Fans around the world know Sue Foley as an internationally acclaimed, highly decorated electric blues guitarist; but for those who think that’s the sum total of her musical identity, her upcoming One Guitar Woman album will smash that pigeonhole to flying shards of kindling. Sue is a complete musician, with an astute and soulful relationship to the many styles of music that have emanated from a guitar over the past century.
With her expressive voice and a single nylon-stringed guitar, she produces twelve tracks that pay homage to the female pioneers who have been her guiding lights and lit the way for her musical journey. The album honors icons including Elizabeth Cotten, Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, French classical guitarist Ida Presti, Southern blues women Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas, Tejano sensation Lydia Mendoza, Charo, and for the second single, country music matriarch Maybelle Carter.
While Foley honors the other artists by performing their songs, for Maybelle Carter Sue created an original song, “Maybelle’s Guitar.”
Utilizing Carter’s distinctive guitar style, she tells the story of the enormous influence the Carter Family’s music had across the country and beyond. Even during hard times like the Great Depression, Maybelle’s guitar and uplifting songs like “Can the Circle Be Unbroken” and “Wildwood Flower” raised people’s spirits. As Sue sings, “It launched a million dreams, it saved a million souls.”
Carter’s innovative technique, called the “Carter scratch” consisted of using her thumb to play melodies on the bass strings while her index finger strummed the rhythm, and is often credited with guitar’s transition from rhythm to lead instrument.
Sue notes:
Of all the guitar styles that I studied for this album, I found the Carter scratch to be the most challenging. To play it accurately, one must keep a rock steady rhythm while strumming the lead guitar parts in between the beats. It’s like rubbing one’s head and patting one’s belly simultaneously.
Sue will soon be debuting her One Guitar Woman show, a solo show which will celebrate the lives, stories and music of the female pioneers of guitar. It will incorporate multimedia elements and present some great music as well as uplifting, provocative stories of brave, trailblazing women. This show will be presented in theaters on select dates through 2025.
Sue Foley on Tour:
⭒ MAR 6 Victoria Hall – One Guitar Woman “SOLO” Cobourg, Canada
⭒ MAR 7 Meaford Hall – One Guitar Woman “SOLO” Meaford, Canada
⭒ MAR 23 Marcia Ball’s Birthday Blowout Weekend Austin, TX
⭒ APR 17 SPACE Evanston, IL
⭒ APR 19 Natalie’s Grandview (Music Hall & Kitchen) Columbus, OH
⭒ APR 25 Festival International de Louisiane 2024 Lafayette, LA
⭒ APR 26 Old Quarter Acoustic Café Galveston, TX
⭒ APR 27 Austin Blues Festival 2024 Austin, TX
⭒ MAY 10 Eddie’s Attic Decatur, GA
⭒ MAY 25 Kerrville Folk Festival 2024 Kerrville, TX
⭒ MAY 26 Main Street Crossing Tomball, TX
⭒ JUN 15 Utah Blues Festival 2024 Salt Lake City, UT
⭒ AUG 2 Festival de Blues de Donnacona 2024 Donnacona, Canada
