A Dirty Dozen with LEVI FOSTER – August 2025

Photo credit: Annelise Loughead

According to a recent press release: “Nashville-based, Lynchburg, VA native, Levi Foster will release “We Made Fire” on July 18. The romantic song features Foster’s emotive vocals, which tells a tale of young love, set to acoustic guitar, keys, and mandolin. Foster posted a teaser of the song on socials. The title track will be released ahead of his debut album We Made Fire out August 29, 2025. The 10-track collection, We Made Fire, was produced at Cartoon Moon Recording by the studio’s owner Ken Coomer, a native Nashvillian and three-time Grammy-nominated drummer and producer, who was an original founding member of Wilco, touring and recording with the band for eight years. Prior to that, he was a founding member of post-punk band,Clockhammer, and a member of Uncle Tupelo.” We get Levi to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

“We Made Fire” might come off like a breakup song on the surface, and it is, but it’s also about creation, about what’s left smoldering when it’s gone. Sonically, there are a few things tucked in like the way the percussion mirrors a heartbeat, or how the guitar part is echoed in reverse in parts of the song, meant to feel like a memory folding in on itself. I like when a song’s got layers like that, stuff you don’t catch until the third or fourth spin.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

I grew up around the kind of stories folks would tell on the porch on a hot, slow evening. Music was just another way to pass those stories down. I’d hear a song on an old record or in church and think, ‘That’s somebody’s whole life in three minutes.’ I think the moment I really knew I wanted to do it myself was hearing Merle Haggard for the first time. I was probably too young to fully understand it, but it felt like someone had written down a feeling I didn’t even know how to name yet. That was the spark. Ever since, I’ve been chasing that feeling.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

Seeing George Jones when I was twelve changed everything for me. I didn’t know much at the time, but I knew that voice could stop time. The way he held a note, or bent a phrase stuck with me. That show planted a seed.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

I’d love to do a song with Sierra Ferrell. She’s got this one-of-a-kind thing going. Her voice has that old-world magic to it, like she’s singing straight from some forgotten place. I think our sounds would tangle up real naturally, something rootsy but a little otherworldly. I really admire how fearless she is with blending styles too.  She’d keep me on my toes in the best way.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

I usually just try to slow things down. Spending time with my girlfriend, maybe cooking dinner together or just a simple walk outside. That kind of quiet feels like a reset. And playing music with friends, no pressure just playing and learning off each other.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

I’d say my music is rooted in traditional country and folk, but I’m not afraid to take the long way around a melody or let things get a little strange. Story-first, always. As for comparisons, someone once said I sounded like ‘if Willie Nelson or Elvis joined Fleet Foxes.’ Nothing against any of them, I think folks just try to make sense of what they hear, and sometimes the puzzle pieces don’t quite fit. I just try to keep writing songs that sound like me, wherever that lands.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

I’m real fortunate to play with some of the most talented musicians in Nashville, but more than that, they’re just genuinely good guys. When we’re all hanging out, I’m usually the one cooking and bringing the drinks. I like making sure everyone’s fed and feeling good. As for who kicks off the music, it’s always Colin Bowling on fiddle. That guy is always playing.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

The last time I was truly starstruck was when I was eighteen and met Ricky Van Shelton in my hometown. He grew up just one town over, so his music always felt close to home — literally and figuratively. We ended up striking up a friendship, and over time he became a real mentor to me. He didn’t just give advice, he listened, and he believed in what I was trying to do. Ricky was a big reason I found the courage to pack up and move to Nashville. Having someone like that in your corner early on makes a difference.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

What I love most about being a musician is that you get to take all the mess, beauty and stories of real life and shape it into something that means something to someone else. It’s wild how a song you wrote in your bedroom can become something someone clings to during a breakup or plays just to feel understood. The moment it stops being just ‘your’ story and starts belonging to someone else, that’s when it feels like more than just music. If I couldn’t make music anymore, I think I’d still need to be telling stories somehow. I’d have a self-sustaining farm, write short stories, get into restoration work, old cabins, vintage instruments, things with history and heart. I’ve always loved the idea of giving forgotten things a second life.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

I’ve always wanted someone to ask, “What keeps you grounded as an artist?” Because it’s easy to get caught up in the noise, the metrics, the hustle. But for me, it’s the land I came from. The people who taught me how to listen before I ever learned how to sing or write. It’s about bringing stories forward with honesty and heart and hoping they land with someone who needs them. And if I never get asked “So, what genre would you call your music?” again, I’d be just fine. I get it, we all want to categorize things, but trying to pin a song down kind of misses the point. If it hits you, it hits you. Call it whatever you want.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I’ve made plenty of mistakes along the way, and moments I wish I’d handled better. But I’m a firm believer that everything happens according to God’s plan. Even the setbacks shaped me, sharpened me, and pointed me toward something I couldn’t have seen at the time. So, while there are things I might’ve done differently, I don’t think I’d undo them.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

If I could go back to any recording, it’d be Live At San Quentin. Johnny Cash wasn’t just playing songs, he was standing up for people no one else showed up for. It was raw, real, and full of purpose. That record taught me music’s not just about sounding good,  it’s about saying something that matters. That’s what I try to do every time I write or get onstage.

LEVI FOSTER LINKS:

OFFICIAL SITE

INSTAGRAM

Category: Interviews