On My Deck
About Bill Foster
Bill lives in Strasburg, Virginia.
His primary interest has been Bluegrass music which
he has followed since the early 1970's.
Bill plays guitar and mandolin.
His over 360 song repertoire also includes other genres of music:
Rock, Blues, Folk, Country, Americana, Songwriters.
He has played at the following venues; BackRoom Brewery, Cristina's Cafe, Strasburg Music in
the Park, Belle Grove Plantation, North Mountain Vineyard, the Box Office Brewery,
and the Twisted Oak Brewery.
Over the years He has played with a number of bands. From 2006 through 2010, he was a member
of Strasburg, Virginia's "Five of a Kind Bluegrass Band". Prior to that, from 2000 to 2005,
he was a member of SW Florida's "Swinging Bridge" band. Other bands he has been with includes
the DC area's "New River Express", "Winterwood" and "Outer Banks".
During 2023-2024 I was a member of the former trio Massandoah with Kevin Whalen
Paul Tangren.
A collection of my recordings and band work can be seen Here...
Since the summer of 2017, he has been Program Director for the on-line radio station,
Bell Buckle Radio. He also produces his own program "Foster's Corner" on the station.
From 2013 to 2019 I was an MC at the Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival in Woodstown, NJ.
From January 2015 to September 2017, I was co-owner of the now-closed ShenRiver Music Group
music publishing company.
Between 1982-83, I became a contribution writer for the now-defunct "Blueprint-Washington's
Bluegrass Newspaper". Since 1996, I have been a contributing writer for "Bluegrass Unlimited"
magazine. 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-FM's "Bluegrass Country" in Washington, DC. Starting with "Bluegrass
Overnight" in 1985, I co-hosted that program until 1999 when I moved to Florida. Upon moving
back to Virginia in 2006, I rejoined the overnight show hosts until 2007 when the overnight show was discontinued. After that I created “Fosters Corner” which was a monthly then a weekly show. That was ended by WAMU in 2017 and I moved myself and my show to Bell Buckle Radio, where I have become the Program Director as mentioned above.