Ruthie Foster's Runaway Soul is Pure Texas Music

Ruthie Foster's Runaway Soul, Blue Corn Music, Inc., 4 stars.

Ruthie Foster's new album Runaway Soul is soulful and spiritual. A native of Bryan, TX, Foster has been working her way up the ranks as a singer/songwriter since the mid-'90s. I remember her playing at The Third Floor Cantina in downtown Bryan. She became a favorite of the local bar patrons with a blend of soul and country. If you've never heard Foster, she is best be compared with Tracy Chapman.

Runaway Soul, as is suggested by it's title, has an overpowering gospel influence. This is most likely a result of the passing of Foster's father, William J. MacDonald, early this year. She dedicates a song called "Death Came-a-Knockin' (Travelin' Shoes)" to him. It is clear that she was greatly saddened by her loss and how she deals with her sadness influence every song on the album. In spite of this loss, Runaway Soul overflows with optimism and good faith.

Musically, Runaway Soul is uplifting; songs like "Joy" and "Woke Up This Mornin' " sound like you would hear them in Sunday morning service. Even "Small Town Blues" has a positive feel. The album is full of soul-searching lyrics laid over a bed of finger-picking, toe-tapping, acoustic guitar.

Foster is and has always been the definition of a Texas singer/songwriter. Runaway Soul is Texas through and through. Recorded at The Hit Shack in Austin and released in Houston-based Blue Corn Records, everything about Runaway Soul stays true to the Lone Star State. Even the cover photo and inside layout were photographed in Calvert, TX. If you like Texas singer/songwriters and your spirit is in need of a lift, Runaway Soul is exactly what you need.