A life’s journey through song.
Ruthie Foster’s tenth album, her first for the legendary Sun Records, unfolds as a biography of her life and career, reflecting on the canon of American music itself and delivering a multi-faceted story of American song. Opening with the title track ‘Mileage’, Foster reflects on age, time, and the roads she’s traveled, where survival becomes the meaningful measure of success. “There ain’t no road I’ve been up and down, I’ve lost, I’ve been found… but I’m proud.” In hard-wearing times, endurance is the testament; miles clocked, roads taken—the journey becomes the story itself.
‘Good For My Soul’ and the follower, ‘Heatshine’, hearken back to Foster’s upbringing as a self-described “little Black girl with a guitar,” singing in churches in rural Texas. The personal becomes spiritual. The latter track is underpinned by soulful electric blues guitar and Foster’s soaring vocal. ‘Slow Down’ is full-tilt roadhouse blues. Foster is in command, steering the band through shifting tempos, all under her powerful vocal lead. ‘Six Mile Water’ peers into the rear-view mirror, offering a journey to the past, reflecting on “learning to be my mother’s daughter again” and basking in that “Texas sunshine.” Sweet and soulful. A tying theme throughout, love is the engine of survival, to quote another voice from the Tower of Song.
Midway through, Foster delivers a cover of ‘That’s All Right’, the Arthur Crudup song made famous by Elvis Presley for Sun Records—a cornerstone of rock and roll and a pillar of American music history. Here, the rockabilly is underpinned by soulful swing, closer in tempo to Crudup’s original, bringing a sense of homecoming. Elsewhere, ‘Done’ is a raw, Muddy Waters-esque folk blues, recorded with Rebecca Lovell, one-half of the duo Larkin Poe. It’s after-hours perfection.
The final track, ‘See You When I See You’, is a beautifully economical, soulful closer—a prayer urging to give thanks and “take it all, take it all while you can.” The road gets darker, but the journey goes on. Through it all, Foster’s voice is the guiding light, steering us through each stop and style. She’s in full command of the journey. What becomes clear is Foster’s dexterity as she steps through each root style, with a command rooted in the power and depth of her voice.
