Sue Foley puts down her pink paisley Telecaster and picks up her acoustic six-string for her upcoming solo album One Guitar Woman, introduced by the new single Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie — showcasing today on Tinnitist.
Due March 29 on Stony Plain Records, One Guitar Woman is a moving tribute to the female pioneers of guitar, the women whose music and lives delivered the inspiration and paved the way for those that followed. Sue honours artists spanning a whole spectrum of styles. As she writes in her liner notes, “They were massively talented, and they all possessed courage and vision which transformed both their cultures and the story of the guitar.”
True to the album title, Sue performs all these songs with one guitar. While fans are used to seeing her playing her iconic Fender Telecaster Pinky through her Bassman amp, for this album she chose a nylon-string acoustic guitar: A flamenco Blanca made by master luthier Salvadore Castillo, purchased by Sue on a 2022 excursion to Paracho, Mexico.
One Guitar Woman’s first single is Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie, a delicately nuanced track from Elizabeth Cotten. Sue captures the playful yet plaintive tone of the original, but doesn’t imitate the voice of Cotten, who didn’t record until she was elderly. “Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie is one of my favourite songs to play on guitar,” Foley says. “I just love that Piedmont fingerpicking that was made famous by the incomparable Elizabeth Cotten. Cotten had an original guitar style, as she played left-handed and upside down, so her songs are not easy to tackle. She also had such charm and character in her voice, and wit in her lyrics. Her songs can be challenging to learn but they’re always so fun and satisfying when you figure them out. This one just makes me smile every time I play it.”
The album also covers the hard-driving Memphis Minnie and icons like Maybelle Carter and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, as well as heroes like French classical guitarist Ida Presti, Tejano sensation Lydia Mendoza and the overlooked Charo. Lesser known but equally compelling are Southern blues women Geeshie Wiley and Elvie Thomas. All in all, the 12 tracks of this album pay deference to eight female guitarists.
The album features Foley’s songwriting as well as her guitar playing and singing. Maybelle’s Guitar is a new composition that incorporates Carter’s signature guitar scratch, while telling the story of the vast influence and power of the Carters’ music. Mendoza’s Tejano classic Mal Hombre is performed in Spanish, but Foley contributes her own English verse. One Guitar Woman also includes two instrumentals: Romance in A Minor by virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini (derived from guitarist Presti’s interpretation) and the explosive flamenco La Malagueña, popularized by Charo.
Foley will also be hitting the road with her One Guitar Woman show, a solo acoustic performance that will celebrate the lives, stories and music of female guitar pioneers. 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 theatres on select dates through 2024.
Foley has released 13 albums and earned numerous awards, including the Blues Music Award for Traditional Female Artist of the Year, which she has won three consecutive times; she is nominated again for 2024.
Check out Oh Babe It Ain’t No Lie above, hear more from Sue Foley and see her tour dates below, watch my 2021 interview with her HERE, and keep up with her on her website, Facebook and Instagram.
Tour Dates
March 6 | Victoria Hall, Cobourg, Ont. (One Guitar Woman Solo Show)
March 7 | Meaford Hall, Meaford, Ont. (One Guitar Woman Solo Show)
April 17 | Evanston Space, Evanston, IL
April 26 | Old Quarter Acoustic Café, Galveston, TX
April 27 | Austin Blues Festival 2024, Austin, TX
May 26 | Main Street Crossing, Tomball, TX
June 15 | Utah Blues Festival, Salt Lake City, UT
