Singer-songwriter Kenny Foster chatted with Digital Journal’s Markos Papadatos about his new single “Somewhere In Middle America,” and being a part of the digital age.
On his new single, he said, “Well, for one, I’m from there. I moved to Nashville a while ago, wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. I was from the Midwest. I grew up in a small-ish town, my family had been there for generations, and while I’d never spent a lot of time in Tennessee, it was only one state over (due East, basically, with similar landscapes, foliage) how different could it be? Turns out: really, really different.”
“I loved the pride that they had being from their region,” he said. “There were all these ties that bound them together locationally, vocationally, historically, words, phrases, etc. So many cultural touchpoints, but they weren’t mine. Sifting through the parts I liked and throwing away the stuff I didn’t, it occurred to me that the Midwest didn’t really have any of these things, or at least I didn’t grow up being aware of them, anyway. They certainly hadn’t broken their way into the wider American vernacular.”
“Our culture was what I’d call Middle American,” he said. “We weren’t from the South, we weren’t Northerners, we weren’t from the coasts, or a metropolitan area (there wasn’t even one of those close unless you drove over two hours, and even then they’d be considered ‘Middle Market’ towns). We weren’t on the left. We weren’t on the right. All of those touchstones you get from television and movies, name recognition, hearing your state or a town you know nearby in a song or what have you, there really wasn’t a lot of that for us. So we were just emulating what we saw and picking the best parts.”
On his music and songwriting inspirations, he said, “I grew up listening to my dad’s music (that became mine) James Taylor, Paul Simon, Jethro Tull, Supertramp, and then I found emo and alternative rock, and it kind of defined my adolescence. Just sheer emotion, with some quirky lyrics, and the clothes, and everything. Thought I was a surfer. Never surfed in my life. Grew my hair long, the whole bit. Liked the skater culture but was terrible at it.”
“I moved to Nashville and fell in love with the craft of songwriting. The painstaking detail, the right word at the right time, the chord change to minor, the complexity. And so for a long time I was just emulating that. I forgot all of the things I brought with me. And after banging my head against a wall and trying to write someone else’s story, it occurred to me that I should probably take the same tools, the same skills I’d accumulated from writing with so many amazing folks, get in a room with trusted friends and confidents, and try telling my story (which turns out was their story too),” he elaborated.
“I got a good run at it when I put out Deep Cuts a few years back, but I feel like I’m really hitting my stride sonically, and lyrically, on this project. It feels really nice,” he admitted.
The digital age
On being an artist in the digital age, he said, “It’s a double-edged sword. It’s everywhere all of a sudden. I have fans all over the world. It’s crazy. My two most-streamed cities right now are Stockholm and Istanbul. Never been to either (but you know I’m gonna change that the first chance I get. Because of the digital age, I get to tour in so many places. I spend a lot of time in Europe, and I really vibe with a lot of the cultures there, the way they do things, and it feels amazing to go there and bring what I do with me. I’m not a tourist when I go, I’m taking part in their culture. That’s special as hell. I’m so eternally grateful for that.”
“On the flip side of that, music has been losing its value for a while now. It’s just a click, or a link, it can be skipped as easily as it can be ignored. There are so many other, more pressing, more visually stimulating things that take people’s attention away from the music itself, from the experience of losing yourself in a melody or lyric, and really letting it affect you; change your world up. Music can do that. It still can. I just worry some people are more concerned with its ability to stream well than its ability to teach well,” he explained.
On his future plans, he said, “Well, first I need to welcome my first-born son into the world. My wife and I are so ecstatic to add this adventure to our plate. We’ve been very lucky to see and do a lot, and we’re ready to do, and teach, and learn all over again. It’ll be a sweet time.”
“I’ll spend a good portion of the year at home putting this record out, writing for my next project, and writing with other artists I love to try and help them write their story. And then when we’ve got a good rhythm with the boy, we’ll hit the road again and start supporting this record. We did 125k miles and 13 countries in 2019 before the pandemic hit, and while I’m sure we won’t hit those numbers again right away, I can’t wait to play these songs for folks and remember music how it was meant to be: face to face,” he elaborated.
Regarding his dream duet choices in music, he responded, “Adam Duritz would be cool as hell. Stephen Jenkins. Chris Carabba. James Taylor. Jason Isbell and I might be able to cook up something sweet. Chris Stapleton is on everyone’s list, I’m pretty sure. And it might sound out of left field, but it ain’t to me: John Mayer. I have no idea what it’d sound like, but I’d sure like to find out.”
“All of those guys I mentioned have soul, and their sound and music is their own. They care about lyrics, presentation, and honesty, and they give everything to what they do. Those are people I want to surround myself with,” he said.
On his definition of success, he said, “Fulfillment. Peace. Calm. Purpose. It’s not always in the spotlight. To have the time and headspace to take a walk with an old friend and pontificate about the universe, return home to your family to see it in action, and the ability to do meaningful work with a warm bed and a hot meal at the end. That’s the dream.”
He concluded about his single, “I hope that it takes you where I want you to go, if only for a minute, and that you come back a little better for the journey. And if you like where this is headed, I hope you’ll return for all the rest. I promise it’ll be worth your time.”
