About Zef
I am a musician, movie nerd, and writer from Oklahoma. Let’s talk about music first, or if you don’t care, skip ahead to the other stuff!
MUSIC
I have been writing music since high school, and singing and performing long before that. I write songs about life, about people, and I love to tell stories through song. Lots of my songs are silly, and I like that. I picked up guitar and piano in high school, and that's when I started writing songs and playing in bands with friends. I’m in a band with those same friends today: Plane Jane. Nothing released as a band yet, but the guys appear on most of my solo albums at various points.
If you listen to my music, you might hear a mix of influences. If for any bizarre reason you’re curious what my top 7 musical influences are, they are as follows:
Electric Light Orchestra
Jim Croce
Jonathan Coulton
Ben Folds
Randy Newman
Chris Rice
Supertramp
My music taste growing up was influenced largely by my father, as well as my friends, and even by movies I watched. In addition to the acts I mentioned already, I grew up loving classic folk and rock acts like:
James Taylor, John Denver, The Beatles, Huey Lewis, Bread, Alan Parsons, Yes, Stephen Bishop, Billy Joel, Eagles, The Beach Boys, Hall and Oates, Don McLean, etc.
Some more modern influences include John Mayer, Hippo Campus, Bill Wurtz, The Brook and the Bluff, Julian Velard, and Chris Trapper. I have been performing my own songs in public since about 2016.
I am also heavily influenced by movie soundtracks such as the Muppet Movie soundtrack by Paul Williams (Rainbow Connection is my all time favorite song), as well as all of Randy Newman’s work. Newman, as mentioned above, is one of my all time favorite songwriters. If I could have any job on the planet, it would be to write songs for film. Speaking of which…
FILM
Movies are a HUGE passion of mine, and my primary interest other than music. In fact, I have a podcast about them: NOT QUALIFIED.
As far as Not Qualified goes, that is a super amazing podcast that I co-host with a revolving cast of oddballs, usually my buddies Joe Farmer and Noah Scearce. Check it out anywhere podcasts go. Seriously, it’s some of the best fun that can be had. I also write here about movies now and then, which you can find with my other articles (most of which are about Christianity) over at zeffoster.com/words. Speaking of which…
WRITING
Most importantly, I am a Christian. My views, convictions, and choices are shaped and molded by the Holy Bible, and by my commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord of all Creation. I do write in the Christian sphere very often these days, and have been published in Touchstone Magazine, American Reformer, Front Porch Republic, The Theopolis Institute, and plenty of other publications. You can find links to all my articles over on the “Words” section of the site, the title of which is “Writings and Wrongings.” As far as blog titles go, I think it’s a pretty fun one. Concerning all the rest…
GALLIMAUFRY…
I am happily married to a wonderful woman named Katelyn Foster, and we have a fun time.
I enjoy Diet Coke, beer of all kinds, whiskey, cigars, theology, cheddar cheese, music, films, and driving aimlessly. My various other hobbies include playing and watching basketball (let’s go Celtics!), watching football (let’s go Steelers!), playing Dungeons and Dragons, video games, enjoying fantasy, sci-fi, and making videos (which I do for a living, and for fun).
Below is a video - one of many like this I’ve made - that gives you a small taste of some snippets of my life and the people I love. I am glad you’re here.
I hope you find something here you enjoy, and may the music be with you!
-Zef
