The Ledger

By Becky Holland

Doyle Ray Foskey, 73, has spent his entire life rooted in Bleckley and Pulaski counties—a place where faith and hard work have shaped the man he is today.

A graduate of Bleckley County High School in the early 1970s, Foskey went on to work in drywall alongside his dad and uncles in the family business, Foskey Brothers.

Foskey is the father of three children and a grandfather.

Like many country boys, Foskey enjoys deer hunting, fishing and cooking—“country cooking,” as he puts it. He attends Cornerstone Church of Cochran, where his faith plays a central role in his life today.

But one of his greatest passions has always been music.

“I’ve always had it in me,” Foskey said.

As a child, he would “pat” on just about anything he could find. His father noticed early on.

“He’d say, ‘Boy, you need to play the drums,’” Foskey recalled.

By high school, he was doing just that—and more.

“I played most anything,” he said. “I wanted to be a band director.”

Life, however, had other plans. Work and responsibility came first, but music never left him.

At age 13, Foskey picked up his first guitar—and never put it down.

“My cousin Danny Ray Adkins taught me the basics,” he said. “I learned the rest myself.”

More than five decades later, the guitar still goes almost everywhere with him.

“Playing it gives me great joy, and playing for others gives me pleasure,” he said.

For Foskey, music has been more than a hobby—it’s been a steady presence through life’s ups and downs.

“There was a time in my life when things just weren’t steady,” he said, admitting he made some “different choices” along the way.

“But the guitar held me together. It is God’s gift to me—I give Him full credit. God can pull you out of anything, and He can put you where you need to be. God used music and the guitar to do that with me.”

Over the years, Foskey has written around 150 songs, mostly gospel and country.

“I can make a song out of anything—even silly stuff,” he said.

His faith became the turning point.

“Music, with God’s help, brought me from the old to the new—especially in 2009 when I fully gave my life to the Lord,” he said. “I’m in a good place because of that.”

These days, Foskey has traded barrooms for churches, nursing homes and revivals.

“Now I play wherever I’m asked.”

One song, in particular, still holds a special place in his heart—I Saw the Light, his late sister’s favorite.

“I used to play it as the last song back in my bar days,” he said. “Didn’t matter how loaded folks were—they’d quit dancing and just sit and listen. Then they’d clap and clap at the end.”

For Foskey, playing the guitar has become second nature—a lifelong companion and calling.

Looking back, he has simple advice for his younger self:

“Give your life to God early. Get in church,” he said. “I wonder if I had done that and stayed with Him where I’d be today.”

There were dreams once, too.

“My dad thought I was good enough to go to Nashville,” Foskey said. “I was 21 at the time. I told him no—too many better guitar players than me.”

Now, he reflects on that moment with a touch of wonder.

“I wish I had gone—for his sake.”