D.A. Foster's "The Real Thing" Releases Today

D.A. Foster ~ The Real Thing Shaboo/VizzTone 01/27/2015 "Four decades in R&B music. Now it's his time. He's the real thing...." Mike Finnigan We're doing some additional work for D.A. Foster above and beyond the work being undertaken by VizzTone. Please reply if you would like a review copy. D.A. Foster learned to sing the blues from some of the greats, up front and personal. Starting at age 19 and all through his 20's (1971-1982), he was hands-on co-owner of the legendary Connecticut roadhouse, the Shaboo Inn. The Shaboo introduced newcomers like Aerosmith, the Police, Hall & Oates, Journey, ACDC, Cheap Trick, Dire Straits and Elvis Costello, and hosted blues greats by the week — Willie Dixon, Howlin' Wolf, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, T-Bone Walker, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, James Cotton, Koko Taylor, B.B. King, Albert King, Freddie King, Bonnie Raitt, and more. When many of these blues legends discovered D.A.'s natural vocal talents, they mentored him and invited him to cut his chops onstage with them. In 1979 D.A. formed his own band, the Shaboo Allstars. Matt Murphy was just coming off the Blues Brothers movie and jumped at the opportunity to be the guitar player in the band. Foster credits Matt Murphy for launching the band with a license to work anywhere, and they toured the US for the next two years. In 1982 the Shaboo closed its doors, and the legendary Harvey Brooks began a five-year run with the band, during which they did a 7-night run opening for Stevie Ray Vaughan Meanwhile, D.A. continued working as a talent buyer and started a music production company. In D.A.'s 35-plus year bandleader career, many notables have joined him onstage — Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Keith Richards, Dan Aykroyd, Maceo Parker, Buddy Guy, Mike Finnigan, Kal David, and countless others... and he has a long support history with B.B. King. D.A. Foster is THE REAL THING — a deep blues & R&B singer of the first order, making timeless music with longtime friends, producers Tony Braunagel and Mike Finnigan, their phenomenal, Grammy award-winning Phantom Blues Band, and a few other very special people.

~ REPRESENTING ~ Charlie Musselwhite ~ Juke Joint Chapel 57th Annual Grammy Award Nominee “Best Blues Album” 2015 Blues Music Award (BMA) Nominee “Harmonica” June Core ~ 2015 BMA Nominee “Drums” Gary Clark Jr. ~ Live 2015 BMA Nominee “Contemporary Blues Male Artist” Missy Andersen ~ In The Moment 2015 BMA Nominee “Soul Blues Female Artist” Otis Clay & Johnny Rawls ~ Soul Brothers 2015 BMA Nominee “Soul Blues Album” & “Soul Blues Male Artist” (Otis & Johnny) Vaneese Thomas ~ Blues For My Father 2015 BMA Nominee “Soul Blues Album” & “Soul Blues Female Artist” Altered Five Blues Band ~ Cryin’ Mercy 2015 Best Self-Produced CD Winner Anthony Gomes • Bobby Hurricane Spencer • Chris Daniels & The Kings featuring Freddi Gowdy D.A. Foster • Grady Champion •Hurricane Ruth • Jeremy McEwen • Jon Spear Band Magnus Berg • Ray Goren • The Reverend Shawn Amos Facebook Twitter Website LinkedIn

Shaboo/VizzTone artist: D.A. Foster - The Real Thing - New Release review

I just received the newest release (1/13/15), the real thing, from D.A. Foster and it's a lot of fun. Opening with Good Man Bad Thing, D.A. Foster gets up a funky groove with Mike Finnigan on B3 and Lenny Castro on percussion. Darrell Leonard (trumpet)and Joe Sublett (sax) put down some warm horn work and Johnny Lee Schell blows through with fome hot fret work backed by Julie Delgado, Nita Whitaker and Mike Finnigan on backing vocals. On title track, The Real Thing, Foster gets a real strong sway going with Finnigan on piano and bluesy guitar riffs from Schell. Tony Braunagel on drums and Larry Fulcher on bass set the pace. We All Fall Down has a real nice R&B feel with lead guitar work from Josh Sklair and piano work from David Garfield. With Steely Dan brilliance and smooth vocals, this is the top radio track on the release. Funky Ain't Doing Too Bad gets Foster into a whole new territory with a swampy groove punched up by the horn section. Very nice! Soul track, This Time I'm Gone For Good, shows Foster's vocal prowess with a nice easy pace and light piano and B3 work backing. Schell lays in a really bluesy guitar solo adding a cool edge to the track. Eddie Hinton's Super Lover is a funky swampy R&B smash. Cool! I Need A Good Woman Bad is one of those tracks that just gets into you.. super groove with Finnigan and Foster just getting down. Backing vocals from Finnigan, Whitaker and Delgado, nice guitar work from Schell a hot B# lead from Finnigan and super bass work from Fulcher top this track. Classic blues/jazz track, Smack Dab In The Middle, gets a real tasty swing and light vocal backing chased by Finnigan. A different take on a classic track with a hot horn solo from Sublett really dresses it up. On Bill Wither ballad, You Just Can't Smile It Away, Foster really does a super job and a beautiful melody composed by Withers. Garfield takes the piano on this track and Sklair lead guitar but the star soloist is Leonard on trumpet. Very nice! On Brooke Benton's Lie To Me, Foster does a really nice job of bringing the best to the track. His deep resonate vocals accompanied by the backing vocals of Delgado, Whitaker and Finnigan and a really supple sax solo by Sublett make this one of the best on the release. On jazz classic, Gee Baby Ain't I Good To You, Foster again really shine vocally with the track hitting hiim square in his sweet spot. Finnigan and Sklair both craft nice solos adding to the warmth of the track. Wrapping the release is Down Home Blues, a basic 12 bar with a Jimmy Reed feel. Finnigan takes a cool B3 solo and along with Foster's vocal leadership and strong vocal backing sits on a solid base by Braunagel and Fulcher.

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