Photos courtesy of Jonathan Foster
LIMA — When he is not performing his music on tour, Jonathan Foster is a practicing biologist.
This Saturday, Foster will be playing released songs from his five albums at The Lab, owned and run by Marc Bowker, which has become a major contributor to Lima’s burgeoning live music scene.
“I’m a touring singer/songwriter and I’ve never been to Lima before. I’ll play about 200 shows this year all over the country during my ‘Nomadic’ summer tour, and it’s on my way back west,” Foster said.
Foster uses both his talents as a scientist and an artist to draw attention to issues affecting current and future generations.
“I’m always thinking of the world from the perspective of the natural environment and it subtly influences my songwriting,” he said.
Foster holds a bachelor’s degree in biology, with a concentration in conservation biology from SUNY’s College of Environmental Science and Forestry in Syracuse, New York.
He’s deeply engaged in the environment. After graduation, he completed an internship and then spent six years with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers helping to administer the Clean Water Act through the Environmental Protection Agency. For the past 10 years, he has run his own company working to conserve wetlands and preserve endangered species, especially birds and amphibians.
He has lived in northern California since 2001. The song “Into the Black” on his latest album comments upon the state’s wildfires. It begins, “We’re just sitting here, waiting for the smoke to clear / Close your eyes, hide the pain / See a hazy sky, small droplets of rain.”
His music has changed over time.
“I started writing songs as a teenager and began playing others’ songs in college to help pay our bills. It’s really been in the last 12 years that things have shifted. In the last 10 years, I’ve released five studio albums and also during that time I’ve done cross-country national touring at the independent level, meaning small stages and venues,” Foster said.
“Like with anything, as we evolve as we get older and learn more about the world. Really what it is, is learning about ourselves — what we like and what we gravitate toward. I’d say I’m a much more articulate songwriter and more accomplished guitar player than what I was 10 years ago,” Foster said. “There’s even evolution with previously published material. It’s fun to listen to those changes. I still perform some songs I’ve written maybe 20 years ago, but I perform them differently now. You make subtle changes and hear how the soul of the song changed over time.”
“Today I try to focus on the present, whereas in the past it was more writing about myself or one little event that was exciting. Now I try to communicate the larger picture aimed at a larger audience with multiple perspectives. I also leave the meaning up to their interpretation rather than being blunt.”
For Foster, like many artists, the pandemic slowed down his pace. It gave him more time to reflect and his focus changed to writing about larger societal issues.
“I wrote 90 percent of my last album called Lantern Shade (released last year) during the pandemic years when my summer tour was cancelled. I touched on the pandemic in terms of what it meant for our population and communities. I also wrote about all the social unrest going on.”
This summer he is back on tour and too busy to write new songs while on the road.
“When I’m traveling it’s really hard to get songs to completion,” Foster said. “Hopefully, when I get back home to northern California, I’ll be ready to get back in the studio and put together some new material to be released next year.”
Learn more about Foster’s music and sample his music online at jfmusic.net/songs.
Reach Shannon Bohle at 567-242-0399, by email at [email protected] or on Twitter @Bohle_LimaNews.
