If you’ve spent any time in the world of country music, you’ve undoubtedly crossed paths with Radney Foster – a man whose name is synonymous with storytelling. 

From his early days as a groundbreaking artist in the ’90s to his ongoing passion for helping others through the power of songwriting, Texas native and country music star Radney Foster wears many hats. One of the most impactful hats he’s donned in recent years is his role with SongwritingWith:Soldiers, an organization that uses the art of songwriting as a powerful tool for healing among veterans. With a warm smile and a genuine heart, Radney is here to share his journey, the transformative experiences he’s had, and the ways in which music can mend invisible wounds.

In our conversation, Radney reflects on the initial inspiration behind his involvement with SongwritingWith:Soldiers, describing it as a personal and profound journey that has changed not only the lives of the veterans he works with, but also his own perspective as a songwriter. His connection with veterans goes beyond the notes and lyrics; it delves deep into the complexities of human emotion, understanding and recovery.

But Radney isn’t just focused on songwriting with veterans. He’s also been busy with some exciting literary projects, including a new album and short fiction collection titled For You to See The Stars. In our chat, he opens up about the creative process behind blending music and fiction, the themes interwoven throughout his work, and the way these journeys inspire each other. As he transitions between the worlds of sonic storytelling and written narratives, Radney offers a fresh perspective on how different art forms can resonate – and heal.

Join us as we dive into Radney Foster’s world, exploring the intersections of art, healing and storytelling in a life dedicated to giving back and embracing creativity.

The Call to Serve: Joining SongwritingWith:Soldiers

Radney Foster has long been a beacon in the country music landscape, but his heart also beats strongly for a cause he’s deeply passionate about – veterans and their healing journeys. His involvement with SongwritingWith:Soldiers (SW:S) was ignited by a close friendship with the organization’s creator, Darden Smith.

“My first involvement with SongwritingWith:Soldiers was because of its creator and my dear friend Darden Smith. He’s a fellow singer/songwriter and a fellow Texan. Darden and I were at the very first retreats along with songwriter Jay Clementi before SW:S even was official. Darden had the vision to know that he needed to start a new organization that used collaborative songwriting as catharsis for veterans and active-duty personnel and focused solely on that. As he expanded it, I was ready to jump in at every turn, and it has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. It’s transformed me as much as it may have transformed any veteran I have ever written a song with.”

Memorable Moments: Transformative Retreats

Radney’s connection to the veterans is profound, and each retreat provides him with unforgettable experiences. When asked about a particularly memorable moment, he emphasizes the shift he has seen in many veterans throughout the sessions.

“I can tell you that every single retreat I’ve ever done, I’ve been hit by dozens of incredibly memorable experiences. I don’t feel that I can share one particular story without asking that veteran’s permission, but I can say that I’ve watched every time, veteran after veteran come in one person and walk out differently. The retreats were one piece of the puzzle to help them solve whatever struggles around post-traumatic distress that they were dealing with. We always end up bonding. As far as songwriting is concerned, I absolutely know it’s had an influence on me because when you’re writing with a veteran, you’re dealing with telling their story, not your own. You’re dealing with making sure you’re telling the truth and you’re not fictionalizing anything, and that’s powerful.”

Songwriting as Therapy: The Healing Process

The therapeutic potential of songwriting emerges as a central theme in Radney’s work with veterans. He explains why he believes that songwriting is such a powerful tool for emotional healing.

“I really think it’s putting words to music. I think it’s the combination of doing those two things. It’s a really powerful exercise in and of itself. It’s always been cathartic to me in my own life. Anthropologically, humans probably sang to each other before we spoke to each other in codified language. That’s a deep-seated and deep-rooted experience for all of us. Music is the thing you turn to in your most emotional moments in life. We sing in church. People dance to music at weddings. We sing when we’re sad. We go to a bar and listen to country music because we can say, ‘Whoever that singer is, is doing a lot worse off than me – I must be doing pretty good.’ That’s what really resonates – they get this human expression that’s very deep, and they get to be a participant in it. It’s not us doing it for them; it’s us writing with them.”

Finding Common Ground: Themes in Collaboration

When it comes to the songs he creates with veterans, Radney notes recurring themes that are often driven by a deep desire to be seen and heard.

“I think the most common one is the desire to be heard – for someone to understand their story, for someone to understand their pain, for someone to understand why they have trouble feeling loved, for someone to understand what their military experience and the sacrifices they made was like. Every single veteran I’ve ever worked with has wounds both seen and unseen, and they intermingle all the time. I can’t do anything about the wounds that are seen, but I know through songwriting, together we can find things that help them move forward with the wounds that aren’t seen.”

Crafting Narratives: The Songwriting Process

As a seasoned songwriter, Radney approaches each collaboration with a veteran thoughtfully. He lays out his process for blending personal stories with musical elements.

“I think the first thing you must do is listen to their story. I don’t deal musically in these sessions – my guitar is sitting in a stand or in this case for the first half hour at least, sometimes the first hour. We tend to write a song in about two hours, but I really have to listen to what their story is and take notes and dig deep on what those emotions are and what those mean. I ask more questions and dig a little deeper, letting them tell that story. At some point, they’re going to say something that’s a lyric, and they just don’t know it’s a lyric, but I do. That’s when I pick up a guitar and say, ‘You just said this – what if I sang it this way?’ And generally, I ask because I also try to learn and find out what they are into musically. If you’re writing with someone who loves hip-hop but doesn’t care about country music, you’ve got to write differently than writing with someone who is completely opposite or loves the blues.”

Fiction Meets Music: For You To See The Stars

Recently, Radney has ventured into combining his love for music with fiction through his new album For You to See The Stars, which includes a collection of short stories.

“I started writing short fiction because of an illness. I had laryngitis because of pneumonia so bad I couldn’t speak for six weeks and had to have six more weeks of vocal therapy before I could begin to sing professionally. You can’t really book gigs until you know you’re ready to go, and that usually takes two or three months. So, there were about five or six months where I didn’t work at all. The sheer terror of not being able to speak for six weeks was really overwhelming. It didn’t happen all at once. I would go every week to the Vanderbilt Voice Center in Nashville, and they would say, ‘You still can’t talk.’ Well, you get four weeks in and you’re going crazy, so I got an idea and wrote a note to my wife and said, ‘I think I’m going to write a short story based on the song Sycamore Creek to keep from going crazy,’ and she picked up a pen and wrote on the same piece of paper, ‘You should, because you’re driving me crazy.’ I so wish I still had that piece of paper because it’s one of the funnier moments in my life, but also it drove me, and I wrote the first short story because of that moment.”

He goes on to describe the synergy between the stories and the music, creating a cohesive artistic project.

“At the end of it, I handed it to my wife who had been a magazine editor for several years, and she congratulated me and said, ‘You can do this, and you should do more of this.’ So, I started writing pieces of short fiction just to see where it was going to go and for fun. The first two were inspired by songs. The third one was not. I thought, ‘Well, I could write a song to go with that one. Hey, wait a second! I could put together an album of 10 songs and a book of 10 short stories to go with it.’ That’s where it was born. Some of the songs came first. Some of the short stories came first, and I had to figure out a song to go with them, but all of them are not a retelling of the same story. They’re cousins and sisters in a way.”

The Intersection of Music and Fiction: Creative Challenges

When it comes to the challenges of writing fiction after a successful music career, Radney acknowledges the transition, sharing that skills from songwriting have aided him in prose.

“Absolutely, there are skills from songwriting that have helped my prose. I really had to look at prose and songwriting as two different things. I was fortunate in that I had a great editor who really helped me make that distinction and use songwriting techniques to the strength of my fiction. The one thing I do know about writing prose is that the language, the sentences, the paragraphs – they need to have their own melody. They need to sing their own song without any music involved in it, and that’s what really helped me. You need to know when a sentence or a paragraph or a chapter is really singing.”

Looking Forward: New Projects and Future Visions

Radney is currently working on another book of fiction and shares insights into what readers can expect.

“I can do a little bit. I have two different projects, and I’m trying to do them simultaneously with a third project. One is a novel – it’s a historical piece, and I’m currently writing slowly on that and doing a lot of research to get the history part right. But I’m also writing another book of short fiction, and I don’t want to have any spoilers, but I will say this: if I get it done right, then every story will surround a single bar in San Antonio, and I’ll just leave it at that.”

As he looks ahead, he also contemplates how his music and writing will continue to intersect, especially in light of his advocacy for veterans.

“I think they’re just intertwined because of my life and attitude of giving back. My father always said if you’re feeling bad, go do something good for someone else and you’ll feel a whole lot better, and he’s right. I think my work with veterans is an opportunity for me to feel a whole lot better and help people along the way. I love that. As far as writing is concerned, I really am enjoying mixing every genre I can think of. My wife and I have written a screenplay based on one of the short stories ‘For You to See the Stars,’ and it is currently in development. I’ve written music for that entire screenplay. I’m continuing to write for different genres in different ways, and I’m fortunate in that I feel like I’m at an age where I don’t have to tour 150 gigs a year. I can tour when I want to, and that can open up time for me to write prose – to write screenplays – to write in ways I haven’t even discovered yet, so it’s a pretty exciting time.”

Radney Foster’s journey is a testament to the profound impact that storytelling can have, both for the artist and for those they help along the way, revealing not just the power of music, but its ability to heal.

For more information about Radney Foster and to connect with all his social media, please visit his official website. 

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Cover photo courtesy Radney Foster

Bob Valleau is a regular entertainment writer for Texas Lifestyle Magazine.