Sue Foley, One Guitar Woman, album cover

Review: Sue Foley ‘One Guitar Woman’ A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar

By Hal Horowitz

Anyone wondering what direction blues guitarist Sue Foley is going on this, her 13th album, only has to look at its sprawling title/subtitle.

The once, and likely future, blues rocker, often associated with her signature Telecaster “Pinky,” unplugs and goes solo for this stripped-down set of songs, all but one credited to, well, female pioneers of guitar.” Like Tinsley Ellis, whose current album reflects a similar acoustic, live in the studio, guitar/vocal approach, she predominantly hews to blues, but opens those borders. In her case it’s into folk, flamenco and even classical arenas.

But where Ellis wrote most of the material on his release, Foley unearths eleven obscure covers, adding one original. She also shifts to a nylon stringed guitar, infusing a warmer, more personal sound, perfect for these unadorned performances.

Although Foley, like Ellis, has intermittently gone this route before, this is the first time, since her 1992 debut, recording a full album in an unaccompanied format.

It’s a fairly radical but ultimately successful career change as well as being a captivating history lesson. While there have been many women blues performers over the genre’s formative years, few have also been talented guitarists.

Of those, names such as Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Elizabeth Cotten are legends, all of which Foley covers. Minnie’s “In My Girlish Days” tells the story its title implies which, with lyrics of “I didn’t know better in my girlish days,” that could be applied to any woman’s life.

Cotten’s folksy “Freight Train,” an acknowledged classic of a woman leaving a life (which may be criminal), is given a wonderful, jaunty and rootsy reading. Tharpe’s “My Journey to the Sky”’s gospel blues allows Foley to testify, letting her voice crack with emotion as she foretells a visit to heaven singing “My journey is alone”. Riveting stuff.

Foley’s outstanding chops are displayed on the instrumental flamenco “La Malaguena,” as she fingerpicks the complex melody with class and craft. The vibe goes south of the border for the Mexican “Mal Hombre,” channeling the talents of Lydia Mendoza with sensual sensitivity. She makes the plunge into classical with a splendid take on violinist Niccolo Paganini’s “Romance in A Minor,” (although written by a man, notes explain it’s based on an interpretation from Ida Presti). The set’s only self-penned inclusion is “Maybelle’s Guitar,” a tribute to Mother Maybelle Carter (“no matter how far we roam/the sound of her guitar brings us all back home”), adding some country breeze to the program.

It’s challenging to choose a highlight from a dozen gems, but Foley’s rendition of Minnie’s “Nothing in Rambling,” a Piedmont blues that finds Foley playing with intricate technical prowess and a back porch warmth, nails the sweet spot of deep blues combined with a compelling story of a road heavy life for a singer who may finally be “ready to get married and settle down.”

Most impressive is Foley’s compelling voice, always expressive even with the amps turned up to 10, but even more so here. She finds empathy with these women writers in her soulful interpretations of their lyrics, which wouldn’t have as much ache and clout if sung by a man.

The often spellbinding One Guitar Woman may only be a side road on Sue Foley’s career path. But it’s an enlightening look into her remarkable talents, filtered through the lens of a more intimate expression of the blues that has driven the Canadian born and raised guitarist/singer/songwriter for the past forty five years.

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