Glen Foster’s new EP features an unexpected collaborator: Glen Foster.
When the Nanaimo guitarist learned that there was a comedian from Ontario with the exact same name, he sent him an e-mail saying, “Hey, here’s another Glen Foster,” and they had a laugh about it.
The next time Foster the comedian was performing in Vancouver, Foster the musician invited him to be his opening act at his next show at the Queen’s.
“It was pretty successful. We billed it as ‘The Glen Fosters Experience’ and from there it wasn’t too long after he said, ‘Hey, I’ve got an idea for a song,” Foster said.
The pair started exchanging lyrics online and soon came up with Party Out There Tonight, title track for Foster’s latest EP. The single is being released on April 9 with CD release shows set for April 12 and 13 at the Lighthouse Bistro.
Foster said his comic counterpart was an apt accomplice.
“Being a comedian and a performer, he’s conversant with dialogue and being able to deliver a succinct message to an audience that would either make them laugh or make them listen,” Foster said of his co-writer. “So between the two of us we had some pretty good ideas.”
The other three songs on the album are Feel Alright, a tune that’s been part of Foster’s repertoire for 20 years; Rockabilly Fever, a song he wrote to play at the rockabilly festival in Chemainus; and Somewhere Over the River, which Tom Petty gave to him in a dream.
“After [Petty] died I had a dream that he was on stage and I’m in the audience watching and the power went out,” Foster said. “So he’s on stage with nothing but a guitar so somebody yells out, ‘Just play something we can all sing along to,’ and so he started singing this song, ‘Somewhere over the river, not far away,’ and I woke up.”
The song includes a choir recorded at Christ Community Church.
Foster said Party Out There Tonight will form the basis of his next CD. In the fall he plans to record a few more songs and eventually release a full-length record.
WHAT’S ON … Glen Foster CD release at the Lighthouse Bistro on Friday, April 12 and Saturday, April 13 at 7 p.m. No cover.
arts@nanaimobulletin.com
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