Louisaiana’s John Foster hometown healing American Idol | Entertainment/Life

The first public place “American Idol” finalist John Foster ever performed was at Morley Marina in so-called “Back Brusly.”

For the uninitiated, in Brusly, everything west of La. 1 is considered Back Brusly.

“When you cross the highway, you go to Front Brusly,” explained Morley Marina manager, Jeremy Prejean.

Prejean has known Foster since he was a toddler. They were neighbors for years. He remembers Foster’s first performance at Morley’s well — and is quick to credit the young singer’s rise to his uncle, Gaylen Martin. 

Prejean is not alone.

Rick Bourgoyne and Blake Sarradet, both longtime employees at Foster’s family’s business, Benoit’s Country Meat Block in Addis, also credit Martin for helping get Foster’s career off the ground.

So does his grandmother, Verbie Benoit. (John Foster’s legal last name is Benoit. He grew up using the double name “John Foster.”) 

The uncle who helped Foster learn his first chords

Even so, Martin isn’t quick to take much of the credit, but he does acknowledge that he recognized early on that Foster, from Addis, had something special. 

“I just started teaching him some guitar chords and working with him a little bit. He was a really fast learner,” Martin said. “Anytime I would teach him something and tell him to go home and practice it, the next day or so, he’d have it figured out.”

Martin has taken time off from his job as an outside sales person for a welding fabrication company to go with Foster to the “American Idol” audition in Nashville, then to Hawaii. On Friday night, he was packing his bags, getting ready to leave early Saturday morning for his second trip to Hollywood.

Martin, 55, married Foster’s aunt — his father’s sister — and became part of the Benoit family. 

The lack of blood connection does not diminish the bond the two share.

On Wednesday night, when Foster was back home to play his “American Idol” hometown hero concert, Martin was right there by his side, on the stage playing guitar as his nephew sang to thousands.

“That’s the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for,” Martin said. 

When many people of the tight-knit communities on the west bank of the Mississippi River, just across from Baton Rouge, recognized Martin on stage, they were cheering him on too. 

Aimee Rabalais, secretary at Brusly High, was among those who took special joy in seeing Martin in the spotlight.

“I was so happy Gaylen got to play with John Foster on stage Wednesday night,” Rabalais said. “I said, ‘Oh, I know his heart must be just swollen.'”

It’s a shared performance that might not have happened. 

Though Martin has performed throughout the region for more than 35 years, he took a break from music three years ago after his brother and musical partner died of a heart attack.

“I got away from music for a while, and John Foster brought me back,” Martin said. “So, I’m very grateful.”

A song for her, a voice for them all

That theme of going from sorrow to gratitude runs true on many levels for John Foster — and the Addis/Brusly community at large.

The school has experienced more than its share of tragedy going back to the 2011 murder of Sylviane Finck Lozada, who taught at Brusly High. In less than a nine-month span, three high school students died. On Sept. 1, 2023, 15-year-old Ja’Kobe Queen was shot and killed at the first football game of the season at Port Allen High. On Dec. 31, 2022, friends and cheerleaders Maggie Dunn and Caroline Gill were killed when an Addis police officer ran a red light and crashed into their vehicle.

“Over the last several years, the scale of emotion leaned heavy toward sorrow and tragedy, and then, along comes John Foster,” said Walt Lemoine, the much-loved and longtime principal at Brusly High.

Foster wrote the song, “Tell That Angel I Love Her,” which he performed earlier this season on “American Idol,” about his friend Maggie.

The two were close and even went to the homecoming dance together. Foster spoke of her in his valedictorian speech, which his mom posted on social media and racked up more than 400,000 views — before he became “American Idol” famous. 

Lemoine remembers the speech well.

“If I let you read it on paper, you’d think it was just like most any other valedictorian speech, but the way he delivered it — man, that little sucker won every speech competition he was ever in,” Lemoine said of Foster. “That guy just has it.”

One week, a whole town and a rising star

On Saturday morning, Lemoine, like much of the rest of the Addis/Brusly community, was loading up his car to head to Sulphur, where the Brusly High baseball team was playing the third in a series of games for the state championship. 

Lemoine described this last week as “a carousel, a merry-go-round, a roller coaster” all in one. 

The track team won state week before last. The softball team went to the state finals last weekend. On Sunday and Monday nights they are all glued to “American Idol.” On Wednesday, they hosted the John Foster “American Idol” pep rally, parade and concert.

Thursday was graduation. 

On Saturday afternoon, Lemoine was in Sulphur, with the rest of the Brusly faithful, cheering on the baseball team. At 4 p.m., in the bottom of the fifth, Brusly was down by four runs. North DeSoto was up 7-3. 

But in the stands and back home, the Brusly fans were keeping hope alive. 

“It’s almost been like a dream,” Lemoine said. “Our valedictorian Thursday night, our first valedictorian since John Foster, she just nailed it. The word she used was ‘chaos.’ Through the chaos comes the victory and learning how to weather the storm.”

Ultimately, the No. 1-ranked Brusly High baseball team lost to North DeSoto, 7-3 — a painful loss in a week of so much triumph.

But the team and the community have been down before. They know a lot about bouncing back — and lifting one another up. 

For Addis, for Brusly, for the whole West Side, Foster isn’t just singing on a national stage or for the title “American Idol” — he’s carrying their story with him, note by note.

If you hold your ear in the right direction come Sunday night, chances are you’ll hear them singing right along with him — no matter which side of the Mississippi River you’re standing on.

Sunday night John Foster ‘American Idol’ watch parties

The show airs from 7–10 p.m. Sunday night on ABC. These local spots are hosting watch parties:

Side Porch Daiquiri, 6641 LA-1, Addis

Morley’s Marina, 7675 Choctaw Road, Brusly

Walk Ons, 437 Oak Plaza Blvd., Brusly

Rio Cantina, 400 W. St. Francis St., Brusly