Stephen Edward Foster (30 September 1946 – 25 January 2018) was an Australian singer-songwriter and musician from Murray Bridge,

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

Career

Foster recorded his first solo single in 1963 under the K-Bee Label while in high school. He was attending South Australian School of Art when he began a residency at The Catacombs Coffee Lounge in Hackney. He lived there for many years, even acting as caretaker. He appeared regularly on Adelaide TV including Adelaide Tonight, as well as ABC, ADS7 and Saturday mornings on Channel 10's InTime. Although most of his career focused on solo work, Foster led bands including Inkase, Alcheringa, Head First, Beautiful Dreamer, Steve Foster Band, Limited Edition, Blackwood County and OCQ. With Blackwood County, he toured outback South Australia and opened the 2006 Outback Fringe. He was the opening act on the

Brian Cadd Brian George Cadd AM (born 29 November 1946) is an Australian singer-songwriter, keyboardist, producer and record label founder, a staple of Australian entertainment for over 50 years. As well as working internationally throughout Europe and the ...

& the Bootleg Family Australian tour 1972–1973. He performed in The Mount Lofty Rangers, which was a collection of

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

musicians including the late

Bon Scott Ronald Belford "Bon" Scott (9 July 1946 – 19 February 1980) was an Australian singer and songwriter. He was the lead vocalist and lyricist of the hard rock band AC/DC from 1974 until his death in 1980. Born in Forfar in Angus, Scotland, ...

, before he joined

AC/DC AC/DC (stylised as ACϟDC) are an Australian Rock music, rock band formed in Sydney in 1973 by Scottish-born brothers Malcolm Young, Malcolm and Angus Young. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock, and Heavy metal ...

. In 1971, Foster was the only Adelaide act to play The Myponga Festival, which was Adelaide's answer to

Woodstock Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. ...

. In September 1972 Foster released his first solo album ''Coming Home in a Jar'' on the Bootleg Label, under

Ron Tudor Ronald Stewart Tudor MBE (18 May 1924 – 21 August 2020) was an Australian music producer, engineer, label owner and record industry executive. He started his career with W&G Records in 1956 as a sales representative; he became their in-house ...

's record label, Fable Records. In 1995, ''Forever Blue'', was co-written with

Graeham Goble Graeham George Goble, (born 15 May 1947)Goble, Graeham (2006Graeham Goble: Biography. Retrieved on 14 July 2008. is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and record producer, best known as a founding member of Australian rock group Little Riv ...

, recorded by

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band originally formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums rea ...

in 1986 on the album ''No Reins'', the last album recorded with

John Farnham John Peter Farnham Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (born 1 July 1949) is a British born Australian singer. Farnham was a Teen idol, teen pop idol from 1967 until 1979, billed then as Johnny Farnham, but has since forged a career as an Adu ...

. It became a huge hit in Europe. It eventually reached the Top 10 where it stayed for 12 weeks. Foster performed across Australia and wrote and recorded over 500 songs. Foster was selected by Arts SA to represent Adelaide in the first " Made in Adelaide" promotion at the 2016 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland where his 7 sold-out concerts ensured media attention and an invite to return. Foster was active in charity work; he volunteered two days a week at the

South Australian Aviation Museum The South Australian Aviation Museum, located in Port Adelaide, South Australia, is an aviation museum which displays aircraft, aircraft engines, and rockets of relevance to South Australia, and the history of aviation and the aerospace industr ...

and worked on the sailing ketch ''

Falie ''Falie'' is a ketch that traded for many years in Australian waters. Originally built in 1919/1920 as a speculation by her builder, rigged as a schooner and named ''Hollands Trouw'' after the shipyard where she was built, she was purchased by ...

'', helping to restore a part of Australia's maritime history. Foster was an

Australia Day Australia Day is the official national day of Australia. Observed annually on 26 January, it marks the 1788 landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove and raising of the Union Flag by Arthur Phillip following days of exploration of Port Ja ...

Ambassador and travelled every year to visit councils across

to perform and explain what it means to be a proud Australian. Steve Foster was inducted into the SA Music Hall of Fame, posthumously, at his memorial Tribute Concert at the

Governor Hindmarsh Hotel Hindmarsh is an inner suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located in the City of Charles Sturt. The suburb is located between South Road to the west and North Adelaide. The River Torrens forms its southern boundary and the Grange and ...

where fellow musicians flew in from across Australia to perform his music and honour his legacy. Steve Foster died on 25 January 2018 in Adelaide, South Australia, four years after being diagnosed with lung cancer.

Associated artists

*Brian (Sam) Sampson *Inkase *Resurrection *Black Watch *Bob Dylan *D'Naz *The Mount Lofty Rangers *Bon Scott *Peter Head *Brian Cadd's Bootleg Family *Phil Manning *Ross Ryan, Mike McClellan, Doug Ashdown *Alcheringa *Steeleye Span *Stephen Foster Band *Head First *Richard Clapton *Limited Edition (Beautiful Dreamer-renamed) *The Byrds *Cyndi Boste *Broken Voices *Michael Cooper *The Tenants *Sitting Ducks *Graeham Goble *John Farnham *John Farnham & Little River Band *Little River Band (current) *Hank Williams *Donovan *Blackwood County *The OCQ *Jenny Loftes *Chris Goodall

Awards

*1968: South Australia New Faces-winner *1968: Australian National New Faces-runner up *1973: 5KA Rock Award-''The Most significant contribution to Recording in South Australia & Australia'' for:''Coming Home in a Jar'' Album *1995: ''Forever Blue'', co-write with ''

'' becomes huge European hit with John Farnham & LRB. *2006: ''I Guess I'm Gonna Need Somebody Else'' track 10 on the CD ''Steve Foster & Blackwood County'', is awarded: ''APRA/SACCM SA Country Song of the Year (Traditional) 2006'' *2008: Appointed an ''Australia Day Ambassador'' by Australia Day Council *2011: Finalist in ''International Song Competition'' for Mike Pinder (UK, ex Searchers) *2016: Chosen as a South Australian representative for ''Made in Adelaide'' Showcase at

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. Performed 7 sold-out concerts. *2018: Inducted into the SA Music Hall of Fame

Discography

*1963: ''Mary-Ann'' original A side ''Poison Ivy'' B side with ''The Barons'' 45 rpm K-Bee Label. Murray Bridge *1967: ''Inkase'' (Live from channel 10) 3 track EP *1972: ''Coming Home in a Jar'' released on the Bootleg label LP under Ron Tudor's Fable Records. *1974: ''Alcheringa'' (folk-rock) recorded AAV, Melbourne, 10 track album *1979: ''Limited Edition'' CD *1984: ''The Stephen Foster Band'' 2 track single *1996: ''Big Storm Comin' '' 12 track CD *1998: ''The Tenants-Ordinary'' 3 track P CD *1999: ''The Tenants-Live'' 5 track EP CD *2004: ''Three New Songs'' acoustic duo with Max Wright CD *2006: ''Steve Foster & Blackwood County Limited Edition Outback Fringe Tour'' 12 track CD *2009: ''Ships & Sailors & Songs of the Sea'' 11 track CD *2011: ''The OCQ'', 13 track CD *2013: ''Independent No.1’s Vol 3'' WOA Records *2014: ''Independent No.1’s Vol 4'' WOA Records *2015: ''GOA Global Chillout Zone Vol 6'' WOA Records *2016: ''A Life in Music 1972-2012'' released on Steve Foster Music label, 12 track retrospective CD (August)

Gallery

References

External links

* *
Steve Foster & Blackwood County Bluegrass Ensemble
(MySpace)
Steve Foster & The OCQ
(MySpace)
Steve Foster & Blackwood County Bluegrass Ensemble
(Triple J Unearthed)
Steve Foster & The OCQ
(Triple J Unearthed) {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Steve 1946 births 2018 deaths Deaths from cancer in South Australia Deaths from lung cancer in Australia People from Murray Bridge, South Australia Musicians from South Australia Australian male singer-songwriters Australian singer-songwriters 20th-century Australian male singers 21st-century Australian singers