If you've ever seen Ruthie Foster perform live, you'll have no trouble understanding why she's a member of the Texas Hall of Fame, a four-time Grammy nominee, and has been hailed as one of the most remarkable blues, folk and gospel voices of the 21st Century.

As striking as she is as a musician, however, the road that's taken her there is every bit as compelling. She started off as a child star on the gospel circuit, followed by a stint working on helicopters in the Navy. She later dove back into music, but gave up on New York City and a contract with Atlantic Records, returning instead to her tiny Texas hometown to care for her mother, eventually making her debut album for her own label. And that's literally just the beginning of her storied recording career!

Her debut album celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. Over that quarter-century, she's carved out a unique place for herself as an uncategorizable artist, drawing from gospel, blues, folk, jazz, pop, soul, rock, and opera; recording compositions by the likes of 1940s guitar firebrand Sister Rosetta Tharpe, metal forefathers Black Sabbath, and exalted poet Maya Angelou; and of course, writing profoundly heartfelt songs from her perspective as a genuinely self-actualized artist.

In this conversation, the candid, soulful and hilarious Ruthie Foster speaks off the cuff and from the heart, discussing her unique lifelong journey as an artist, her abiding interest in everything from big band jazz to opera, her perspective as a gay woman in roots music, her stunning latest album Live at the Paramount, always striving to stay grounded through family and work, and reaching for all good things that life has to offer.