Jen Foster

Last updated

Jen Foster
Jen foster knox 2009.jpg
Jen Foster performing at the Writer's Block in Knoxville, TN, in 2009.
Background information
Origin Houston, Texas, US
GenresPop
Occupation(s)Musician
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years active2001–present
LabelsFosterchild Records
Website jenfoster.com

Jennifer Kate Foster is an American singer-songwriter, musician, performer, record producer, and owner of her own record label Fosterchild Records. Her music incorporates elements of rock, pop, R&B, folk, country, and dance. She has released 3 studio albums, 3 EPs and has contributed to various film, television and multi-media soundtracks and exceeded sales of 50,000 units as an independent artist.

Contents

Foster has garnered a number of awards for her songwriting skills and has written with a number Nashville, Tennessee Music Row hit songwriter's including Pam Tillis ("Mi Vida Loca", "Spilled Perfume"), Jeffrey Steele ("What Hurts The Most", "My Wish"), Natalie Hemby ("Only Prettier", "White Liar"), Liz Rose ("Teardrops on My Guitar"), Mike Reid ("I Can't Make You Love Me"), Kristen Hall of Sugarland ("Baby Girl", "Stay"), Greg Barnhill ("Walkaway Joe"), Keith Follesé ("Smile", "Lookin' for a Good Time", "I Love You"), Rob Giles (The Rescues), and Emily West ("I Hate You, I Love You", "Blue Sky").

Early life

Jen Foster grew up in a suburban neighborhood in Houston, Texas. Her father is a successful Texas businessman and her mother was a housewife and an antiques dealer who died from endometrial cancer in 2008. Foster began playing the guitar at the age of eight, wrote her first song at sixteen, and won a number of talent contests at Duchesne Academy, the Catholic girls high school she attended. [1] Foster says "I was a fan of thought-provoking lyrics." Her early influences included James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Jackson Brown, and Bob Dylan. After moving to Los Angeles to go to Whittier College she graduated in 1992 with a degree in English and a minor in Music. Foster's first performances were at coffee houses and clubs including the Whisky a Go Go and The Troubadour. After working a few odd jobs including a receptionist for the luggage company Ricardo of Beverly Hills, she decided that she wanted to move back South. Foster also wanted to live in a strong community of songwriters so she moved to Nashville, Tennessee. [1]

Career

In 2003, Foster recorded her first official CD release, "Everybody's Girl." With the help of an investor and a small team of industry professionals they put together the first incarnation of her independent record label called American Garage Records. Foster began touring the United States playing colleges, clubs and radio stations and implemented a street team, allowing her to mobilize her fan base. [2]

In 2006, "The Underdogs" her 2nd official release came out, and was even more well-received than the first project. On "The Underdogs", Foster worked with Jeff Trott, who is best known for his extensive work with Sheryl Crow, as her guitar player, co-writer, and co-producer. Several songs on that project won some respectable songwriting awards and opportunities for Film/TV placements were coming in as well. In 2008, the second incarnation of her label Fosterchild Records, was born and her first official release under Fosterchild was an EP featuring the single "Closer To Nowhere." Foster made her first video for the song which quickly went to #1 on the LOGO channel and stayed on their Top 10 list for 6 months. "Closer To Nowhere" was also featured in MTV'S "The Hills." The full CD project, "Thirty-Nine," was released in 2009 and produced by world-class engineer Greg Droman. This project featured some of Foster's favorite musicians: Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow's guitar player), Rami Jaffee (Keyboard player for the Foo Fighters and The Wallflowers), Sean Hurley (Bass for John Mayer, Vertical Horizon), and Fred Eltringham (The Wallflowers, Dixie Chicks, Wreckers). [3]

At the same time the CD was being recorded Foster's mother began her battle with cancer and over those next few years Foster was called to spend a lot of time with her mother and family. It was at this time that Foster wrote the song inspired by her mother "The Least I Can Do." In 2009, Foster was invited by Bart Herbison to be the artist/writer representative on the very distinguished board at Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI). This board consists of some of the very best and most successful songwriters in music: Jessi Alexander ("The Climb", Miley Cyrus), Rivers Rutherford ("Homewrecker", Gretchen Wilson), Danny Wells ("Check Yes Or No", George Strait), Clay Mills ("Don't Think I Don't Think About It", Darius Rucker), Byron Hill ("Fool Hearted Memory", George Strait), Steve Bogard ("Damn Your Eyes", Etta James), and many others. Through her work with NSAI, Foster travelled to Washington DC to fight for the rights and fair compensation which songwriters are entitled to. Foster performed some her original compositions for Barbara Boxer, Jim Cooper, Lamar Alexander, and other members of Congress and the Senate, in an effort to remind them the value of a song.

Foster released the single "I Didn't Just Kiss Her", a tongue-in-cheek response to Katy Perry's hit I Kissed a Girl. Despite the controversial subject Jen has said the reaction to her single has been "surprisingly, overwhelmingly positive" although a few people have emailed her expressing their offense. [4]

2009 was also the year that Foster's song "Venice Beach" was chosen to be the theme song for the popular web series "VENICE" which is a spin-off from the CBS soap opera "The Guiding Light". Other original songs by Jen, including "She", "I'm in Love With You", and "I Can't Believe", were regularly featured in the series. Thousands of new fans have embraced Foster's music as a result of this placement. In 2011 the series won an Emmy for Best Daytime Short Format.

Foster is constantly writing, co-writing, and recording new songs. Creating demo's of country songs in Nashville to pitch to major country artists, travels to LA regularly to write and record new songs for pop pitches as well as for film/TV pitches. Foster has had songs on hold in Nashville with Faith Hill, Wynonna Judd, Rascal Flatts, Rodney Atkins, and Lee Brice. In 2012 Foster released a new artist project, "You Stayed" which is a compilation of a lot of the recordings she did in Los Angeles with co-producer, Rich Jacques and dedicated to her fans for their dedication and continue supported. She co-wrote the title track with songwriter/producer and Nashville Star judge, Jeffrey Steele.

2012 also saw Foster assemble a new Fosterchild Records team, start speaking at conferences about how she has marketed her music and built my fan base independently. Foster was the keynote speaker, along with Ashley Capps of Bonaroo, at the Indiegirl Conference in Knoxville, TN, spoke to a crowd of 350 people for Tin Pan South at the Millennium Hotel in Nashville and at Belmont University's "Best Job Ever" event in September 2012.

Foster has hosted three songwriter events since 2009 called "The Writer's Share", to benefit the TJ Martell Foundation for Leukemia, Cancer, and AIDS Research. This event has typically been held at the Bluebird Cafe, and has featured Richard Marx, Keb' Mo, and many other well-loved hit songwriters, such as Mike Reid ("I Can't Make You Love Me", Bonnie Raitt) and Chuck Cannon ("I Love The Way You Love Me", John Michael Montgomery). Her mother, Mary Alice, was the inspiration behind this event.

Film and television

Jen Foster's music has appeared in:

Awards

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Related Research Articles

Donald Ralph "Skip" Ewing is an American country music singer and songwriter. Active since 1988, Ewing has recorded nine studio albums and has charted 15 singles on the Billboard country charts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Allen</span> American country singer-songwriter

Deborah Allen is an American country music singer and songwriter. Since 1976, Allen has issued 12 albums and charted 14 singles on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. She recorded the 1983 crossover hit "Baby I Lied", which reached No. 4 on the country chart and No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100. Allen has also written No. 1 singles for herself, Janie Fricke, and John Conlee; top 5 hits for Patty Loveless and Tanya Tucker; and a top 10 hit for the Whites.

Miranda Eleanor De Fonbrune Cooper is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, dancer and television presenter. Miranda Cooper has worked in the music industry since 1996 when she gained her first recording contract. She worked as a professional dancer for artists such as Dannii Minogue before going into television presenting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Steele</span> American singer-songwriter (born 1961)

Jeffrey LeVasseur, known as Jeffrey Steele, is an American country music singer and songwriter. Along with recording his own material, Steele has become a prolific Nashville songwriter, having co-written more than 60 hit songs for such artists as Montgomery Gentry, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, LeAnn Rimes, Rascal Flatts, Billy Ray Cyrus, and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Banks</span> Canadian singer and songwriter

Victoria Wenonah Banks is a Nashville-based Canadian singer and songwriter. Her self-produced debut CD When You Can Fly was released on the On Ramp/EMI Canada label in April 2009. The CD earned Banks a 2010 Canadian Indie Award nomination and six nominations at the 2009 Canadian Country Music Awards (CCMAs) including Album of the Year, Producer of the Year, Single of the Year, Songwriter of the Year, Female Artist of the Year and Rising Star, making Banks the most nominated female artist of 2009. "The Wheel," the album's first single, reached the Top 20 on the Radio & Records Country Singles chart earning her a 2010 Canadian Radio Music Award nomination. Music videos for "The Wheel" and "When You Can Fly" received airplay on CMT Canada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Wiseman</span> American songwriter

Craig Michael Wiseman is an American Country music songwriter and producer, and the owner/founder of the Big Loud enterprise. He has been writing since the late 1980s, and his songs have been recorded by Lorrie Morgan, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney, Dolly Parton, Blake Shelton, and numerous other acts. He has written twenty-six No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs music charts, and has won a number of industry awards. In 2009, he was named "Songwriter of the Decade" by the Nashville Songwriters Association International, and in 2015, he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is a 501(c) not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the actual craft of songwriting, and through teaching about the music industry, and how to best position a song for success within it. They own the Bluebird Cafe.

Lee Thomas Miller is an American country music songwriter and occasional record producer. His credits include 7 number one country hits: "The Impossible", "The World", "I'm Still a Guy" and "Perfect Storm" — all by Brad Paisley — "You're Gonna Miss This" for Trace Adkins, "I Just Wanna Be Mad" by Terri Clark, and "Southern Girl". Three of his songs — "You're Gonna Miss This", "The Impossible" and "In Color" by Jamey Johnson — were nominated for Best Country Song at the Grammy Awards. Miller also co-wrote "Whiskey and You" with Chris Stapleton, which appears on Stapleton's 2015 album Traveller.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hillary Lindsey</span> American singer-songwriter

Hillary Lee Lindsey is an American singer-songwriter. She has written songs with or for a number of artists including Michelle Branch, Faith Hill, Martina McBride, Shakira, Lady A, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, Carrie Underwood, Kellie Pickler, Bon Jovi, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Tim McGraw and Luke Bryan. In 2006 and 2016, respectively, Lindsey won a Grammy Award for Best Country Song for Carrie Underwood's "Jesus, Take the Wheel" and for Little Big Town's "Girl Crush". In 2011, Lindsey received an Academy Award nomination for "Coming Home", recorded by Gwyneth Paltrow for the soundtrack of Country Strong, in the Best Original Song category. "Coming Home" also received a Golden Globe nomination that same year for Best Original Song along with "There's a Place for Us", making Lindsey a double nominee in 2011. As of 2018, she has had 20 number-one singles as a writer.

Katrina Carlson is an American singer-songwriter. She currently resides in Santa Monica, California with her husband, Kenneth A. Carlson, and her three children, Mackenzie, Alexander and Ruby Rose.

Craig William Bickhardt is an American country music singer and songwriter. His musical career includes co-writing credits for The Judds, Steve Wariner, Kathy Mattea and others. He was also a member of S-K-B, formerly S-K-O, after Paul Overstreet exited the band. He has released three studio albums of his own.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Volpe</span> American songwriter and folk musician

Christopher Robert Volpe was an American songwriter and folk musician. Starting in 2006, he won more than twenty international songwriting awards including an Independent Music Award for Best Folk Album.

Thomas Stevenson Douglas is an American country music songwriter. He has written Top 10 Billboard Country hits for John Michael Montgomery, Martina McBride, Tim McGraw, Collin Raye, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, and others.

Daisy Mallory is a country music singer-songwriter based in Nashville, Tennessee.

Gary Steven Harrison is an American songwriter.

Rhonda Kye Fleming is an American singer/songwriter and music publisher working in Nashville, Tennessee. She was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2009 and has won more than 42 BMI Awards, including BMI Songwriter of the Year for 3 consecutive years (1981–83). Fifteen of her compositions have achieved over one million performances each. Some of the most successful songs Fleming has written or co-written include: "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool", "Sleeping Single in a Double Bed", "Smoky Mountain Rain", "Roll On Mississippi", "Years", "I Wouldn't Have Missed It for the World", "Nobody","All Roads Lead to You", "Kansas City Lights", and "Give Me Wings". In 2012, she was an honoree of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum's Poets and Prophets series which honors songwriters deemed to have made a significant contribution to country music. The series featured an extended interview with Fleming before an audience at the Country Music Hall of Fame, and film clips, recordings, and photos of Fleming's life work and awards. Some of the artists who have recorded Fleming's songs are: Barbara Mandrell, Ronnie Milsap, The Judds, Sylvia, Steve Wariner, Wynonna Judd, Joe Cocker, Charley Pride, Willie Nelson, Vince Gill, Janis Ian, Michael Johnson, Tina Turner, Amy Grant, and Bette Midler.

Jon Nite is a Grammy-nominated, CMA and ACM award winning singer/songwriter who has written 16 No.1 hits. Nite's songs have been recorded by artists such as Charlie Puth, Keith Urban, Dan & Shay, Gabby Barrett, Luke Bryan, Brandi Carlile, Tim McGraw, Miranda Lambert, Kenny Chesney, Phillip Phillips, Dierks Bentley, Chase Rice, Jake Owen, Michael Ray, Brett Young, Darius Rucker, Dustin Lynch, and more. Jon Nite co-wrote the cross-over smash hit, “I Hope ” by Gabby Barrett. “I Hope” was a record breaking #1 on not only the Billboard Country Airplay + Hot Country Songs charts as well as a #1 at Top 40, #2 on Hot AC, #3 on Hot 100, + 6x RIAA Platinum certified song in 2022. It received both ACM + CMA nominations for Single of the Year + was the best selling country song of 2020 in the US. Other accolades include Nite’s 2019 Grammy nomination for Best Country Song with Cole Swindell's single "Break Up in the End" which also topped the Country Aircheck chart. In addition, Jon has found a radio home with #1 hits like “We Were Us” by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert, “What She Wants Tonight,” “Knockin’ Boots,” + “Strip It Down” by Luke Bryan, “Beachin’” by Jake Owen, “Living” by Dierks Bentley, “Lady” by Brett Young, “Whatever She’s Got” by David Nail, “Smoke” by A Thousand Horses, “Break On Me” by Keith Urban, "Noise" by Kenny Chesney, “Think A Little Less” by Michael Ray, “If I Told You” by Darius Rucker, "Boy" by Lee Brice, and more. Jon has also had success in the sync world with placements such as The Shack, Grey’s Anatomy, True Blood, CSI, The Vampire Diaries, One Tree Hill, Mob Wives, Private Practice, + SEC Football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Morrison (songwriter)</span> American country songwriter

Robert Edwin Morrison is an American country songwriter based in Nashville. More than 350 of his songs have been recorded. His most successful compositions are the Grammy-winning Kenny Rogers song, "You Decorated My Life" and the Grammy-nominated "Lookin' for Love," the theme song for the 1980 John Travolta film, Urban Cowboy, recorded by Johnny Lee. Morrison was ASCAP's "Country Songwriter of the Year" in 1978, 1980, 1981 and 1982 and was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2016.

The Tin Pan South Songwriters Festival is an annual festival of songwriters in Nashville, Tennessee. It was established by the 4,000-member Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) in 1993. The festival is typically a five-day session for songwriters including nights of "songwriter in the round" shows held at 10 or so venues around the city, usually Nashville's top singer/songwriter hotspots. According to Tennessean writer Dave Paulson, the festival allows country music's rising stars to take the stage alongside their closest collaborators. The festival is not about country music per se — it includes all genres of music, and features both professional and amateur composers in the U.S. and abroad. The name was derived from Tin Pan Alley, a district of Manhattan near West 28th Street, where music publishers flourished as far back as 1885. As of 2019, Tin Pan South is "the world's largest songwriter festival" according to the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation. The 31st annual (2023) event will feature performances by hundreds of songwriters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Patricia Bahia</span> American musician

Patricia Bahia is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. Her songs have aired on TV shows, The Fosters, Nashville, Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists, and Riverdale, among others. In 2015, she was nominated for two L.A. Music Critic Awards: Best Pop Rock Artist (Female) and Best CD (Female). Bahia is an ovarian cancer survivor. Her songs, Every Day is a Gift, Great Day to Be Alive, and Keep the Light On, inspired in part by her cancer experience, have garnered two Positive Music Awards, the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest's Grand Prize, and a Peace Song Award.

References

  1. 1 2 "Bio". Official Website. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  2. ↑ Detlor,Pamela. "Jen Foster". lovegirls.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  3. ↑ Bendix, Trish (April 21, 2009). "Jen Foster on Women and Song". afterellen.com. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  4. ↑ Michelson, Noah. "She Didn't Just Kiss Her". out.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  5. ↑ "I'm Done With You". tv.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  6. ↑ "Girl Play Soundtrack". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Hall of Fame". The Great American Song Contest. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  8. ↑ "Outmusic Awards Data". queermusicheritage.com. Retrieved September 24, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Winners". IAMA. Archived from the original on November 28, 2006. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
  10. ↑ "Winners". ISC. Archived from the original on March 10, 2009. Retrieved November 28, 2006.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.