Me

Welcome to my music site!
"Music for Thems That Knows"

Greetings, Music Lovers! My name is Bill Foster.
I am a musician based in the Northern Shenandoah Valley town of Strasburg, Virginia.
I play guitar and mandolin and sing lead and harmony vocals.
I currently play each Thursday at Hotel Strasburg's Depot Lounge.
I also co-host the Sunday acoustic Open Mic at Cristina's Cafe in Strasburg.

While my primary interest has been Bluegrass music which I have followed since the early 1970's, I also enjoy other genres of music, ie. Classic Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, Americana, Singer/Songwriter.

I have played with a number of bands. From 2006 through 2010, I was a member of Strasburg, Virginia's Five of a Kind Bluegrass Band. Prior to that, from 2000 to 2005, I was a member of SW Florida's Swinging Bridge band. Other bands I have been with were DC area's New River Express, Winterwood and Outer Banks.

Since 1995, I have been a contributing writer for Bluegrass Unlimited magazine and currently write their "Additional Releases" column. Also since 1995 I have been a professional member of the IBMA - International Bluegrass Music Association and I am a 2004 graduate of their Leadership Bluegrass program.

From December 1985 thru February 2017, I was a part-time producer/host of Bluegrass music programs on WAMU's Bluegrass Country.. Starting with Bluegrass Overnight in 1985, I co-hosted the program until 1999 when I moved to Florida. Upon moving back to Virginia in 2006, I rejoined the overnight hosts until 2007 when the overnight show was discontinued. I then created Foster's Corner which started as a monthly program and soon became a weekly show. With the change in station ownership, I stopped the program in February 2017.

And since January 2015, I have been co-owner of the ShenRiver Music Group music publishing company.


Memberships & Affiliations:

IBMA (Intl Bluegrass Music Assoc)
Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
PINECONE (Piedmont Council on Traditional Music)


FAI (Folk Alliance International)
SERFA (SE Regional Folk Alliance)
Strasburg Chamber of Commerce


Bluegrass Today
Musicians United
Bell Buckle Radio

CD Projects

This project is a look at my years playing bluegrass music. The cuts were culled from various cassettes of live performances, CDs and one LP, including performances with New River Express, Outer Banks, Winterwood, Swinging Bridge, and Five Of A Kind. Out of Stock
This is the most recent project from Five Of A Kind. Released in 2007, "Royal Flush" included Gene Stokes, Jimmy Drummond, Myself, Terry Barbin, and Norman Racey. The band has made some personnel changes since then and are still active in the Northern Shenandoah Valley area. One highlight of my time with the band was opening for the Seldom Scene in 2010 at the Strasburg Theater.
My time with Swinging Bridge was a lot of fun. The band include myself, Alan Colpitts, Chris Bryson, and Bobby Martin. This CD came out in 2003. We played many venues in Florida and were priveldged to open for or play on the same venue with such as The Country Gentlemen, Valerie Smith & Libery Pike, Nothin' Fancy, Mountain Heart, and others.
This is an LP released around 1978 by New River Express. In the band was Jerry Magri, Faith Cottington, myself, Barney Gault, and Wayne Skidmore. The project was part of a deal to support songwriter Rob Hoy. He offered us half the LP so we could back up his songs in the studio. This LP is long out of print.