Hitman by David Foster

In Hitman, David Foster goes from young Canadian piano student with perfect pitch to music producer who spent "forty years making music, topping charts & winning Grammys". That's 15 Grammys for those who are counting. David grew up in Victoria, British Columbia the middle of seven children and the only boy and now works as a music producer/songwriter/arranger/performer with some of the biggest names in music. This memoir details his successes, his not-so-successful moments, his children, his foundation to help disadvantaged children and so much more.

This is an awesome book. There's never a dull moment. It was both interesting and educational. I'm not much of a celebrity follower and don't know the in and outs of anyone's career, so a lot of the details were new and fascinating. I was also surprised to learn what producers do; that they have control over the whole music making process, not just the business end. It's so much more than I thought they did. This memoir, too, is much more than it could have been. I'm sure Foster could have filled the pages with just stories of the people he's worked with over the years. However, David shares the intimate of his failed marriages, his guilt over his relationship with his five daughters, his phobias, his health and more. Having said that, at times I thought he could have been a little more open about his feelings and dug a little deeper to show his vulnerability. He came across as a little guarded, but he is writing for a bunch of strangers. I think I'd be guarded, too.

There are many things I loved about this book. One thing was the references to the life lessons he learned along the way. They really tied the memoir together into one cohesive unit rather than a bunch of stories of his life. Another things I particularly enjoyed were the pages of acknowledgments and lists of awards and nominations at the end of the book. It's amazing when you look at his accomplishments all laid out like that. And he's not done, yet!

One of my favourite quotes:

I can only be who I am, and who I am is a guy who writes music that people make babies to--and I'm not going to apologize for it.

One of my favourite artists that David has worked with is Renee Olstead. She's a young jazz singer with an incredible voice. If you haven't heard her sing, you're missing something great.

Foster also made me realize that I'm probably missing out on listening to some great voices. I'm determined to expand my music horizons to include Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli just because of the wonderful things Foster had to say about their talents.

There's many facets to the music industry, but for Foster it comes down to only one thing: music. David Foster certainly is *the* Hitman.

Highly recommended.