Josephine Foster

Josephine Foster is an American modern folk singer-songwriter and musician from Colorado. As an adolescent she worked as a funeral and wedding singer, and aspired to become an opera singer. Several years later she abandoned the idea and began to record demos of her songs, resulting in the early recordings There Are Eyes Above (2000), an album of ukulele accompanied songs strongly influenced by Tin Pan Alley, and a short album of children's songs, Little Life (2001). For several years she worked as a singing teacher in Chicago, recording and performing with a variety of musical acts on the side including Born Heller, a duo with free jazz-bassist Jason Ajemian, and The Children's Hour a pop band formed with songwriter Andrew Bar. In 2004, joined by her occasional backing band The Supposed (Brian Goodman on guitar and Rusty Peterson on drums), she released an album of psychedelic rock called All the Leaves Are Gone which has drawn comparison to Patti Smith and Jefferson Airplane. The songs on her first solo studio album Hazel Eyes, I Will Lead You (2005) evoke American folk and blues forms of the early 20th century. A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, released in 2006, features unorthodox interpretations of 19th century German Lieder. Her third solo album, This Coming Gladness, was released in 2008. In early 2009 she signed to London-based Label Fire Records (uk)