Happy Birthday Stephen!

Today is the birthday of Stephen Foster. If life wasn’t finite, he’d be 180. What’s that? You’ve never heard of Stephen Foster? Maybe not, but you’re certainly familiar with his work. Foster wrote such American classics as “Camptown Ladies”, “Oh, Suzanna!” and “Hard Times Come Again No More.” He is consistently covered in the Americana/NoDepression genre of music I love so much, but more importantly, what child gets to age 10 without learning a few of his songs?

Yet, one thing I didn’t know about Foster was that he died at 38 years old with mere pennies in his pocket – all his earthly possessions able to fit into a fist. Sad, considering he’s one of the most classic songwriters to be born on American soil… especially on America’s birthday.

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