No Depression Sessions at AMERICANAFEST 2024: Ruthie Foster

East Texas folk-blues master Ruthie Foster joined us at Dee’s Country Cocktail Lounge for her No Depression Session at AMERICANAFEST ’24, to share three songs including two from her tenth studio album Mileage, which just earned her a 2025 GRAMMY nomination for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

I had a chance to talk with Ruthie for a few minutes on the back patio at Dee’s prior to the performance. Her calm and peaceful disposition rubbed off on me a little bit, making me feel more grounded in the filming process. Her cool demeanor was especially appreciated on that steamy 93 degrees Fahrenheit Nashville afternoon.

Between songs, we discussed the importance of the conversations between Foster, Mileage producer Tyler Bryant, and Bryant’s wife Rebecca Lovell from Larkin Poe, conversations which ended up informing the songwriting process. Bryant recalls, “My wife Rebecca and I were both continuously inspired by Ruthie’s way of speaking her unique truth in song. I learned quickly to just have the microphones on, because when Ruthie starts singing, it’s gonna be a moment worth capturing.” Mileage is Foster’s tenth album, and first to be released on the legendary Sun Records.

Please enjoy this performance, and stay tuned for more No Depression x AMERICANAFEST ’24 sessions in the pipeline. Special thanks to everybody who made this series happen: Julie Tan for her generous support and badass AEA ribbon mics, Joe Lewis for getting it off the ground, Amy Dee for creating the vibe, and Destiny McGregor at AMERICANAFEST for tying it all together.

Setlist:

“That’s All Right” (Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup)

“Rainbow”

“4am”