CMT Blog: Archive

Singer-songwriter and producer Radney Foster celebrated his 50th birthday last night (July 20) with a performance at Nashville's Exit/In, and the list of guests that joined him onstage was incredible. I'm still trying to sort the whole thing out -- Darius Rucker, Dierks Bentley, Vince Gill, Sam Bush, the Randy Rogers Band ... the list goes on. It was a night of reunions, big grins, hugs and birthday song singalongs, but above all, Foster's border-straddling country songs. His music feels as comfortable in mainstream country circles as it does in Americana, and the group of friends that showed up to jam only reinforced that idea.

The show was broken into two main sets, the first one played with the Tex Pistols, Foster's former band. They warmed up on Merle Haggard's "Running Kind" and Foster's "Just Call Me Lonesome" before bringing out Jessi Alexander, Jon Randall and mandolin wizard Sam Bush for "Easier Said Than Done." Then it was straight into "Louisiana Blue" with Darius Rucker and "Closing Time" featuring Vince Gill on guitar. For those keeping score, we're only five songs into the show. Next was the standout of the first set, "Nobody Wins," backed up by soulful vocals from Gill and Georgia Middleman. Her emotive voice was the perfect complement to Foster's throughout the evening. Rucker then returned and introduced Bill Lloyd, the other half of Foster & Lloyd. Rucker explained that the duo had a huge impact on him in the late '80s and early '90s, and the approving crowd swelled as "You Can Come Crying for Me" ended the first set.

The night was over for the Tex Pistols, but there were still two more bands to play, and Foster introduced the next as "little brothers." The Randy Rogers Band walked out to cover "School of Hard Knocks" and then played "Kiss Me in the Dark," a song co-written by Foster and one of the band's biggest hits to date.

We're about halfway through the show now, and just when you think it might settle down a bit, Foster and the Confessions come out with the 16 piece American Soul & Rock & Roll Choir. This started off a spirited set that previewed Foster's upcoming release, Revival, and featured even more guests. Dierks Bentley was up first to do his part on "Until It's Gone," a song from the new album, and "Sweet & Wild" (co-written by Foster). Rucker then came back to do his cut off Revival, "Angel Flight," and stuck around for a moving version of "Rainin' on Sunday," a song made famous by Keith Urban. Marc Broussard joined the party on "Godspeed," and George Ducas stopped by for "the West Texas version of 'Real Fine Place to Start' -- no offense to Sara Evans." Then it was on to the highlight of the evening for me, Lee Roy Parnell on "Foldin' Money." I've seen a few guitar-faces in my time, but when he rears back and launches into a solo, you know it's coming from somewhere deep inside. The night ended the way Foster's career began, accompanied by Bill Lloyd on "Crazy Over You" and in a club full of friends and fans. To a better birthday party, I've never been.