New Blues 4-9-24
By Jack Roy
Sue Foley –One Guitar Woman (Stoney Plain) “Sue Foley (born March 29, 1968) is a Canadian blues guitarist and singer. She has released 15 albums since her debut with Young Girl Blues (1992). In May 2020, Foley won her first Blues Music Award, in the ‘Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female)’ category. By age of 21, Foley was living in Austin, Texas, United States, and recording for Antone’s, the blues label and historic nightclub. Her first release was Young Girl Blues. Foley has toured steadily with her band, toting her signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster. In 2001, she won the Juno Award for her CD, Love Coming Down. Foley has also earned seventeen Maple Blues Awards and three Trophees de Blues de France. She has also garnered several nominations at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee. 2018 marked Foley’s return as a solo artist with her album, The Ice Queen, which featured guest appearances by Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top and Jimmie Vaughan. In May 2020, Foley won a Blues Music Award in the ‘Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female) Category. In 2023, Foley won the Koko Taylor Award for the second time”. I have always been a big Sue Foley fan, I think her approach to guitar and blending her wonder voice was such a refreshing change to the Blues in the early 90’s. It refreshing to hear her play the acoustic guitar and really shows that the girl can play!! Branded by her signature Paisley Telecaster, Sue could play some amazing, cutting leads on her early music but this newest album shows her versatility covering Country Blues like Elizabeth Cotten’s “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie” and Sue’s original homage to country music matriarch Maybelle Carter “Maybelle’s Guitar”. Jumping right into her cover of Sister Rosetta Tharpe’s “My Journey To The Sky” and then into Flamengo Guitar and even cover a French Jazz/Classical tune, you can tell that Foley was looking to play some of her favorite and most influential music in her life. An amazing sample plater of Sue Foley, the musician, is the first thing that comes to mind listening to this album, but my favorite on this CD is Elizabeth Cotten’s “Freight Train”, listen here. I will give this a 9 on Blues Content because of the non Blues Content in a few songs but a 10 ++ on Music Content.
