Written by:
Jennifer Corday
Jen Foster’s new record, Underdogs, has received three nominations at the Outmusic Awards and is getting rave reviews from press and fans alike. We recently talked with her about her music, her girlfriend (who is also her manager), and coming out to conservative parents.
Congrats on your new record. It’s getting some serious attention, including a bunch of awards, yes?
Thank you! Yes, the record has won nine songwriting awards, plus the new Outmusic Award nominations, and it’s only been out three months, so the word of mouth has really been great. You know how supportive the gay community can be once they get on your side.
Absolutely, if it’s a good record, word will spread. Tell me about Nashville; why did you decide to settle there?
I love Nashville. It’s so centrally located, you can drive everywhere. I pretty much play every weekend.
So your girlfriend is your manager?
We work together very closely on all of the aspects of my career. Our office is in our house and we have a couple of other people we work with as well — a publicist in New York City and an internet marketing person out of Seattle.
Describe your average day working.
As an independent artist, you’ve got to be very involved with your career to make it happen. This is my life — being on the road, doing press, radio, returning all the e-mails to fans. When I'm home, there’s always something to do or someone to meet.
Is that tough on your relationship, to be in business together?
If you can make it work with your relationship, it’s ideal. I prefer working with someone who really knows me and understand my vision, and no one understands that as well as her. We’re just so compatible in so many ways.
Did she get into the business before or after you got together?
No, she was in the business already. She worked for Mad Booking. They did a lot of local festivals, and she came out to check out one of my shows in Nashville. About a year later she ended up leaving and working for me.
How long have you been a professional musician?
I started doing it seriously about three or four years ago. I had to go into rehab in 2004, and once I made the decision to stop drinking and focus on my personal life, all of the distractions fell away and I started getting my career going.
I really love your album, especially the title track “Underdogs,” which I understand is nominated for Out Song of the Year at the Outmusic Awards. Are those real people you use as characters in your song, or are they fictional?
Yeah, they are real. The first two I changed the names on, but the stories were all true.
What inspired that song?
I always related to the misfits and the outcasts, so it’s a tribute to that kind of isolation when you’re growing up. I go to schools now and try to talk to kids about bullying, love, and tolerance and try to teach respect.
That’s awesome. Did you feel like an outcast? Was it hard for you when you first came out?
I was sort of caught in the act by my mother. She walked in to let me know that breakfast was ready on a Sunday morning, and there I was making out with my girlfriend. It was a very awkward moment. My girlfriend snuck out the back door and my mother said, “Your father and I would like to talk to you after church.” They sat me down and told me they had decided to send me to therapy. But, thankfully, the therapist brought my parents in and told them I was OK just the way I was. And that they would have to learn to accept it.
How are they now?
Well, I came from a very conservative, Republican, Texan background, and my parents are now divorced. They were not very accepting at first, but we are extremely close now. It took a lot of hard work on all sides, though.
Do you have a lot of lesbian fans?
It’s turned out that there have been a lot of gay women, but I have a lot of straight fans too. I certainly don’t believe in isolating people. It seems that if you’re gay, you’re immediately considered quirky or left of center, and my goals are definitely to get this music to as many as people as possible. I’m pretty open about being gay, and I don’t know if that’s hurt me or not in my career. Either way, I believe that being yourself is where it’s at. Being myself is my responsibility as an artist.
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