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Not quite phenomenal

Ruthie Foster

Fans of deep-roots blues and soul are always looking for new heroes and heroines. When Ruthie Foster’s The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster (Blue Corn) was released this February, she seemed to fit the profile, though it was more a recasting than a natural evolution. The 42-year-old Texas singer-songwriter has four earlier albums that helped establish her as an acoustic folk belter — a regular at coffeehouses and events like the Kerrville Folk Festival, the same concert platforms that another Texan, Michelle Shocked, sprang from nearly 20 years ago. But The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster redirected her abundant energy toward neo-classic soul, combining her own Nina Simone–like expressionistic keyboard playing with a band of musicians, under the smart direction of guitarist Malcolm Welbourne, who nail a sound that splits the difference between hardcore Memphis R&B and Austin-flavored Americana. That blend gives the CD’s vintage roots a fresh sound; throw in Foster’s powerhouse voice, the solid tune selection, and her songwriting gifts and you have one of the young year’s best roots releases.

But the new Ruthie Foster didn’t come to Johnny D’s a week ago Wednesday. Instead it was the acoustic-guitar-strapped folkie with the big voice and the matching personality, with blues guitarist Pat Boyack in tow to add some emotional colors to her strumming. And as warm as Foster’s nature was on stage, and as fiery and commanding as her hard-toned brassy gospel-fueled voice was (on every single song, relentlessly belting, with only rare twists of subtlety), she was less than phenomenal. Granted, the cost of sending a just-breaking-through artist out a band is more prohibitive today than it’s ever been. And Foster and Boyack did a fine job entertaining the full room with the likes of Lucinda Williams’s “Fruits of My Labor” and homespun stories like The Phenomenal’s laconic “Beaver Creek Blues.” Foster — whose clear Southern voice is a superb instrument — also built a rapport with the audience by telling of her childhood and of musical adventures. But surrounded by a full band in the studio, she was compelled to put the brakes on her careering vocal train. Live with just two guitars, it was full throttle all the way, and that limited her performance’s emotional range and impact. It was far from a bad time, but she’s good enough and experienced enough to temper her phrasing and do better.