View Murray Foster’s Bio

Toronto Songwriting School is led by Murray Foster, a Juno-nominated songwriter, producer, and performer with songwriting credits on multiple certified gold and platinum recordings. Best known for his role in two legendary Canadian bands, he has a reputation as an insightful collaborator and a patient instructor and mentor to up-and-coming songwriters.

In Moxy Früvous, Murray released several gold and platinum records (selling half a million copies), opened for songwriting greats like Bob Dylan, played over two thousand shows around the world and appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

In 2002, Murray joined Great Big Sea, and has since recorded five albums, written songs for the band (including the critically-acclaimed “Safe Upon the Shore”) and toured extensively throughout North America and Europe.

In January 2012, Murray was asked to take part in the Stephen Lewis Foundation’s DARE Campaign. As his ‘dare,’ Murray decided to write and record 30 songs in 30 days. These songs raised almost $6,000 to fight AIDS in Africa.

More recently, Murray wrote, directed and scored his first feature film The Cocksure Lads Movie. It premiered in December 2014 at the Whistler Film Festival and was released in theatres across Canada in 2015. You can still watch it on Crave or Starz in Canada or on digital providers like Amazon Prime and Google Play.

Murray began teaching songwriting at the Trebas Institute of Music in Toronto in 2012. Then in 2014, he was selected to be one of only two songwriting instructors at Seneca’s new Independent Performing Songwriter program, where he continues to work as a Professor of Songwriting.

In addition to writing in his own bands, Murray has collaborated with many up-and-coming performers including co-writing with 2015 East Coast Music Award nominees Rocket Rocket Ship and the well-regarded Newfoundland duo Andrew James O’Brien and Catherine Allan who perform as Fortunate Ones. Their debut CD "The Bliss" features three songs written with Murray.

Whether it’s helping a new songwriter find their voice or working on already existing material, Murray has a gift for nurturing the talent of others and pinpointing exactly how a song can be refined.

Songwriting/Co-writing
The Lesters - The Promise
Fortunate Ones – The Bliss – “Lay Me Down”, “Solitary Sparks”, “Someday Love”
Great Big Sea – Safe Upon The Shore – “Safe Upon The Shore”
Cocksure Lads – Mad Lad Plan, The Greatest Hits of The Cocksure Lads 1963-1968
Séan McCann – Son of a Sailor – “Back To You”
Moxy Früvous – C Album, Thornhill, Live Noise, You Will Go To The Moon, B Album, Wood, Bargainville

Producer
Laura Tremblay – Lived It Well
Cocksure Lads – Mad Lad Plan, The Greatest Hits of The Cocksure Lads 1963-1968
Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case – The Sun in Your Eyes

Performer (partial list)
Cocksure Lads – Mad Lad Plan, The Greatest Hits of The Cocksure Lads 1963-1968
Sherman Downey and the Ambiguous Case – The Sun in Your Eyes
Great Big Sea – Safe Upon The Shore, Fortune’s Favour, Courage and Patience and Grit (In Concert), The Hard and The Easy, Something Beautiful
Moxy Früvous – C Album, Thornhill, Live Noise, You Will Go To The Moon, B Album, Wood, Bargainville
Mike Ford – Flames Across The Border: The 1812 Music Project
The Klezmatics – Jews with Horns, Possessed
Martina Sorbara – The Cure for Bad Deeds
Mary Bennett – flying
Teal & Joyce – Has It All Been Said
Asetha Power – Child of Rhyme
Shawna Capsi – Skyline
Dan Byrk – Lover’s Leap
Da Vinci’s Notebook – Bendy’s Law
Barenaked Ladies – Gordon
Kris Kristofferson/Various Artists – The Pilgrim: A Celebration of Kris Kristofferson
Various Artists – Garth Hudson Presents a Canadian Celebration of The Band
Various Artists – If I Had a Song: The Songs of Pete Seeger, Vol. 2
Various Artists – Clearwater Live!
Various Artists – Main Stage Live: The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival Album

You can follow him on Twitter or Instagram @MurrayFoster1 or on Facebook. Additional information on Murray's projects and events can be found here: www.murrayfoster.ca