Ruthie Foster – If you haven’t yet been introduced to the music of this prodigiously gifted singer and songwriter from Texas, you’re in for a major epiphany. And if you’ve been following Ruthie Foster’s career ever since her self-released 1997 debut, Full Circle, or even since her 2002 breakthrough, Runaway Soul, you’re in for an even bigger surprise – because you haven’t really heard Foster until you’ve listened to her fifth album The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster (2007). She admits to initially having “a few reservations” about the title, crediting her producer, noted ‘swamp music’ guitarist Malcolm “Papa Mali” Welbourne, and her label, Houston’s Blue Corn Records, for making that particular gutsy call. As for how they came up with it, well, listen to Ruthie and you’ll understand. Calling this particular woman at this particular time in her life and career anything but “phenomenal” would be akin to false advertising.

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