Stephen Foster

Long time Hamilton Musician. Past bands include The Crawlin' Kingsnakes, Simply Saucer, Stoked, Sunnhouse etc. Current project is a 3 piece alt rock band named Foster Pottery Co.

My Dad’s Guitar

“ It all started with my Dad’s guitar, he had an old six string Silvertone that could usually be found in the corner of the living room. My Dad didn’t play it much but I was all over it. Mostly pretending I could play at first, but eventually I got down to business and took a few lessons.” Stephen's interest in guitar became even more intensified as he began to buy records " One passion fueled the other, everytime I'd buy a record to learn a new song I'd discover new songs I'd never heard before. Once I'd found out about liner notes it all just accelerated. As I learned new songs I realized that sometimes people other than the band had written music for these albums. It made me want to learn more about those other songwriters, and it wasn't long before I had their records in my collection too. I had everything from Led Zeppelin to Teenage Head, Sex Pistols, John Lee Hooker and everything in between."

Hess Village

By the time Stephen was fifteen he had already been in a couple of garage bands with friends from school and was playing local draft halls around Hamilton. “ By the time I was in grade eleven or twelve I was playing three or four nights a week, playing covers with a bunch of guys in their twenties and thirties. It was a learning experience for sure, but a bit of a dead end.” A chance meeting with singer songwriter Tom Wilson changed Stephen’s musical direction. “ I met Tom at the Gown and Gavel, I had seen the Florida Razors dozens of times by then and was a big fan. I was playing with some horrible cover act at the time and I still remember Tom asking me ‘ what the hell are you doing playing with these guys?’ We talked about original music and the scene that was going on in Hess Village and Hamilton. After that evening it seemed the more I delved into the Hamilton music scene the more I was hooked!”

It didn’t take Stephen long to become fully engaged in the Hamilton Music scene, playing with numerous outfits, eventually becoming a member of The Crawlin’ Kingsnakes. During that time with the Kingsnakes Stephen helped to write, engineer, and produce two full length albums “Loaded N Rollin” and “Go All Night”. Both of which were released on Cargo records out of Montreal. After a number of years touring and opening for numerous major label acts (Tragically Hip, Four Horsemen, Colin James etc), and the eventual demise of the Canadian arm of Cargo Records the Kingsnakes decided to call it quits. Stephen didn’t waste anytime forming a new band called Stoked. Stoked was a high energy Alt/Garage rock band, and in only a short period time gained a spot on the 1996 Cfny New Rock search CD and quickly found themselves playing such venues as Edgefest and touring with such bands as Bif Naked, Killjoys, and Junkhouse. “ Stoked was a real wild time in my musical career, we were very high energy on stage, and even wilder after the show. It wasn’t until I had the opportunity to sit down and pen a couple of songs with guys like Tom Wilson and Jack Dekeyser, that we got down to business and concentrated on more important things like songwriting. That change really kicked open a lot of doors for us.” Nevertheless the Rock n Roll lifestyle and excess eventually got the better of the band and in 2001 Stoked packed it in. “ After a bit of downtime and soul searching I decided that I couldn’t lead a life without writing and performing music and decided I would carry on as a solo act. That’s not to say I gave up on band projects entirely. In the last couple of years I have also been playing in a band called The High Society with former members from the Forgotten Rebels and Junkhouse. I’ve also be playing, writing and recording a new album with The Crawlin’ Kingsnakes, as we decided to reform in 2004. It seems like a lot more fun with that band now that we’ve all gone and done other things musically and all learned new skills as musicians and songwriters.”

Stephen continues to play and tour as solo artist and as a member of The Crawlin Kingsnakes , The High Society, and Simply Saucer and is also a partner in Hamilton recording studio Catherine North. Stephen also works as a sound engineer at Hamilton Place Theatre in Hamilton , Ontario Canada