Glen Foster is no stranger to Ladysmith. He’s performed at Arts on the Avenue three times, Ladysmith Days, and this Sunday will be his third time performing at Transfer Beach for LRCA’s Concerts in the Park.
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“It’s one of my favourite venues anywhere to play. With the amphitheatre and the people sitting there in that relaxed situation — it’s really great to play there,” Foster said.
For those unfamiliar with Foster’s work, he is the lead guitarist and frontman for the Glen Foster group, a five piece rock and roll ensemble that performs rock and roll, rockabilly, and blues. Foster has several albums including, Trusted Tried and True (2009), The Reckoning (2012), Leaving the Lagoon (2015), Music Alchemy (2017), and their latest EP, Party Out There Tonight (2019).
“I’m a songwriter, so I play a lot of original songs in the show. Some of it’s on acoustic guitar, and the rest is on electric guitar, so it’s kind of a light rock show,” Foster said. “We also concentrate on four piece vocal harmonies.”
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Foster’s new song, “Party Out There Tonight” was written as a collaborative project with Ontario comedian, Glen Foster. The two met each other through the internet and capitalized on the coincidence. The musical Foster was performing for an album release party at the Queens in Nanaimo around the same time the comedic Foster was performing in Vancouver.
The comedic Foster decided to join the musical Foster for the album release party and did some standup. A few weeks after the show, the Fosters created the song, and a music video was recorded for the song shortly after.
“He had the title for it and a few ideas for some lines, so I picked up on it and came up with the guitar hook that I used in the opening and throughout the song… I added some lyrics for it and made it into a song. It was a pretty neat experience. I don’t collaborate with a lot of people, especially something like that where it’s long distance. I thought it went really well,” Foster said.
Collaborating with a comedian was ideal for Foster, as he likes to bring as much fun and laughter in to his music as possible.
The Glen Foster Group is currently working on a new album to be released some time before next summer. For now, they’re busy on the summer show circuit, but they’ll be back in the studio soon. They’re also expected to release a music video for “Rockabilly Fever” some time soon, so fans will want to keep an eye on their website, glenfoster.ca to watch the video when it goes live.
Foster hopes fans in Ladysmith will come out to enjoy an evening of family friendly music at Transfer Beach.
“I really like the idea of it being a family event where people bring picnic dinners, lawn chairs, and enjoy the music. I really think that’s wonderful. For me, when you sit there in the amphitheatre and you watch the musicians and in the background you’ve got sail boats, and eagles flying, and beautiful ocean view, it’s just fabulous,” Foster said.