Kenny Foster is celebrating the town he was raised in with “Somewhere in Middle America.” The song, the title track of Foster’s upcoming album, is part of the rising star’s way of honoring his early years, growing up in Joplin, Missouri, as well as his winding path to Nashville to focus on his music career.

“This record is an attempt at capturing sonically a huge part of the country that doesn’t have the same level of cultural markers being reflected back to them in art,” Foster explains. “John Mellencamp feels like the last artist that really focused on this part of the American landscape.”

“Somewhere in Middle America” is one of several songs that Foster says will help people understand where he was born and raised, and why it still holds such a special place in his heart today.

“To help frame the record as a whole, this song is creating a sonic landscape that people can feel,” explains the singer. “I wanted people that are never going to drive through Middle America to viscerally feel what it’s like to be there and for those that live there, I wanted to create something that resonated, sort of a nod, an if-you-know-you-know situation.”

According to Foster, “‘Somewhere in Middle America’ is setting the scene for the record that every other song occurs in. The hope is that it builds a landscape that the listener is invited into. Being from there and resonating with that place so personally, I tried to encapsulate everything that it is about.”

Foster knew he needed to leave his hometown if he wanted to make a living making music, but that doesn’t mean the decision was easy for him.

“I had never felt more compelled to do anything in my life,” he shares. “To uproot. To move forward. To chase life. I was fulfilling my destiny, whatever that turned out to be. As it turns out, leaving everything you know to chase something you don’t understand, is excruciatingly difficult. And it takes an egregiously long time. You have to be willing to make mistakes (I was not). You have to be willing to recognize your own limitations (I could not, but they’ve since become blatantly obvious). You have to learn to let go (I’m getting there).”

“Somewhere in Middle America,” as well as all of Foster’s music, can be found by visiting his website.