Spotlight On: Marcus Foster

February 10, 2011 at 07:55 (Artist Profiles)

Image Courtesy of Marcus Foster

It’s been a long time coming. We’ve been promising it for ages. And now it’s finally here. Welcome to Timber and Steel’s profile of Mr Marcus Foster.

Marcus Foster is probably what you would call Communion Records’ first big bet. When Ben Lovett (Mumford and Sons), Kevin Jones (Cherbourg) and acclaimed producer Ian Grimble got together and decided to evolve their monthly folk-leaning live night into a record company one of the very first artists they brought on board was Foster. And so far it seems to be paying off.

Hailing from the UK (where the label is based), Foster perfectly encapsulates what Communion is all about. The man is a singer-songwriter placed very firmly on the acoustic side of the music spectrum. We’ll go as far as to call his music folk but (like his contemporaries Mumford and Sons, Laura Marling and Johnny Flynn) he would probably prefer not to be pigeon-holed. His music is deep – his bio aptly describes him as “musically adventurous, and metaphorically dropped from a rambling Kerouac chapter”. What I love most about Marcus Foster’s music is that it draws you in, and even without trying you involve yourself in his story.

It would be remiss of us to profile Marcus Foster without mentioning his A-list connections: Foster is very close friend of Robert Pattinson (of the Twilight movie fame) and actually co-authored (with Bobby Long) “Let Me Sign” which appears on the Twilight Soundtrack (sung by Pattinson). While this fact probably does more harm than good to his “credibility” (tell me you didn’t immediately cast judgement as soon as you read the word Twilight) it does mean he has been able to reach an audience that is probably more interested in bands that contain heavy guitars and cute redheaded singers.

It feels as though with Communion Marcus Foster is attempting to start afresh (they rarely mention his previously released self titled EP or his Twilight connections). He has announced the release of his “debut” EP Tumble Down on the 4th April this year and seems to be gigging all over the UK at the moment (you can also download the title track free via the Soundcloud embed below). Don’t be surprised if Communion decides to do a big push in Australia (as is rumoured) that they bring Foster out as their poster child – although that is pure conjecture. Whether he comes here or not, Marcus Foster is definitely an artist worth hunting out.

Country of Origin: UK
Sounds Like: A young Van Morrison
File Under: Nu-Folk
Myspace: myspace.com/marcusfoster