EP 304 | Sue Foley Interview New Album ‘One Guitar Woman’

Mulligan Stew

We know Ottawa-born Sue Foley from the blues albums she’s created and released. Plus Multiple blues awards on both sides of the border. Her new album is One Guitar Woman. A tribute to the female pioneers of guitar.

This was/is a very personal journey for Sue. She’s studied the many women who played guitar before her and left their legacy to study and pass on. Female singers and players like Memphis Minnie, Elizabeth Cotten, Maybelle Carter, Sister Rosetta Tharp, Geeshe Wiley, Lydia Mendoza etc. Many tales and tunes are connected to the album.

Four-time Blues Foundation Traditional Female Artist award winner, Sue Foley’s new album One Guitar Woman is a heartfelt tribute to the female pioneers of the guitar - including Memphis Minnie, Lydia Mendoza, Maybelle Carter, Ida Presti, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The album showcases the dexterity of Foley’s acoustic nylon string guitar skills as she expands on her blues playing into other genres like Piedmont fingerpicking, traditional country, the Carter Scratch, flamenco and classical.

“From the time I decided to be a professional guitar player, I’ve always looked for female role models. 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,”

Sue Foley.