J. D. Foster is an American record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter. He is known for working with

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana music, a genre or style of American music * Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1981 film), an American drama film * ''Americana'' (20 ...

performers including

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

and

Patty Griffin Patricia Jean Griffin (born March 16, 1964) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician.Griffin, Patricia She is a vocalist and plays guitar and piano. She is known for her stripped-down songwriting style in the folk music genre. Her songs ...

Producer, performer and recording artist

J. D. Foster has produced albums and songs for a wide variety of artists and contributed as a bassist and multi-instrumentalist on many alternative, rock, and country albums. His list of collaborations includes

Marc Ribot Marc Ribot (; born May 21, 1954) is an American guitarist and composer. His work has touched on many styles, including no wave, free jazz, Rock music, rock, and Cuban music. Ribot is also known for collaborating with other musicians, most notab ...

Calexico Calexico () is a city in southern Imperial County, California. Situated on the Mexican border, it is linked economically with the much larger city of Mexicali, the capital of the Mexican state of Baja California. It is about east of San Dieg ...

Ronnie Lane Ronald Frederick Lane (1 April 1946 – 4 June 1997) was an English musician and songwriter who was the bassist and co-founder of the rock bands Small Faces (1965–69) and Faces (band), Faces (1969–73). Lane formed Small Faces in 1965 afte ...

, Richard Buckner,

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayl Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums, ''Ramblin' on My Mind (Lucinda Williams album), Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and ''Happy Woman Blues'' (198 ...

Vinicio Capossela Vinicio Capossela (born 14 December 1965) is an Italian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Capossela is renowned for the highly original and poetic lyrics of his songs. Many of them draw from traditions of Italian folk music, especially thos ...

, Anna Coogan,

17 Hippies 17 Hippies is a band from Berlin, Germany, playing largely on acoustic instruments, a radically democratic collective of professionals and amateurs. Their music is a confection of various folk influences. They are most popular in their native Ge ...

, Il Pan Del Diavolo,

Eszter Balint Eszter Balint (born 7 July 1966) is a Hungarian-American singer, songwriter, violinist, and actress. She made her film debut in Jim Jarmusch's ''Stranger Than Paradise'' (1984). She went on to received a Independent Spirit Award for Best Female L ...

and many more. As well as being a producer, Foster is also a songwriter, musician, and recording artist.

From Florida to L.A.

J. D. Foster started his career in Central Florida, playing bass with numerous Orlando, Gainesville, and Saint Augustine musicians. He lived in Los Angeles throughout most of the 1980s playing with Dwight Yoakam,

Jim Lauderdale James Russell Lauderdale (born April 11, 1957) is an American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer-songwriter. Since 1986, he has released 31 studio albums, including collaborations with artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, ...

Rosie Flores Rosie Flores (born Rosalie Flores; September 10, 1950) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. She currently resides in Austin, Texas, where August 31 was declared Rosie Flores Day by the Austin City Council in 2006. Biography Rosie Flo ...

Pete Anderson Pete Anderson (born July 23, 1948) is an American guitarist, music producer, arranger and songwriter. Anderson is most known for his guitar work with, and critically acclaimed production of, country music star Dwight Yoakam from 1984 through 2 ...

and many other country artists. He started his major label recording career as bassist in L.A. with Dwight Yoakam in 1986. His work with Yoakam earned three platinum albums, saw tours all across America and Europe, as well as appearances on ''

Austin City Limits ''Austin City Limits'' is an American Concert, live music Television show, television program recorded and produced by KLRU, Austin PBS. The show helped Austin become widely known in the United States as the "Live Music Capital of the World", an ...

'', ''Solid Gold'', ''

The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...

'', ''

The Grammys ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', and various music videos. During these years Foster also appeared "sidelining" in several TV shows and feature films. In this capacity he worked with artists including:

T. G. Sheppard William Neal Browder (born July 20, 1944) is an American country music singer, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones between 19 ...

Ben Vereen Benjamin Augustus Vereen (né Middleton; October 10, 1946) is an American actor, dancer and singer. He gained prominence for his performances in the original Broadway productions of the musicals ''Jesus Christ Superstar'', for which he received ...

Janie Fricke Jane Marie Fricke ( ; born December 19, 1947), known professionally as Janie Fricke, is an American country music singer, record producer, and clothing designer. She has placed seventeen Single (music), singles in the top ten of the US ''Billboa ...

Robert Blake Robert Blake (or variants) may refer to: Sports * Bob Blake (American football) (1885–1962), American football player * Robbie Blake (born 1976), English footballer * Bob Blake (ice hockey) (1914–2008), American ice hockey player * Rob Blake ...

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...

, and

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

in the film ''

Vision Quest A vision quest is a rite of passage in some Native American cultures. Individual Indigenous cultures have their own names for their rites of passage. "Vision quest" is an English-language umbrella term, and may not always be accurate or used by ...

''.

Texas

Foster relocated to Austin, Texas in 1988. There he joined The True Believers with

Alejandro Escovedo Pedro Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, includin ...

. He also worked with Escovedo &

Jon Dee Graham Jon Dee Graham is an American musician, guitarist and songwriter from Austin, Texas, United States. Graham was named the Austin Musician of the Year during the South by Southwest (SXSW) music conference in 2006. He was inducted into the Austin Mu ...

in the Make Believers. Foster played with

in his Texas version of Slim Chance and appeared in Rupert Williams' documentary ''The Passing Show: The Life and Music of Ronnie Lane'' (2006), where he is interviewed about this association. During his Austin tenure, Foster started a band with Danny Barnes and Rich Brotherton, The Barnburners, releasing one recording. He and Brotherton also played regularly with songwriter David Halley. Foster and Halley performed together in different productions of ''Bad Girls Upset By the Truth'', a musical play by Jo Carol Pierce. During this time he worked on recordings with

The Silos The Silos is an American rock band formed by Walter Salas-Humara and Bob Rupe in New York City, United States in 1985. History Prior to starting the Silos, Salas-Humara had been a member of The Vulgar Boatmen, and Bob Rupe was in Florida band ...

and tour dates with Lucinda Williams, among others.

New York

Foster moved to New York City in 1991 and began working with artists in the improvisational scene and has worked closely with

on many projects through the years. He toured the US, Europe, and Japan with Ribot's noise combo Shrek, appearing at events such as the Saalfelden Jazz Festival. Foster again toured Europe and Japan with

Green on Red Green on Red was an American rock band, formed in the Tucson, Arizona punk scene, but based for most of its career in Los Angeles, California, where it was loosely associated with the Paisley Underground. Earlier records have the wide-screen p ...

in the early 1990s. They performed on European television, at major venues and rock festivals, including the London Fleadh,

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, and

Roskilde Festival The Roskilde Festival is a Danish music festival held annually south of Roskilde. It is one of the largest music festivals in Europe and the largest in the Nordic countries. It was created in 1971 by two high school students and a promoter. In 1 ...

. In 2004–2005, Foster toured and recorded with Patty Griffin joining her on the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue tour alongside

Emmylou Harris Emmylou Harris (born April 2, 1947) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, bandleader, and activist. She is considered one of the leading music artists behind the country rock genre in the 1970s and the Americana (music), Americana genre ...

Buddy Miller Steven Paul "Buddy" Miller (born September 6, 1952) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist and producer, currently living in Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in T ...

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, coun ...

, and

David Rawlings David Todd Rawlings (born December 30, 1969) is an American guitarist, singer, and record producer. He is known for his musical partnership with singer and songwriter Gillian Welch. He and Welch were nominated for the Academy Award for Best Or ...

. He also performed with Griffin on ''

'' and ''

Late Night with David Letterman ''Late Night with David Letterman'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show is the first installment of the '' Late Night''. Hosted by David Letterman, it aired from February1, 1982 to June 25, 1993, and was replaced by ...

''. Foster worked on Laura Cantrells' 2005 release before he joined Calexico in the following year. In 2006, he produced the Calexico album ''

Garden Ruin ''Garden Ruin'' is the fifth studio album by the rock band Calexico. It was released in 2006 on Quarterstick Records. The LP is the first Calexico album to feature no instrumental tracks, instead relying on a more direct, pop-style approach. ...

''. For the album, his choices for production were "very adventurous in details — using unusual percussion, or wanting to bring in instruments like banjo ukuleles, bass melodica, electric mandolin, and tenor guitar." Foster played bass on

T-Bone Burnett Joseph Henry "T Bone" Burnett III (born January 14, 1948) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band during the 1970s. Burnett has won several Grammy Awards for his work on film sou ...

's album '' Tooth of Crime'' (2008) as well as appearing in the Signature Theatre production of the play in the 1996–1997 season at the

Lucille Lortel Theatre The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior design is large ...

. In 2010, Foster formed The Slummers with Dan Stuart, Antonio Gramentieri, and Diego Sapignoli. They released their debut album ''Love of the Amateur'' and toured Europe a year later. In the second half of 2013, Foster worked with the

Ithaca Ithaca most commonly refers to: *Homer's Ithaca, an island featured in Homer's ''Odyssey'' *Ithaca (island), an island in Greece, possibly Homer's Ithaca *Ithaca, New York, a city, and home of Cornell University and Ithaca College Ithaca, Ithaka ...

-based songwriter Anna Coogan to record a co-written collection of songs for a new album. Foster had produced Coogan's first solo album ''The Nocturnal Among Us'' in 2009. The duo performed dates in Germany, Netherlands, London, and New York City in 2014. They were joined by drummer Brian Wilson aka Willie B. (

Johnny Dowd Johnny Dowd (born John David Dowd; March 29, 1948, in Fort Worth, Texas) is an American alternative country musician from Ithaca, New York. Typical of his style are experimental, noisy breaks in his songs and strong gothic (in the sense of dark ...

) on several dates. In October 2014, Foster and Coogan released the album ''Birth of the Stars'' on Elevate Records. Foster often performs in the house band of the Radio Free Song Club with

David Mansfield David Mansfield (born September 13, 1956) is an American musician and composer. Mansfield was raised in Leonia, New Jersey. His father, Newton Mansfield was a first violinist in the New York Philharmonic. David played guitar, pedal steel guita ...

and Dave Schramm.

Other international collaborations

J. D. Foster joined the

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

to take part in the production of ''Phantom Songs'' (2011). In recent years Foster has been working extensively with Italian musicians and is strongly associated with the up-and-coming "Palermo Sound." An Italian record review states: "Tra l'altro Storia Di Una Corsa denota chiaramente un sound moderno ma non per questo in linea con quello prevedibile e gettonato dai progetti musicali più pacchiani e quotati del momento. Determinanti, in tal senso, sono stati i gusti, le scelte, di chi questo disco l'ha prodotto a livello artistico senza tralasciare alcunché: JD Foster, appunto. "

Awards

Foster won the ''Austin Chronicle Music Awards'' for producer and bassist of the year for 1989–1990

Quotes

Describing his role as a producer, Foster says: :"I try to speak the same language as the artist. When you're chasing down the overall vibe of a recording, you know, the arrangement, instrumentation, tempo, sound, feel...probably the biggest factor is communication. It's exciting to figure out with the artist and engineer the direct technical way to record the sounds they're hearing in their head. " (2003) The Australian songwriter Simon Bonney said about Foster in an interview from 1993 : :"J.D. was my tour guide (...). J.D. has a country background, but not exclusively, and he can contribute many other ideas as well. If I'd shown these songs to a purely traditional country musician, that person wouldn't have got it." Joey Burns (Calexico): :"JD is wonderful. Great to work, hang, listen, talk, go out and be with. He has a lot of experience and at the same time loves the sense of discovery that music can be. He knows how to breathe and reassure people of just how much a gift this whole ball of wax is."

Partial discography

*'' Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.'',

(Reprise Records, 1986) *'' Hillbilly Deluxe'',

(Reprise Records, 1987) *''Surprise'',

Syd Straw Syd Straw is an American rock singer and songwriter. She began her career singing backup for Pat Benatar, then took her distinctive and powerful voice to the indie/alternative scene and joined the ever-evolving line-up of Golden Palominos fro ...

(Virgin Records, 1989) *''Too Much Fun'',

(Off Beat, 1992) *''Please Panic'',

The Vulgar Boatmen The Vulgar Boatmen are an American rock band. History The Vulgar Boatmen were formed in Gainesville, Florida, in 1982 by a group of students at the University of Florida, including John Eder and Walter Salas-Humara, later of The Silos. In ...

(1992) *'' Horseshoes and Hand Grenades'',

Chris Mars Chris Mars (born April 26, 1961) is an American painter and musician. He was the drummer for the seminal Minneapolis-based alternative rock band The Replacements (band), the Replacements from 1979 to 1990; he later joined the informal supergroup ...

(Smash Records, 1992) *'' 75% Less Fat'',

(Smash Records, 1993) *''Can O'Worms'', Dan Stuart (Monkey Hill Records, 1995) *''Opposite Sex'',

(1995) *''

Devotion + Doubt Devotion or Devotions may refer to: Religion * Anglican devotions, private prayers and practices used by Anglican Christians * Buddhist devotion, commitment to religious observance * Catholic devotions, customs, rituals, and practices of worship ...

'', Richard Buckner (MCA Records, 1997) *'' Y Los Cubanos Postizos'',

(Atlantic Records, 1998) *''Since'', Richard Buckner (MCA Records, 1998) *''Flicker'',

(1998) *''

¡Muy Divertido! ''¡Muy Divertido! (Very Entertaining!)'' is a studio album recorded in New York City by American guitarist and composer Marc Ribot with Los Cubanos Postizos. It was released on April 25, 2000 on Atlantic Records. Reception AllMusic awarded the ...

'',

(Atlantic Records, 2000) *''The Hill'', Richard Buckner (

Six Shooter Records Six Shooter Records is an independent record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that uses an artist-centric business model, focusing on art before commerce combined with extensive touring. Six Shooter Records was founded in 2000 by Shauna T ...

, 2000) *''Live in Austin'',

(2000) *''100 Questions'', The Schramms (Blue Rose Records, 2000) *''

Saints In Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

'',

(Atlantic Records, 2001) *'' Impossible Dream'',

(ATO, 2004) *''Post to Wire'',

Richmond Fontaine Richmond Fontaine was an American four-piece rock and alternative country band, based in Portland, Oregon. They were active between 1994 and 2016 and recorded eleven studio albums, four live albums and two EPs. Underpinned by lead singer and so ...

(2004) *''Mud'',

(2004) *'' Humming by the Flowered Vine'',

Laura Cantrell Laura Rose Cantrell (born July 16, 1967) is a country singer-songwriter and DJ from Nashville, Tennessee. Biography Cantrell moved to New York City from her native Nashville to study English at Columbia University. She briefly recorded songs w ...

(Matador, 2005) *''The Fitzgerald'',

(2005) *''

'',

(Quarterstick, 2006) *''Meadow'', Richard Buckner (

Merge Records Merge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as an outlet for music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expand ...

, 2006) *'' Thunderbird'',

Cassandra Wilson Cassandra Wilson (born December 4, 1955) is an American jazz singer, songwriter, and producer from Jackson, Mississippi. She is one of the most successful female jazz singers and has been described by critic Gary Giddins as "a singer blessed wit ...

, producer of the track "Lost" (Blue Note Records, 2006) *''

Children Running Through ''Children Running Through'' is Patty Griffin's sixth commercially released album, and fifth studio album. The album debuted at number 34 on the ''Billboard'' 200 in mid-February, the highest chart position achieved by Griffin in her career. I ...

'', Patty Griffin (ATO, 2007) *''Thirteen Cities'',

(2007) *''Cast Iron Soul'', Danny & Dusty (2007) *''Da Solo'',

(WEA Records, 2008) *''We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like a River'',

(2009) *''

Silent Movies A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...

'',

(PI Records, 2010) *'' Sono all'osso'', Il Pan del Diavolo (La Tempesta, 2010) *''Love of the Amateur'', The Slummers (Blue Rose Records, 2010) *''Rebetiko Gymnastas'',

(2012) *'' Piombo, polvere e carbone'', Il Pan del Diavolo (La Tempesta, 2012) *''Birth of the Stars'', Anna Coogan & J. D. Foster (Elevate, 2014) *''Airless Midnight'',

(2015) *''Marlowe's Revenge'', Dan Stuart (Fluff and Gravy Records, 2016)

References

External links

List of albums with contributions of JD Foster 1986-1998
AllMusic.com
List of albums with contributions of JD Foster 1996-2014
AllMusic.com
Discography
Discogs.com
Facebook artist page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, J. D. 1953 births Living people American country bass guitarists American male singer-songwriters American male bass guitarists American record producers 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians The Silos members