Bless his Cosmic Soul “You seem natural, so effortless…Can’t help but shine.”— Foster McGinty With his rolling, curly brown hair and intensely dark eyes framing a hippie-vintage-rocker look, Foster McGinty shines in his life’s role as both a ‘knowing nod’ to the wah-wah drenched days of old and a hopeful, promising look forward into the future of Rock & Roll. Foster’s deep rock roots stretch from small town midwestern beginnings all the way to California and back to The Big Apple, where he now calls home. Long before Foster was a Guitar God to-be, he started by “diggin’ out my Dad’s guitars in the basement, and bending the strings at five years old.” Born in Memphis and raised in Missouri, Foster grew up in a family where several members played instruments and sang, but it wasn’t until seventh grade that he ended up in the family music room and started “fiddling around with the guitar.” “I think I actually wrote a song. I had no idea what I was doing, and it just gave me an incredible feeling,” he says of his childhood initiation to the world of Rock & Roll singer/songwriters. Foster’s new ‘feeling’ was an all-consuming love for classic rock music and old blues that washed over him like a river overflowing its banks. Hendrix, Clapton, Dylan, and old blues legends like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters… all the greats filled Foster’s head, heart and soul. It wasn’t long after he stumbled headlong into music as his life’s path that friends and family within Foster’s circle joked that he was the skinny white-boy reincarnated spirit of Jimi Hendrix and Cream’s love child. Foster’s teen years were spent rehearsing for countless hours under the roof of his parent’s tin barn with numerous bands, but Foster says he “always preferred spending my time writing my own music and traveling down a path of musical expression.” Foster co-wrote songs with his best friend in their junior and high school years but disbanded shortly after their first recording. Foster’s dedication to music was on a much higher level, and he knew a change was coming. I Must Be On My Way “To grow into the performer and songwriter I wanted to become, I had to leave my small town roots,” Foster says. “I moved to St. Louis, formed a few different bands. I was still writing the music and having others do the lyrics and singing, but mainly we wasted time.” Wasting time must have been what inspired Foster to head back home to Missouri less than a year later. Once settled back home, Foster’s love for the artistry of Jimi Hendrix blossomed. In his apartment on the banks of the Mississippi River, Foster started to examine the guitar on a whole new level. “I started exploring beyond songwriting,” he says. “I wanted to be able to express myself on the spot.” With so much musical passion and exploratory energy building inside him, Foster grew restless again and headed for California, where he recorded with a few groups and played lead guitar for the first time. Foster says California didn’t turn out to be his musical oasis, but it did serve as the launching point of his vision as an artist. After severing ties with his songwriter friend, Foster began writing his own lyrics, which led Foster to start singing-something he never thought he would do. Seven months later, Cape Girardeau beckoned him home once again. Foster recorded a host of songs within one year and formed a trio, playing mostly in Memphis. I Hope I Make It Home Alive It was good to be back home again as the old song goes, but change-another life altering musical change-was again on his mind. Foster uprooted himself and hopped on a plane bound for New York City in October, 2006. The goal: Making his dream come true to play his original retro-style rock in the world’s biggest city. New York would serve as the launch pad for a bigger career in music. Foster quickly formed another rock trio and recorded the E.P. State of Mind Music Box as they performed all over Manhattan. In April of 2009, Foster McGinty completed his debut full-length cd, Peach Red, a disc full of funky, hard driving, bluesy vintage-style rock propelled by Foster’s smoking lead guitar. In March of 2011 Foster McGinty will be releasing his sophomore album, Chateau Fiasco. Eleven tracks written, recorded, and co-produced by McGinty in New York City. It can be said that Foster McGinty is a name—and a sound—that you’re sure to want to hear again. Foster is one of those deeply introspective, sultry Rock & Roll types who prefers to let his music do most of his communicating. Foster’s voice has a mellow, soulful and majestic quality while possessing that perfect combination of ‘heart-on-your-sleeve’ vulnerability, childlike simplicity, and sexy Bad Boy swagger mastered by the greats of classic rock. Music, for Foster McGinty, is as much a part of him as breathing and thinking.
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