ALAN FOSTER: It is who I am. I've invested a large part of my life to playing, performing and writing music. It's my passion. Hell, I am in love with my creative side. But with the good comes the bad, because of my passion and because music is such a part of me, I've messed up some good relationships with women in my life, I've been through the whole drug thing and got caught up with the wrong "people". But on the other hand, music brought me to Los Angeles from Dayton, Ohio on the Peoples Express airline with no money, nothing but a guitar, a duffle bag of clothes and a dream. Music has taken me all over the U.S. and the world as a guitarist with Little Richard. Music has been an outlet for me to express my trials and tribulations as I go through this journey called life. I can only give praise to GOD this blessing.

AF: Life and all the things that we go through while we're here. Alan Foster's Redemption is a way for me to talk about my life at this moment, how I've lived my life and how I view life. Sounds selfish, but really its just one man's story amongst many. The word "Redemption" means so much to me. The dictionary says that redemption is "Salvation from sin through Christ's sacrifice." I would like to think that my music has a redeeming quality to it. It has a very spiritual sound that is accompanied by honest and real lyrics and is funky as hell! :) My ministry through my music is to tell a few stories that will hopefully affect people in a positive way. It all comes from the head chef, I'm just serving it to you...hopefully you'll like what I'm serving. :)

AF: As I continue to grow in music I've learned to understand and respect the power that music has and its ability to influence people. I think there's a lack of respect for the music going on right now, as a matter a fact I'd say it's been going on for a while. Especially in hip-hop. I have a problem with a lot of the hip-hop that's out there. Feel me, I like hip-hop, but I can't get down with all the negative messages in a lot of it. Do I blame anybody out there trying to get into the game, no I don't. Maybe the blame should be put on the industry because of all the bullsh*t they keep signing and feeding to a market of undeveloped minds. Of course a 14 year old is gonna like "The Whisper Song," they're just now discovering sex and the subject matter is appealing to them. But they lack the understanding of how demeaning the message is to women. Of course rock music has a lot of negative messages, but I've seen how hip-hop has influenced a generation to be more violent and more materialistic especially in the black community. I challenge anyone to disagree with that. Hell, a lot of hip-hop artists pay more attention to establishing their clothesline brand than making good music. Thank GOD for Common, Public Enemy and the honesty of N.W.A.'s classic "Straight Outta Compton". I admit I fell into a negative writing style when I was younger, but I'm so thankful that I learned that I can talk about a bad relationship without demeaning women. I can talk about making love without talking about f@*king and please check the difference! I can give you my political views without forcing an agenda. And I can talk about the love of our creator without scaring you with a sermon.

AF: When people hear my music they tend to think I'm mainly influenced by Prince or maybe Lenny Kravitz. No doubt I have a lot of respect for both of them. But my influences are probably the same influences they had growing up. As a child I used to watch "The Midnight Special" and Don Kirchner's "Rock Concert". My first concert ever was when I went to see the first Jackson Five tour with The Commodores opening up for them. As I got older I started paying attention to the Funk around me in Dayton, Ohio. Groups like The Ohio Players (especially the guitar style of Sugarfoot), Slave (my all time favorite guitar solo is the solo Mark Hicks did on "Slide"), Lakeside, Sun, Roger Troutman and Zapp to name a few. And also the local bands like Record Player, Coast To Coast and Plush, all of which I eventually joined. I freaked out when I heard "The Jam" by Graham Central Station with Larry Graham on Bass. I loved the fusion period of Stanley Clarke and Frank Zappa. In some of my ballads you can here a little Lionel Ritchie in the arrangements. I used to sneak into the clubs when B.B. King would come to town. Earth, Wind & Fire has to be one of my favorite groups of all time. From just watching and reading anything I could on him, I learned a lot about leading a band from Maurice White. I loved the Isley Brothers of the 70's, especially Ernie Isley's solos. But I would have to say things really clicked when I discovered Parliament Funkadelic. The whole P-Funk movement, Bootsy's Rubberband and all the freakiness just struck a chord with me. The music, the lyrics, the concepts, the vocal arrangements, the costumes, all of it just blew my mind. My rock & roll was "Maggot Brain" and "Cosmic Slop!"

AF: I've always remembered music affecting me in a certain way. I have a picture of me when I was about two or three holding a toy guitar with one shoe on looking like I was performing but taking a break to tune up. :) The way one can look at a picture and see a distinction between a tree, a bird and a cloud, I've always remembered being able to hear everything in a song from the vocals to the rhythm of a shaker. Along with studying the music I paid close attention to the lyrics and vocal arrangements, though production came later. My father worked in construction as a bricklayer, and I recall him bringing a guitar home one day. He either bought it from a family friend or did some work for him and in return he got the guitar. I'll have to ask him about that. I took snare drum lessons in elementary school. Got serious about guitar when I was in the 6th or 7th grade. I basically learned how to play from a friend of mine. We used to jam together and play Chic records all the time because we were in to Nile Roger's style. In high school I led our jazz lab (we didn't play any jazz, mostly R&B) with my friend and brother Shawn Meriwether. I dropped out of college and joined a band called Record Player and did the top 40 circuit with my homies Lamar Webster and Charles Jackson. Met Little Richard and traveled with him off and on for 6 or 7 years. And then GOD presented me with the courage to pursue Alan Foster's Redemption.

AF: I've played in clubs where there was only me, the band and the bartender. Guess what, the next day I'd call the promoter and book another show. Music is very significant to me. As I said this is who I am. Like all musicians, I've heard that voice that said maybe it's time to give this thing up. But then my spirit speaks loudly and says, man you're crazy let's get in there and get to work. :) After losing a son to a violent crime in 2001 that has yet to be solved, I definitely lean on my music to help me get through the pain.

AF: I took snare drum lessons when I was in the 1st or 2nd grade. I think my mom wanted me to be a drummer. Guitar came when I was about 11 or 12. I picked up everything else in my high school years playing with other bands or watching other musicians

AF: I wouldn't say I've mastered multiple instruments. I think early on I decided I wanted to be like Stevie Wonder or Prince and be able to play and record my own music by myself. That can be a good thing and a bad thing. For my first CD I felt compelled to do everything myself. With one exception, I have Dorothy Wade doing vocals with me. She's one of my favorite female vocalists of all time. I don't think she realizes how talented she is. She brings soul and the woman's point of view to my sound. As far as training, I mostly play by ear and that came from playing along with records back in the day. I took some lessons in high school, but my real training came from playing in bands and playing in clubs.

AF: I think that's another reason why a lot of music sucks today. Instead of learning the basics of music like scales, chords and some theory, you got people out there that can't even hear when a sample is out of tune with the track. I was blessed to be brought up in a school system that offered music classes, choir, band and marching bands. We know the positive results we get when we introduce music into a child's life, that's why it's imperative that we figure out a way to find the money to fund music education programs in schools.

AF: Be patient. It doesn't have to happen over night. You know how food that is cooked slowly tastes better than microwave food? There are too many microwave artists out there right now. Take the time to learn your craft. Practice, practice, practice! Become a student of the history of music. Expose yourself to all styles of music. And most of all respect the music and it will respect you.

AF: I deal mainly with R&B, Rap and Reggae. I work in the Awards Department. My duties include working on all aspects of the GRAMMY Award process. It's starts off with the entry process where members of The Recording Academy and record labels enter product to be considered for a GRAMMY. And then we verify all the entries to make sure they meet all of the criteria of being an eligible entry, and then we hold screening meetings to make sure the music is what it is. After that we send out our ballot to our voters, and then we start preparing for the show. I've also been able to establish about 7 new categories since I've been there including my favorite Best Urban Alternative Performance. I would encourage all musicians, producers, engineers and anyone else on the creative side to become a member of The Recording Academy. They can check out grammy.com for more information.

AF: I would like to thank you for this interview. It's my first time being interviewed regarding my band. Special thanks to Mike Cavanaugh for the great shots that he took of me & the band at The Joint. Thanks to Jill Piano for hooking me up with you. Shout out to my band Dorothy Wade, Charles Jackson, Lamar Webster, Annice Graves, Larry Houston, Phil Gates and Keith Williams. Shout out to my son Armand a.k.a. R-Mon who is also working on his own project as we speak. Shout out to my mother and father and the rest of my family for their love and support. To my family Jesse Karol Dodd, thanks for your love and support and all the times I've cried on your shoulder about something. :) And still keeping it in the family be on the look out for my nephew's out of Dayton, OH "360 & Lil Jeff'". Their CD is out and it's called "2 Sides To Every Story. Look out for Alan Foster's Redemption at venue near you in the future and of course check out my CD that I hope to complete by early 2006. Peace & GOD's Love.