Review & Photos: Jim Summaria
Concert Review
Sue Foley
SPACE, Evanston, IL,
November 3, 2024
By Jim Summaria
I love the moment at a rock concert when the venue lights go down low and the stage is completely dark. A shadowy figure(s) crosses the stage and the feeling of anticipation creates an excitement of not knowing what is about to occur. The lights go up, the spotlight hits the artist, and the first song begins.
This is going to be the first time I'm experiencing a concert by Sue Foley and what transpired in the next 90 minutes was awe inspiring. Sitting alone on the stage at SPACE in Evanston on Sunday, November 3, Foley played six diverse songs accompanied only by her acoustic guitar and voice. All the songs were from her latest album, One Guitar Woman. The album is a solo acoustic tribute to the female pioneers of the guitar.
Just a few days after Foley’s show, her album was nominated for a Grammy for Traditional Blues Album of The Year. It is her first Grammy nomination; she already has earned multiple Blues Music Awards in Memphis and is a record breaking winner of music awards in her homeland of Canada, to mention a few.
The set began with a cover of the Elizabeth Cotton song "Oh Babe It Ain't No Lie," where Foley played her guitar using a Piedmont finger picking style, which sounds more ragtime and is more uptempo than most blues styles. Impressive.
She followed that with the Memphis Minnie song "In My Girlish Days,” followed by Geeshie Wiley's "Last Kind Word of Blues." Foley then switched styles again to pay tribute to the “Godmother” of country music, Mother Maybelle Carter, with her original song "Maybelle's Guitar." On this piece, Foley used the unique scratch style which Carter popularized. Foley explained how difficult it is to master. This style is performed by lightly touching and scratching the higher strings with the fingers for rhythm and the thumb playing the melody on the bass strings. Even more impressive. The audience cheered and applauded her mightily.
A nice rendition of "Freight Train," an Elizabeth Cotton chestnut, was next for more dexterous, melodic Piedmont fingerpicking. What followed next was incredible. Foley told the story that there were no female guitarists around when she was a child, until she saw Charo on a TV variety show. It was Charo and her highly skilled flamenco style of playing that greatly influenced Foley to become a guitarist. Foley played an incredible version of the Spanish classical traditional song "La Malagueña." The audience was enraptured and when the song ended and she received a boisterous standing ovation! Foley left the stage and mentioned she'd be back in a few moments with the band. I thought: “How the heck is she going to top that opening?”
Another ovation met Foley when she came back onstage, joined with her band, John Penner on bass and drummer Chris Hunter, who formed the perfect rhythm section for her. With her vintage pink paisley Telecaster (a.k.a. Pinky) strapped around her neck, the band broke into the bluesy original instrumental "Pinky's Blues" followed by her lively self-penned "Dallas Man" a tribute to all the guitarists from that area of Texas that influenced her, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson, Freddie King and Stevie Ray and Jimmie Vaughan to name a few. Both songs are from her 2022 album Pinky’s Blues.
The Texas shuffle song "Fool's Gold" from her 2018 The Ice Queen album was smooth; but she brought the house down with a rousing rendition of Stevie Ray Vaughan's "The House is Rockin'."
Foley explained that her new drummer was the reason they chose this song:
“Our drummer’s name is Chris Hunter. He was Doyle Bramhall, Sr.’s stepson. Doyle and Stevie Ray were songwriting partners; he was often at their house. And Chris grew up at the feet of Stevie Ray Vaughan and many other Texas blues legends.”
A nice, up-tempo song came next with Lavelle White's "Stop These Teardrops" followed by the bluesy "Ice Queen" with a nod to Albert Collins for his influence and a message to the menfolk who dare to try and melt her. Foley updated Bessie Smith’s chilling song about a murderess, "Send Me to the 'Lectric Chair," by adding a breezy guitar solo set to an uptempo beat. The last two songs also appeared on Foley's The Ice Queen album.
Covers of Elmore James' slide guitar classic "Stranger Blues," the Blaster's rockabilly dance tune "Barefoot Rock" and Angela Strehli's "Say It's Not So" (Pinky's Blues album) were crowd favorites. Then she did three songs in a row that blew the roof off the place. Another song from the Pinky's Blues album was up first, "Hurricane Girl," which had the crowd keeping time with their feet and their heads bobbing as Penner and Hunter kept the groove going with Foley singing her heart out about becoming a “force of nature” while playing a wailing, gale force guitar.
She went right into a three-song medley with her answer to Slim Harpo's "I'm A King Bee," titled "Queen Bee." A sexy version of "Gaslight" from The Ice Queen album morphed into an joyful instrumental version of Ray Charles' "What I'd Say,” and Foley cued the crowed into a call and response of “Heeeeyyy…Oooohhh.”
The lady gave it all she had but would there be more? After a brief exit, Sue reappeared on the stage, sat down with her pink paisley Telecaster, accompanied by her ace rhythm section pumping out the Latin beats. Foley adeptly played an original Flamenco song, “Mediterranean Breakfast,” that proved once again what an amazing guitarist she is.
Sue Foley was born and raised in Canada and comes from a musical family. Growing up she was taken with the early Rolling Stones albums of blues covers which led her to take guitar lessons at age 13. Soon she started her own band and later joined the Mark Hummel Group. She moved to Austin, Texas at 21 to find her musical path. There she met her mentor Clifford Antone. Foley is a student of all types of music and has been influenced by many artists, especially Gatemouth Brown, and she was a student of Lou Ann Barton and Lavelle White.
She has won many awards throughout her career including the Blues Foundation’s BMA for Traditional Blues Female Artist Award (Koko Taylor Award) four times, the Austin Music Awards Guitarist of the Year and the Blues Act of the Year, Maple Blues Awards Guitarist of the Year, Trophees de Blues de France, Canada's Juno Award for her album Love Comin Down. Her album, Pinky's Blues, was honored with the Best Traditional Blues Album BMA in 2022. And now she has been nominated for the first time for a Grammy award.
Sue Foley openly tells of being influenced by so many in her career, and now it is she who is influencing and inspiring others in a male-dominated field. Her Chicago audiences usually include female guitarists such as Donna Herula and Nikki O’Neill in the house, cheering her on and taking mental notes, in awe of her talent.
Jim Summaria began professionally photographing rock concerts in 1973 at the age of 19 when he became the staff photographer for the Chicago rock concert promoter Flip Side Productions. Jim's photos have been published in numerous books, magazines and CDs. His rock ‘n’ roll photos have been viewed at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Illinois Rock & Roll Museum and Hall of Fame on Rt.66 and the Grammy Awards. Jim and writer Mark Plotnick co-authored the books Classic Rock: Photographs From Yesterday & Today and the October 2024 release ‘70s Chicagoland Rock Concerts.
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