Ruthie Foster, the remarkable soul/gospel/blues/rock singer, is from Texas but she always feels right at home at the Dakota in Minneapolis. And it's not because two of her three backup musicians live here.

It's because she feels comfortable here, so comfortable, in fact, that on Tuesday night, she not only threatened to move here but took a full house at the Dakota to her world – her front porch, back porch, church, grandmother's house and even on the ocean-bound blues cruise. It was a homey, friendly evening of rootsy music

However, it wasn't Foster's best show in the Twin Cities. She was overly chatty, her repertoire lacked up-tempo material and the pacing of the 95-minute set was awkward. Moreover, Foster didn't get lost in her material – that's when she's at her best – until the last portion of the show.

It took a cameo appearance from her blues-cruise buddy Willie Walker, the underappreciated Twin Cities old-school R&B vocalist, to perk things up. He was featured on Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home To Me," with Foster on backup vocals. When they started trading "yeahs," it made you want to jump up and shout "Yeah! "

Clearly in a good mood, Foster, 50, gave plenty of props to the homeboys in her band – bassist Larry Fulcher, who gave shout-outs to various friends and family, and opening act Scottie Miller, whose B-3 organ and mandolin fueled and framed Foster's music.

After Walker's appearance, Foster shifted gears for the up-tempo groove-tune "This Time" and the sweet soul stroll "My Kinda Lover," one of the four selections from her fine new album, "Promise of a Brand New Day," that she performed.

Then came the Foster who lived up to title of her 2007 album "The Phenomenal Ruthie Foster."

She completely reimagined the Johnny Cash classic "Ring of Fire" as a reliving of the seduction into a relationship, set to a slow Southern drawl that made this overly familiar tune both completely unfamiliar and totally brilliant.

Foster showed off her range on "The Ghetto," a late 1960s tune associated with the Staple Singers. It seemed as if she interpreted gospel from an R&B perspective whereas most R&B singers have their roots in the church. She let her remarkable voice rise up church style but she remained in control, ending with some churchy humming.

Then Foster turned to Miller, who played an instrumental version of Leon Russell's "A Song for You" on the piano but it was really an introduction to her knockout number, "Phenomenal Woman." With her voice soaring, she delivered this anthem of empowerment and self-love, ending with lots of "baby, baby, babies."

"Is there a phenomenal woman in the house?" she asked after the last note. "Celebrate yourself. Ain't nothing wrong with it."

Amen.