Given their druthers, many devotees of Ruthie Foster would prefer a straight-up shot of the soulful Americana dynamo.
This Friday night at Randolph’s Chandler Music Hall, the audience will have to share Foster, who has a vocal spectrum ranging from Tracy Chapman to Odetta, with Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Carrie Rodriguez, her collaborators in the Texas Troubadours, an ensemble that mixes blues, country and Latin rhythms.
“It’s kind of a gumbo,” Foster said last week during a telephone interview from her back porch in Austin, Texas. “When I’m playing with other people, it’s hard to narrow my repertoire down to a couple of my own songs. I mix it up between my new record (Joy Comes Back) and more of the popular songs that people want to hear. I try to keep it in the vein where Jimmie Dale and Carrie can jump in.”
It’s hard to begrudge her some company. She’s maintaining her various tour obligations, but she worries about her solo-tour drummer and friend Samantha Banks, who’s recovering in long-term care in Texas from a brain bleed that struck her in February.
“It was very difficult after that initial shock,” Foster said. “Those first couple of solo shows were really hard for me to keep singing, knowing that my friend was down. She’s always in my heart. Each night on stage goes out to her.”
That includes Friday night in Randolph.
“Road life can be really hard on you, but I’ve managed to find a balance that works for me,” Foster said at the end of the conversation. “Tell everyone there to come out and have a Hallelujiah time.”
The Texas Troubadours play the Chandler Music Hall in Randolph on Friday night at 7:30. For tickets ($35 to $55) and more information, visit chandler-arts.org or call 802-728-6464.