Country singer brings debut album milestone to Tucson

Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Radney Foster's critically-acclaimed debut album “Del Rio, TX 1959,” but he will still be celebrating the milestone when he plays a show at Tucson’s 191 Toole on Friday, Nov. 17.

“A lot of people are so curious about it. It is such a beloved record, which I am incredibly grateful for,” Foster said during a phone interview early this month from his Nashville home to talk about his first Tucson show in a decade. “At the time, we were just trying to make a good piece of art and see if I could have a solo career.”

“Del Rio, TX 1959,” which came after Foster split with his longtime Foster & Lloyd country duo partner Bill Lloyd, spun off five singles and three Top 10 hits, including one that landed at No. 2 on the Billboard charts. The album showcased Foster’s songwriting and vocal versatility, going from the richly twangy “Just Call Me Lonesome” to the more pop-leaning “Nobody Wins” and the classic red dirt Texas stylings of “Went For A Ride.”

“I think it was a defining moment in my career, something that had this artistic impact, as well as a commercial impact,” said the 62-year-old Foster, who will include seven of the album’s 10 songs in his setlist on Friday. “Having seen it stand the test of time brings me a neat sense of joy.”

None of the nine studio albums Foster recorded since “Del Rio,” including two more for Arista and three on the indie Americana label Dualtone Records, has matched the commercial success. But Foster said the indie records and his self-released projects since he put out “Revival” in 2009 have exposed him to a new generation of fans.

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“They found out about me as a songwriter, not as a ‘country star.’ They know because of their playlists; ‘Nobody Wins’ and ‘Just Call Me Lonesome,’ they didn’t know those other songs,” Foster said of his younger fans. “It’s always fun when you see somebody who was not born when the record came out sing along with all the words, all of the songs. That’s kind of a fun thing, too.”

Foster, whose career has included acting, also has written several songs that other artists (Keith Urban, Los Lonely Boys, Hootie & the Blowfish, the Dixie Chicks, Luke Bryan among them) have recorded, including “A Real Fine Place to Start” that Sara Evans took to No. 1 in May 2005 and “Come in From the Cold,” which jazz great George Benson recorded in 2009.

“I always feel thrilled when anyone records my songs besides me,” he said.

Tucson singer-songwriter Eric Shaffer will open Foster’s show at 8 p.m. Friday, at 191 Toole, 191 E. Toole Ave. Tickets for the 21-and-older show, which is presented by Rhythm & Roots, Club Congress and the Rialto Theatre, are $24 through rialtotheatre.com.