On the latest episode of our podcast, Vashti Altheide caught up with blues singer-songwriter and guitarist Ruthie Foster.

With a career that began in the late-1990s, the roots rock artist reflected on her journey with her latest album, “Mileage,” which received a deluxe edition earlier this year.

“This is basically my life in this record, more so than any of the other ones have been,” Foster said.

“Mileage” earned the U.S. Navy veteran her first Grammy, winning for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

“It was a real surprise,” she said, “to get that award, and, you know, it’s basically voted by your peers, is a huge deal, ’cause … I’m sure they get a lot of entries.”

The deluxe version of the album features a cover of Sam & Dave’s “Hold On I’m Coming” and acoustic versions of songs from “Mileage” recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis.

Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King and numerous others have recorded at the legendary studio, which opened its doors in 1950.

“Yeah, the walls look the same. I’m sure the console has been, you know, beefed up and all of that, but they still have,” Foster continued, “the dials, you know, just for visual effect, I’m sure.”

“Mileage” was produced by Tyler Bryant. The frontman of Tyler Bryant & the Shakedown also played on the album and co-wrote tracks.

Two more collaborators on the album were Bryant’s wife Rebecca Lovell and sister-in-law Megan Lovell, who make up the Grammy-winning duo Larkin Poe.

The sisters are both featured on the song “Done.” (Rebecca contributed to the album beyond that track.)

“I had heard a song that Maria Muldaur and Bonnie Raitt had sung, and it sounded like they were sittin’ at the kitchen table singin’ a Gospel spiritual, you know, and I thought, ‘We need something like that.’”

Raitt is one of the multiple musical greats Foster has shared a stage with.

“I consider Bonnie very much a … dear friend,” she said. “I want to be her one day. Yeah. She’s just beautiful inside and out.”

Other influential artists, rooted in the blues, who Foster has worked with, include The Allman Brothers, Gov’t Mule, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks.

Even with a decades-long career, she’s always looking for more.

“I’m not done yet,” she said. “There are a lot of things I really want to do – a lot of different things I want to to try, not just in music.”

To learn more about our guest, visit RuthieFoster.com