Her latest, One Guitar Woman, pays tribute to groundbreaking women guitarists
By Jody Denberg
If you listen to any of Sue Foley’s previous sixteen studio albums, very little would prepare you for her new “One Guitar Woman” release. Yes, there was a solo acoustic number tucked away at the end of 2018’s “Ice Queen,” but her latest is – as its title implies – solely the Ottawa native (and Austinite since the early 1990’s) with her nylon-string guitar and twelve songs.
But they’re not just any songs, as Foley explained during her recent Studio 1A session at KUTX. This album is “A Tribute To The Female Pioneers Of Guitar” – with compositions originally done by Maybelle Carter, Memphis Minnie, Lydia Mendoza, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ida Presti and others. And Sue doesn’t just cover these songs, she gets inside them; her vocals match the intensity of her playing. Also, this isn’t just a blues collection – folk’s Piedmont fingerpicking style, traditional country, flamenco and even classical are represented.
Sue Foley recently won her fourth consecutive Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Female artist, has earned a Juno (Canada’s Grammy equivalent) and is at the top of the blues charts with “One Guitar Women.” She has paid her dues many times over and is now making music unlike any of her contemporaries, with an ear to the past and an eye on the future.
“From the time I decided to be a professional guitar player, I’ve always looked for female role models,” Foley recently recalled. “These are the women who were expressing themselves through the instrument as far back as the 1920’s, at the inception of radio and recorded music. They are the trailblazers and visionaries whose footsteps I walk in.”
Set List:
“Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie”
“In My Girlish Days”
“Maybelle’s Guitar”
Album: One Woman Guitar
Musicians: Sue Foley – vocals, guitar
Credits:
Producer: Deidre Gott; Production Assistant: Confucius Jones; Audio Engineer: Jake Perlman, Rene Chavez; Audio Mix: Jake Perlman; Cameras: Renee Dominguez, Ryan Olszewski, Patricia Lim; Edit: Renee Dominguez; Host: Jody Denberg
