Radney Foster

Radney Foster crafts story songs with singular grit and grace. Clear evidence: The celebrated songwriter's Del Rio, TX 1959. Twenty years ago, the contemporary country classic showcased a songwriter in peak form with hits brassy ("Just Call Me Lonesome") and bruised ("Nobody Wins") and buoyant with blues ("Easier Said Than Done"). "Del Rio's arguably the best country record I've ever made," Foster says. "So many young singers and songwriters come up to me and say, 'I wore that record out.'" Take Darius Rucker. "I told Capitol in my second meeting that if they wanted me to record Del Rio, TX, 1959 all over I'd be fine with that," the country superstar says. "Radney Foster's my biggest influence." Two decades on, Foster's new Del Rio, TX Revisited: Unplugged and Lonesome reinvents his hallmark solo debut as an ambitious and haunting acoustic collection.