casts a Spell |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/apr/29/josephine-foster-review-endearingly-odd-musician-casts-a-spell |newspaper=The Guardian|date=April 29, 2019 |accessdate=November 21, 2019 |last1=Lewis |first1=John }}</ref><ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387|title=Which Way to the New Weird America?; That Mellifluous Mojo|first=Bob|last=Mehr|website=Chicago Reader|date=November 3, 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://drownedinsound.com/releases/4192/reviews/12890-josephine-foster-hazel-eyes-i-will-lead-you|title=Album Review: Josephine Foster - Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You|website=DrownedInSound.com|access-date=September 30, 2020|archive-date=June 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210617202112/https://drownedinsound.com/releases/4192/reviews/12890-josephine-foster-hazel-eyes-i-will-lead-you|url-status=dead}}</ref>
As a teenager she worked as a church singer and aspired to become an opera singer. She moved to Chicago in 1998 to further her opera studies<ref>https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387</ref>. While teaching music and singing lessons at neighborhood schools she began to record demos of her own songs, resulting in her home recordings There Are Eyes Above (2000), influenced by [[Tin Pan Alley]], and an album of children's songs, ''Little Life'' (2001). Besides her solo work she joined the bands The Children's Hour and Born Heller, with whom she released one record each respectively: ''SOS JFK'' in 2003, and the self titled ''Born Heller'', in 2004. Also out in 2004 was Foster's new [[psychedelic rock]] album ''[[All the Leaves Are Gone]]'' (recorded with her backing band The Supposed). It drew comparison to [[Patti Smith]] and [[Jefferson Airplane]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Josephine Foster & the Supposed |url=http://www.mp3.com/albums/644122/reviews.html |accessdate=February 29, 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605123916/http://www.mp3.com/albums/644122/reviews.html |archivedate=June 5, 2011 }}</ref>


As a teenager, Foster worked as a church singer and aspired to become an opera singer. She moved to Chicago in 1998 to further her opera studies,<ref name="auto"/> and began home-recording her songs, resulting in the albums ''There Are Eyes Above'', influenced by [[Tin Pan Alley]], and an album of children's songs, ''Little Life''. She then released collaborative albums with local folk bands The Children's Hour (''SOS JFK''), Born Heller (''S/T''), as well as ''[[All the Leaves Are Gone]]'', a psychedelic rock album with backing band The Supposed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3324-all-the-leaves-are-gone-with-the-supposed/|title=Josephine Foster / The Supposed: All the Leaves Are Gone|website=Pitchfork.com}}</ref>
Her first (studio) solo album, ''[[Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You]]'' (2005, [[Locust Music]]), evoked American folk, blues and hymn forms of the early 20th century<ref>https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/which-way-to-the-new-weird-america-that-mellifluous-mojo/Content?oid=920387</ref>. ''[[A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Josephine Foster album)|A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing]]'' followed in 2006, with Supposed guitarist Brian Goodman joining in unorthodox electrified interpretations<ref>https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3325-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/</ref> of 19th century German [[Lied]]er by [[Brahms]], [[Schubert]], [[Schumann]] and Wolf. Having relocated to Spain with her partner (the Spanish musician Victor Herrero) she began recording under the radar, and released another psychedelic folk-rock album, ''[[This Coming Gladness]]'', to quiet acclaim<ref>https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-coming-gladness-mw0000791521</ref> <ref>https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/josephine-foster-coming-gladness</ref>.


A number of solo records followed, including the all acoustic ''[[Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You]]'',<ref name="auto"/> an unorthodox collection of 19th century German [[Lied]]er titled ''[[A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Josephine Foster album)|A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3325-a-wolf-in-sheeps-clothing/|title=Josephine Foster: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing|website=Pitchfork.com}}</ref> and ''[[This Coming Gladness]]'', a psychedelic folk-rock album.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-coming-gladness-mw0000791521|title=This Coming Gladness - Josephine Foster &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/josephine-foster-coming-gladness|title=Music Review: Josephine Foster - This Coming Gladness|website=Tinymixtapes.com}}</ref>
In 2009 a sequence of Foster's settings of [[Emily Dickinson]] poems, 27 austere miniatures for voice and guitar, were recorded in the remote Spanish mountains. Titled ''Graphic as a Star'', the album was released by [[Fire Records (UK)|Fire Records]]<ref>https://www.allmusic.com/album/graphic-as-a-star-mw0001937549</ref>; a British independent record label that released the majority of her work over the subsequent decade. Living in Andalusia with Herrero in that period brought forth two Spanish language recordings ''Anda Jaleo'' (2010), a resetting of [[Garcia Lorca]]'s piano/voice collection of popular Spanish song (''Colección de Canciones Populares Españolas''), and a 2011 follow-up folkloric recording, ''Perlas''; both in collaboration with the folkloric Herrero band.


Foster released most of her recordings the following decade with [[Fire Records (UK)|Fire Records]], including ''Graphic as a Star'', her settings of 27 [[Emily Dickinson]] poems.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/graphic-as-a-star-mw0001937549|title=Graphic as a Star - Josephine Foster &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
Built upon the rhythm of a heartbeat, ''Blood Rushing'' brought her back to Colorado. The album's cinematic sound relays a "mythical western movie imbued landscape"<ref>http://www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk/2012/09/20/josephine-foster-blood-rushing-fire-records/</ref> with "avant-garde soul" <ref>https://thankfolkforthat.com/review-josephine-foster-blood-rushing/</ref> (she imagined it as a sung ballet). <ref>https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/blood-rushing-mr0003739903</ref> Co-produced by Foster with Andrija Tokic and Victor Herrero, who played guitar; other players included [[Paz Lenchantin]] on bass, Heather Trost on violin, and Ben Trimble on pueblo skin drums.


Thereafter she began to record frequently with engineer Andrija Tokic, who co-produced with Foster her solo albums ''Blood Rushing'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/release/blood-rushing-mr0003739903|title=Blood Rushing - Josephine Foster &#124; Release Info|website=AllMusic}}</ref> ''I'm A Dreamer'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/im-a-dreamer-mw0002582033|title=I'm a Dreamer - Josephine Foster &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> and ''[[Faithful Fairy Harmony]]'';<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/faithful-fairy-harmony-mw0003216178|title=Faithful Fairy Harmony - Josephine Foster &#124; Songs, Reviews, Credits &#124; AllMusic|website=[[AllMusic]]}}</ref> also ''More Amor'', a psych-folk album by her new band Mendrugo formed with Victor Herrero. The latter was Foster's first foray into writing lyrics in Spanish.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/mendrugo-more-amor|title=Music Review: Mendrugo - More Amor|website=Tinymixtapes.com}}</ref>
''I'm A Dreamer'' (2013), given by [[Time Out]] magazine a five star review which acclaimed it as "a quiet masterclass in songwriting" with "self-possessed beauty that only grows with every listen"<ref>https://www.timeout.com/london/music/josephine-foster-im-a-dreamer-album-review</ref>, was recorded in Nashville and co-produced by Andrija Tokic. On this album she "returned to the early 20th century Americana of her 2005 debut ‘Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You’, in the excellent company of a nine-piece band"<ref>https://www.timeout.com/london/music/josephine-foster-im-a-dreamer-album-review</ref>.


⚫
The title song from ''I'm A Dreamer'' was featured in Season 2, episode 7 of the British television show ''[[The End of the F***ing World]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.newsweek.com/end-f-ing-world-season-2-soundtrack-songs-potatoes-graham-coxon-netflix-1470135|title=All the songs from the "End of the F***ing World" Season 2 soundtrack|author=Samuel Spencer|date=November 6, 2019|website=Newsweek.com}}</ref>
The chamber album ''No More Lamps in the Morning'' (2016) was recorded in a church, and the 'self deconstructive, gothic' atmosphere feels improvisational: <ref>https://www.folkradio.co.uk/2016/02/josephine-foster-no-more-lamps-in-the-morning-album-review/
</ref> Foster is covering her own songs from her 2008 album ''[[This Coming Gladness]]'' and others.<ref>https://www.thewire.co.uk/audio/tracks/listen-exclusive-track-josephine-foster-forthcoming-album</ref><ref>https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/josephine-foster-no-more-lamps-morning</ref> She also re-interpreted her setting of [[Rudyard Kipling]]'s 'Blue Roses' and introduced her new setting of 'My Dove, My Beautiful One' by [[James Joyce]].<ref>{{cite web|title=No More Lamps in the Morning|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Lamps-Morning-Josephine-Foster/dp/B019E1JRKO/ref=sr_1_67?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1454841947&sr=1-67|publisher=Amazon.com|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>. That same year her Andalusian ensemble Mendrugo released by contrast a playful, pastoral psych-folk album entitled ''More Amor''. This was Foster's first foray into writing lyrics in Spanish.<ref>https://www.tinymixtapes.com/music-review/mendrugo-more-amor</ref>


Foster also lent her voice to the soundtrack for the 2020 film, ''[[The World to Come]],'' and sung (as well as co-wrote) the titular song over the end credits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/the-world-to-come-review/5152890.article|title='The World to Come': Review|author=Jonathan Romney|date=6 September 2020|website=screendaily.com}}</ref>
Foster's 2018 recording ''Faithful Fairy Harmony'' was listed as one of Wire Magazine's top fifty albums of the year. <ref>https://www.yearendlists.com/2018/12/wire-top-50-releases-of-2018</ref> The double record was co-produced with Andrija Tokic in his Nashville Bomb Shelter studio, with many of the same players from her 2013 album ''I'm A Dreamer'', including Victor Herrero (guitars), [[Gyða Valtýsdóttir]] (cello), [[Chris Scruggs]] (pedal steel guitar), and Jon Estes (bass).


⚫
==References==
{{Reflist}}


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==External links==
⚫
The title song from ''I'm A Dreamer'' was featured in Season 2, episode 7 of the British television show ''[[The End of the F***ing World]]'' <ref>https://www.newsweek.com/end-f-ing-world-season-2-soundtrack-songs-potatoes-graham-coxon-netflix-1470135</ref>.
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{{Commons category|Josephine Foster}}
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* {{official website|http://www.josephinefoster.info}}


⚫
{{authority control}}
Josephine Foster appears in cameo as a casino singer for episode 3 of the 2020 [[HBO]] show ''[[Perry Mason]]''.<ref>https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2077823/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast</ref> She sings covers of 'Aventurera' by [[Agustín Lara]] and 'Son de la Loma' by [[Miguel Matamoros]] in original arrangements created for the series with Victor Herrero; 'Cuando Vienes del Monte' and 'Brillante Estrella' from their 2011 record ''Perlas'' (Fire Records) are also featured in the episode.

==Discography==
*2000: ''There Are Eyes Above''
*2001: ''Little Life''
*2003: ''SOS JFK'' (with The Children's Hour)
*2004: ''[[All the Leaves Are Gone]]'' (with the Supposed)
*2004: ''Born Heller'' (S/T, Born Heller)
*2005: ''[[Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You]]''
*2006: ''[[A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing (Josephine Foster album)|A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing]]''
*2008: ''[[This Coming Gladness]]''
*2009: ''Graphic as a Star''
*2010: ''Anda Jaleo'' (with The Victor Herrero Band)
*2012: ''Perlas'' (with The Victor Herrero Band)
*2012: ''Blood Rushing''
*2013: ''I'm A Dreamer''<ref>{{cite web|author=Josephine Foster |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/josephine-foster-mn0000123050/discography |title=Josephine Foster &#124; Discography |publisher=AllMusic |accessdate=December 5, 2013}}</ref>
*2016 ''No More Lamps in the Morning''<ref>{{cite web|title=No More Lamps in the Morning|url=https://www.amazon.co.uk/More-Lamps-Morning-Josephine-Foster/dp/B019E1JRKO/ref=sr_1_67?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1454841947&sr=1-67|publisher=Amazon.com|accessdate=February 7, 2016}}</ref>
*2016: ''More Amor'' (with Mendrugo)
*2018: ''Faithful Fairy Harmony''

⚫
== References ==
{{reflist}}

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== External links ==
⚫
{{Commons category|Josephine Foster}}
⚫
* {{Official website|http://www.josephinefoster.info}}
* [https://www.npr.org/2012/10/06/162295011/josephine-foster-a-vibrating-voice-to-shake-the-soul National Public Radio interview]
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{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Josephine}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Josephine}}
[[Category:1974 births]]
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[[Category:21st-century American guitarists]]
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[[Category:21st-century American women guitarists]]
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[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
[[Category:American women singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American folk musicians]]
[[Category:American folk musicians]]
[[Category:1974 births]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Colorado]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:New Weird America]]
[[Category:New Weird America]]
[[Category:Psychedelic folk musicians]]
[[Category:Psychedelic folk musicians]]
[[Category:Singers from Colorado]]
[[Category:21st-century American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:American female singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Singer-songwriters from Colorado]]
[[Category:American singer-songwriters]]
[[Category:Fire Records (UK) artists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Locust Music artists]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Colorado]]
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[[Category:21st-century American women singers]]
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[[Category:21st-century American women guitarists]]
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[[Category:21st-century American guitarists]]

Latest revision as of 04:49, 25 November 2024

Josephine Foster
Background information
BornColorado, United States
GenresFolk, art song, psychedelic rock, experimental, New Weird America,[1] Americana
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, musician, music producer
Instrument(s)Guitar, piano, harp, organ
Years active2000–present
LabelsFire Records, Windbell, Bo' Weavil Recordings, Locust Music,
Websitewww.josephinefoster.info

Josephine Foster is an American singer, songwriter, and musician from Colorado. She is known for her anachronistic voice and work that weaves older styles with the modern, escaping simple classification.[2][3][4]

As a teenager, Foster worked as a church singer and aspired to become an opera singer. She moved to Chicago in 1998 to further her opera studies,[3] and began home-recording her songs, resulting in the albums There Are Eyes Above, influenced by Tin Pan Alley, and an album of children's songs, Little Life. She then released collaborative albums with local folk bands The Children's Hour (SOS JFK), Born Heller (S/T), as well as All the Leaves Are Gone, a psychedelic rock album with backing band The Supposed.[5]

A number of solo records followed, including the all acoustic Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You,[3] an unorthodox collection of 19th century German Lieder titled A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing,[6] and This Coming Gladness, a psychedelic folk-rock album.[7][8]

Foster released most of her recordings the following decade with Fire Records, including Graphic as a Star, her settings of 27 Emily Dickinson poems.[9]

Thereafter she began to record frequently with engineer Andrija Tokic, who co-produced with Foster her solo albums Blood Rushing,[10] I'm A Dreamer,[11] and Faithful Fairy Harmony;[12] also More Amor, a psych-folk album by her new band Mendrugo formed with Victor Herrero. The latter was Foster's first foray into writing lyrics in Spanish.[13]

The title song from I'm A Dreamer was featured in Season 2, episode 7 of the British television show The End of the F***ing World.[14]

Foster also lent her voice to the soundtrack for the 2020 film, The World to Come, and sung (as well as co-wrote) the titular song over the end credits.[15]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Mehr, Bob (November 3, 2005). "Which Way to the New Weird America?; That Mellifluous Mojo". Chicago Reader. Retrieved December 8, 2019.
  2. ^ Lewis, John (April 29, 2019). "Endearingly Odd Musician Casts a Spell". The Guardian. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Mehr, Bob (November 3, 2005). "Which Way to the New Weird America?; That Mellifluous Mojo". Chicago Reader.
  4. ^ "Album Review: Josephine Foster - Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You". DrownedInSound.com. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  5. ^ "Josephine Foster / The Supposed: All the Leaves Are Gone". Pitchfork.com.
  6. ^ "Josephine Foster: A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing". Pitchfork.com.
  7. ^ "This Coming Gladness - Josephine Foster | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  8. ^ "Music Review: Josephine Foster - This Coming Gladness". Tinymixtapes.com.
  9. ^ "Graphic as a Star - Josephine Foster | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  10. ^ "Blood Rushing - Josephine Foster | Release Info". AllMusic.
  11. ^ "I'm a Dreamer - Josephine Foster | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  12. ^ "Faithful Fairy Harmony - Josephine Foster | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  13. ^ "Music Review: Mendrugo - More Amor". Tinymixtapes.com.
  14. ^ Samuel Spencer (November 6, 2019). "All the songs from the "End of the F***ing World" Season 2 soundtrack". Newsweek.com.
  15. ^ Jonathan Romney (September 6, 2020). "'The World to Come': Review". screendaily.com.
[edit]
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