Murray Douglas Foster (born June 29, 1967) is a Canadian musician, vocalist, songwriter, director, playwright, screenwriter, and environmentalist.
He is best known for his work as electric and upright bassist in the Canadian bands Moxy Früvous and Great Big Sea.
He attended Thornlea Secondary School, and graduated with a BA in English Literature from the University of Toronto.
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.
In 2003, Foster began touring with Great Big Sea[2] after founding bass player Darrell Power left the band.
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 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.
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.
In 2009, Foster performed a well-received lead role in the theatrical production of the play “Toronto Noir” in the Summerworks Theatre Festival.
[citation needed] In 2010, he and John Deere Credit Canada business analyst Brenda Morrow founded Platypus, the world's first green energy gift company.
In January 2012, he wrote and recorded 30 songs in 30 days as part of the Stephen Lewis Foundation's DARE Campaign.
[citation needed] Foster supports various environmental causes, including the drive to expand safe cycling in Toronto.