It takes stones the size of volleyballs to name an album by prefacing your own name with The Phenomenal, but that’s just what Ruthie Foster did with 2007’s The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster – and damn if she didn’t just about live up to her own advance billing. Now she’s back with The Truth According to Ruthie Foster, a set of songs just as authoritative as its title, and once again, Foster has given blues fans a hell of a feast. Truth was recorded at the legendary Ardent Studios, with Jim Dickinson behind the boards – and if that wasn’t enough, she cut the tracks with a backing band that included Robben Ford, Charles Hodges, and Dickinson himself. The end result is an album that comes as close to the old Memphis spirit as anything has this century, stacked with songs that run the gamut from fiery struts (“Stone Love”) to slow-burning strolls (“Nickel and a Nail”) – and makes room for a cover of Patty Griffin’s “When It Don’t Come Easy” in the bargain. None of these tracks will make you forget the classics they evoke, but they will make you feel like howling at the moon for awhile…or at least knocking back a few mint juleps. Sounds like honesty is still the best policy. (Blue Corn Music 2009)
