Grey skies loomed over Balham, London as I made my way to The Bedford to meet the Country Artist Kenny Foster before he performed his last UK show on his 'Ain't From Around Here' tour. Kenny is the Country singer born in Missouri who has just released his album 'Deep Cuts'.

The Bedford is a rustic pub with a fire-place with the potential to display a roaring fire and classical old chairs which made me feel like I’d moved back a couple of centuries! There was beautiful artistry upon the ceiling and light streaming through the windows, it was the perfect warm place to have an interview.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

It’s very roots, to be honest. Roots in that we use real acoustic instruments. Some have said 'an earnest vocal' and I like that.

Would you say that you’re quite traditional Nashville?

That’s an interesting question too. I would say that I care about songs in the way that traditional Nashville does. I’m not sure you can two-step to it, you know, so if there was a fusion of traditional country and maybe even modern singer-songwriters, I feel like I strike somewhere in there. Yeah, ‘cos the message is very now, but it’s also very timeless too.

Where do you think you started doing Country music?

Well, where do good songs live? In the US, good songs live in country music. The genre has consolidated quite a bit and so where does a singer-songwriter live in the current music landscape? We don’t have singer-songwriters, it’s just not a thing. So those exist but on a sort of ethereal plan, you know, if you’re trying to reach a large number of people that there’s a great tradition in country music. It’s a very American art form which borrows from this side of the planet as well. But it’s the voice of the people I think. It’s a very real people, story-driven genre and that’s where I find the heart of music and, honestly, it’s what I wanna hear right now. It’s really music being made with sample packs and they’re moving people places just sonically speaking, but unless you’ve got amplification and a set-up and you bring your gear, you’re not being able to move somebody. But if you’ve got just a guitar and any room, any bus, any back alley you can change that space with that instrument; no plug-ins, no anything, and I just love that feeling.

So how did you first discover you could write your own music? I think songwriting is so much harder than writing a book or similar.

So yeah, I imagine writing a book is difficult too. I’ve not done it, but I didn’t know that I could song write. That’s why I love your question because I grew up in a town that loved songs, and loved art, and loved film, but that wasn’t a job for us. It wasn’t ours, we weren’t invited to that space and it’s not because anyone was leaving us out, it’s that we didn’t have the mentality, “no, whoever they are making this thing must be great men and women” and I was fine with holding that esteem for a long time but it was when I moved to college and I met a guy who ended up being my bandmate. I was in an acapella men’s choir and we sang all the doo-wop songs you can handle.

Have you seen Pitch Perfect? Were you like that?

So, honestly not far from it. We were just a talented group of guys that love performing and that was an outlet and it was a lot of fun. But it was all cover songs and it was him that was like “well I write some songs” and I was like “how do you do that” and he was like “well you just do it” and I never really considered it but I decided to just dig in one day. I was in college, you know, or university as you guys say, it was probably my sophomore year before I ever really thought about it. I had probably been playing guitar for about four years by that point.

Had you written many songs before you actually got your big break?

You know there sometimes is like a statement that says you know, “if you’re gonna be a songwriter, the start writing songs”. So, I thought that seemed really intimidating and it took me a long time to give it a go. I had to move to Nashville by that time.

Are you from Nashville?

I grew up in Missouri, it’s not that far but it’s an 8-hour drive, and I know over here that seems ridiculous but 8 hours ain’t that bad, you only pass like two or three cities on the way...

So this is a bit of a fun question, would you say there was a song or a book or a film that you experienced when were younger that you feel has changed your life?

Lots. I ended up being a philosophy major in college.

I did philosophy at A Level. Probably isn’t the same as a university one.

Well, I don’t know, I mean what did you read?

We did Kant and all that stuff, we did the perfect world which is about when you leave this earth you go up to a cloud and everything on this cloud is perfect, so when we die and are reborn we go up to the cloud and we can see everything’s perfect, so we spend the rest of our lives trying to be like the perfect version of everything in the world.

So, almost Aristotle’s allegory of the cave? Like Plato yeah sorry?

Yeah, we did that too, yeah.

I liked Plato’s Republic, I liked that a lot. There’s a book 'Sid Arthur' by Herman House, pretty mind-numbing about a young ruler that goes through all stages of life and I think that sort of shaped, it helped me think about the whole picture. Not just ‘cos when you’re young you see the rich and famous and that leads you down the path you need to be and you have an idealised view of what it is they do and who they are. And 'Sid Arthur' made me sort of want to break that part of it, to say “no, there’s a reality to the dream that I’ve built in my head and I want to know everything about it.” So, I find it funny that I call it that, this is the first one that popped into my head but, I read a lot, you know, growing up.

So you would say books were a big thing, they probably helped you in songwriting?

Sure, well I mean you’re about words and you use ‘em, and different people use ‘em in different ways and, you know, I think they say all artists steal and I say “well if you’re gonna steal, then steal from the best.” So, find the classics, find great artists that have had songs that have lasted the test of time and see what they did well.

So what are you listening to at the moment? If you had a Spotify playlist, who’s leading it?

That’s a great question. Well, it’s so funny I listen to Talk radio in the car and I like Chris Staple, Sturgeon Simpson, Casey Musgrave, Old Dominion, Brothers Osbourne, John Mayer. John Mayer is a songwriter who uses words very cool.

Can you tell me a little more about your latest album release 'Deep Cuts'?

It’s the record of my life. I’ve put a lot of EPs and singles out, everyone is trying to play the silly game in Nashville, very concerned making a name for yourself and it wasn’t until I learned the ins and outs of that game that I decided I didn’t wanna play cos the game was just an overlay, over the top of something that was very real which is my ability as a songwriter to connect with you as a listener. All art is doing is paint and theatre, it is a person pulling emotions out of themselves, pulling in some sort of truth that you connect with and, they found ways to monetize that by selling you a seat. But that doesn’t change the expression, the fact that you can, and I think in 'Deep Cuts', rather than figuring out what box I was gonna fit in so they could monetise it, I’d rather make things real difficult for everyone and just do the record that I wanted to do and so that was 'Deep Cuts' and the songs are very much from the heart and are probably from about a three-year period. I had about 450 songs to choose from.

Are you pleased with the reception? 

Yeah. The people that choose to interact with it I think get to know me quite well, and that was the point of this record. If you listen to this record I don’t want you to be a fan, I want you to be a friend and just have this understanding of this life thing that we’re doing.

You mentioned the competition in Nashville, what would you say  are the challenges are of the music industry?

Well, records are hard to sell, so that was the monetisation of that system. MP3s came along, streaming came along, you have to find new ways to exist as an artist. So the number of companies that are doing that is less and less but now the deals that are being handed out are becoming less and less. And so, everyone feels the tightening of the purse strings and they feel like they have to fight with who is next to get attention.

As well as the challenges though, what are your favourite parts?

I think my favourite parts are figuring them out and then figuring out how to rise above it. So figuring out; here are the challenges, here’s what everyone seems to be competing for, and rather than win at that game, I just don’t wanna play it. I wanna do something real and I’d rather build it than buy it.

Do you think that helps shapes your identity so that other people can’t fit you into a box?

Yeah, but again it wasn’t intentional you know, I’m not trying to be the “don’t label me man” cos that’s like a stereotypical artist thing, you think it’s just that I was so hyper-aware of the game, while I was developing as an artist that I forgot to be an artist in the middle of it, and I’ve finally got to the part where here’s how an artist exists and if I’m going to be an artist I want it to look like this, even though it doesn’t really seem like there’s space for that, but it doesn’t really bother me. If it’s going to exist and hold my life to it, I want it to be that, in the way that I imagined it because if it’s not how I imagined it, then do I really want it? You have to ask yourself that question.

So, when you were younger, what did you grow up on in terms of music?

Well, my dad, he had a CD collection and one of those spinning things…

Records?

No, it was one of these things that had like 10 CDs and it was just like a display and you put all of your CD art in it, so before streaming and MP3s it was artwork, you’d have racks of CDs. It was what you did, you’d display your tastes, there wasn’t just a Spotify list that everyone checked in on, it was something so people could see what you’d been listening to, so I grew up on what my dad listened to which was classic rock, singer-songwriters, James Taylor, Paul Simon even Garth Brooks. Later on, it’s funny as people said I reminded them of Leonard Jennings.

When did you discover that you could sing? That you had this talent?

I don’t know. I was in the church choir.

Oh, I was in church choir!

Yeah, yeah with the scrolls and the robes and the shoes. Yeah, we were super fancy with our robes. You should go buy one! It was probably third grade when I was doing that, singing around the house and what have you.

So, if you weren’t a singer, what would you wanna do?

I wanted to be an archaeologist, like Indiana Jones, man. I just wanted to go to far off lands and just discover strange treasures, skulls, and get chased by boulders and indigenous people. I’m ready for it with a hat like this, I just gotta get the whip and get Sean Connery to be my dad.

So, where would be your dream festival or venue to play?

I’ve always had this affinity for Red Rocks in Colorado in the States. It’s a rather picturesque, beautiful venue where the backdrop is this stone formation that’s been there for millions of years and they’ve set a stage in front of it. Google that when you get home, Red Rocks.

So, is it a big deal in America?

Yeah, I think there’s a lot of people that sort of want to play in that. But the thing I’ll say is that I’m sure there is a venue that I don’t even know exists right now, somewhere in the world that I would say, I would love to play that and you know what, we’re all naïve.

So, if you could collaborate with anyone ever dead or alive who would it be?

If I could collaborate with anybody… I’m kind of torn right now…

You could go with both if you like!

There’s a couple of rock guys as I grew up listening to, you guys know Callen Crows? Or maybe they’re before your time. Because here’s the deal, when you collaborate with somebody you don’t know if they’re gonna be cool about it. So there are some people that the reason I would wanna collaborate with them would be to write a song. But, I don’t wanna get in the room and realise they wanna steamroll me or they have their own processes.

Or they don’t want to listen to what you have to say?

Sure, you know, I just don’t wanna live with that.

But if in an ideal world they were listening, would you?

Yeah, that’d be great. I have multitudes of questions for John Mayer as he had a deal at a very young age and has kept a career since going through many iterations of. I’d have so many questions, and I wonder what kind of sound we’d produce. Yeah, and I’d be willing to try.

So, when you’re not working or when you’re chilling out, how do you wind down or switch off?

Play video games.

What is a typical day for Kenny Foster?

Wake up at the crack of 10.

Hey, that’s a lie in!

It’s tough haha. Then I’ll head to a studio or publishing house or have somebody over to my place and write a song, usually be done by two or three and then go demo anything, usually the song we just wrote, maybe something from before that needs a demo so go and sing that and then have a bit of dinner, go to some shows with my friend at night.

See, look how awesome that sounds.

If you can settle into it, it’s pretty awesome.

Well I mean, you’re doing what you love so, you probably naturally just settled!

Sure, but there are always struggles, there’s networking, there are meetings, there’s a lot of stuff that goes on.

Do you find it difficult or is it something that flows quite naturally to you?

I generally don’t like networking but I like making friends. See, I know why networkers network and it’s to get ahead like "what can you do for me"? I would rather make a connection with somebody that’s real based on facts and truth and then we can collaborate instead of "what am I getting from you?" I would like to share a moment with you and if there’s been some life-giving moments… If you do something real then I think progress comes, and I think you need trust that good can win, even in a system that doesn’t always seem to, you have to believe that, I mean as an artist, as a dreamer, why do it? Look at the numbers folks, there’s no reason to jump into this mess, there is no reason. Go get a proper job, have a family and kids and a white picket fence and live happily, I mean there are people that come to Nashville and chase their dream and in six months they’re like “this is not what I wanted.” And they need to understand that if they don’t do it, they’re not lesser, in fact, they might end up having a better overall life than having chased it and not caught it.

So, my final question, I know that this is the last day of your UK tour, are you sad about that? What’s coming up soon for you? What can we expect from you?

The video for 'Stand' comes out on Friday, this week, and we’re gonna go back, we’re gonna set up a couple more dates in the States moving into the winter, but spring is gonna be pretty gang busters and there are a few opportunities that may have us back  here by the end of the year. We actually are whispering about Harris and some documentaries for the BBC and so he’s doing another one about Nashville, very in depth, very compelling.

Do you think you’re going to feature?

I don’t know what it’ll be like, but I’m going to be a part of his next one, along with some other names that I am just happy to be even in the same book as not even the same sentence you know, so let’s start somewhere on this. So, I’m looking forward to that and looking forward to doing some more writing when I get back to Nashville and hopefully, by spring we’ll be back here hanging out doing something else.

Later on that evening I headed back to The Bedford for Kenny's show. When he came on stage, his presence was very humble. People seemed to be very engaged with him and were extremely happy to listen to him play. My greatest moment of the night was when he sung his handwritten song called 'Hometown' about when his family’s home was caught up in a twister in Missouri. It brought me to tears and I loved it!

Kenny Foster is an amazing rising star and you should definitely check out his music here. I loved every moment of the show and can’t wait to see more of what he has to offer!