Murray Foster

In the late 1980s, Foster played bass in the new wave band Tall New Buildings,[1] alongside vocalist Jian Ghomeshi, guitarist Tracy Jones, Reno Manfredi on keyboards and drummer John Ruttle.

Foster started Moxy Früvous in 1990 with Jian Ghomeshi, Mike Ford and Dave Matheson. The band developed a cult following and toured extensively for ten years. They released eight albums and were featured on Late Night with Conan O'Brien in October 1999.

In 2003, Foster began touring with Great Big Sea[2] after founding bass player Darrell Power left the band. Over the course of 10 years with the band, Foster's role evolved. In 2012, he co-wrote the a cappella ballad "Safe Upon the Shore" with Séan McCann.[3]

In 2010, Foster and Mike Ford recorded a CD under the name The Cocksure Lads. Called The Greatest Hits of The Cocksure Lads (1963-1968), its 12 tracks were written over the previous decade.[4] Their second CD, Mad! Lad! Plan!, was released on January 24, 2014.[5] The live band is a separate project from The Cocksure Lads Movie.

In the early 2000s, Foster joined with Tory Cassis and Jeff Ulster to form The Lesters, an acoustic vocal jazz trio modelled on the Nat King Cole trio. After focusing on 1940s and 1950s jazz for the first ten years of their existence, The Lesters began writing original songs for a six-song EP which was released in 2017.

In 2017, Foster and Mike Ford were invited to adapt The Cocksure Lads Movie into a musical at Sheridan College's Canadian Music Theatre Project incubator.[6] The resulting show was named Chelsea Sunrise.

The Quest

In 2021, Foster teamed up with Kieren MacMillan for his next musical The Quest.[7] The show will be presented by the Stirling Festival Theatre Young Company in October 2023.

After writing several short plays, Foster was asked by Emily Andrews of Filmcoop Toronto to write film scripts. His short film, "The Picture," premiered at the Hamilton Film Festival in 2012.[8]

Foster then wrote the screenplay for a full-length feature film, The Cocksure Lads Movie. Avi Federgreen, a 20-year veteran of the Canadian film industry took on the film's executive producer role.

The money to make the film came from many sources. In 2012, a Kickstarter campaign raised $28,000 to begin work on the movie. In September 2013, Foster began a second round of independent fundraising with a self-run campaign that featured backer rewards such as Postcards from the Road (Great Big Sea's XX tour), private lessons in anything over Skype, a song performed with the band, Backer Beer, a cast-signed script or lookbook, a part in the film, a session with the editor, a house concert, or even the chance to beat the director at board games.[9] Foster and Ford performed pop-up performances at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival to promote the film.[10] On April 10, 2014, Foster, Ford, and their band made a pitch to the Dragon's Den television programme. The episode aired in January 2015. Dragons Arlene Dickinson and Mike Wekerle backed the project at $50,000 each.

Filming began in April 2014 in Toronto and production wrapped later that spring. The cast included UK Emmerdale soap opera phenom Lyndon Ogbourne as Dusty, Adam McNab as Reg, Luke Marty as Derek, and Ed Hillier as Blakey. Guest stars included Alan Doyle, Walk Off The Earth, and Matt Galloway.

The feature won much acclaim at the 2014 Whistler Film Festival.[11] The film debuted in Toronto at the Canadian Film Fest in March 2015. It was distributed nationally in August 2015. It has since acquired international distribution.