Meet the Founder

Deloris Marie Foster
Founder, Songwriter & Producer
Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots

I am Deloris Marie Foster, Founder, Songwriter and Producer of                                                       Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots.

I'm just a country girl from the hills of West Virginia, whose memory of those hills has never left me. I carry the sound of faith, family, struggle, laughter, prayer, front porches, mountain roads, coal country, church songs, and the sacred stories of ordinary people who lived with extraordinary strength.

Those roots are part of everything I create.

My life has taken me far beyond the hills, but it has never taken the hills out of me. I have served in public leadership, ministry, spiritual service, business ownership, storytelling, music, writing, and creative work. I know the value of humble beginnings, and I also know the importance of standing with dignity, purpose, and vision.

One of the deepest memories of my life came when I was only four years old. I saw myself dressed in white, standing beneath a great tree, speaking to a gathering of people from many races and walks of life. That vision never left my consciousness.

For many years, I did not fully understand how that vision would come to pass. Now, through Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots, I believe I am beginning to see it unfold. Through songs, story, memory, faith, and sacred roots music, I am being allowed to speak to people’s hearts, honor their histories, and help preserve what should not be forgotten.

A minister of the Gospel and Spiritual Teacher, I have long believed in the power of words, prayer, music, and vision to uplift and transform lives. My creative work grows out of that same belief.

I also served as the youngest Cook County Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, since its inception in 1889. In that role, I served more than five million people in Chicago and 114 surrounding communities and helped to protect their drinking water. I also set and administered an eight-hundred-million-dollar budget and gave policy direction to over 2,000 employees.

That experience taught me the importance of stewardship, responsibility, leadership, and protecting what people depend on every day.

I have received many awards and accolades for my leadership, honesty, honor, and forthright courage to stand up for justice, but the one I hold closest to my heart is the “Miracle-Minded” Master Award.  This great honor reflects the high state of consciousness I have sought to reach all of my life—a belief in the power of God to change things through us. When we align ourselves with Spiritual Law, we become “Miracle-Minded” Masters who can change lives and the course of history.  Many of our ancestors and loved ones have left us legacies that bear witness to this great truth.

My love for storytelling, music, poetry, and writing has been part of my life since I was a young girl. It carried over into adulthood. As a storyteller, musician, speaker, writer, and performer, I have shared original stories, music, poetry, faith, humor, wisdom, memory, and encouragement in many meaningful settings.

I performed an original story I wrote about Marcus Garvey on the main stage at the International Festival of Arts. The Museum of Science and Industry also created a special stage for me as part of its “Sounds of Chicago” exhibit, where I performed music, stories and poetry for three months before visitors from around the world.

I was also a storyteller at the Smithsonian Institution for a National Council of Negro Women’s Family Affair event. In addition, I received an Illinois Arts Grant for my work creating stories from African American spirituals, and I have appeared in Chicago libraries, schools, and on cable television.

I have also worked professionally as a writer for a Fortune 500 company, where I learned the importance of clear communication, strong messaging, and writing with purpose. In addition, I am the author of two books available on Amazon.

All of these experiences and more now flow into my work as a songwriter and producer. They help me listen deeply, recognize the heart of a story, shape meaningful words, and create songs that honor the people, memories, and histories entrusted to me.

Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots brings together many parts of who I am: the minister, the storyteller, the West Virginia daughter, the songwriter, the producer, the businesswoman, the encourager, and the keeper of memory.

Through custom Legacy Songs, Family Story Songs, sacred roots music, and spoken-word meditations, I help preserve personal, family, business, church, organizational, and Appalachian histories through music.

I believe every life carries a story. Every family carries memory. Every church, business, community, and hometown has a beginning, a struggle, a triumph, and a song waiting to be heard.

This work is more than music to me.

It is memory.
It is honor.
It is sacred storytelling.
It is a way to preserve what should not be forgotten.

At the center of my life and work is my greatest love—the Lord.

Everything I create flows from my desire to serve, uplift, encourage, and help preserve what is meaningful and sacred. Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots is not just a business to me. It is a calling, a ministry of memory, and a way to use the gifts I have been given to help others honor the stories that matter most.

I invite you to listen to “My Greatest Love is the Lord,” a song from my heart that expresses the faith and devotion behind the work I do.

 

Thank you for visiting and learning more about me and Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots.

Deloris Marie Foster
Founder, Songwriter & Producer
Mountain Mama Soul Sister Roots