How Sue Foley discovered the blues in Ottawa
A decade before Ottawa had Bluesfest, we had a blues scene fertile enough to propel a teenage Sue Foley into a career that has not only lasted more than 30 years, but also earned the Ottawa-born guitarist a 2025 Grammy nomination.
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Although Foley didn't win the award, it was a thrill to score her first nomination in the traditional-blues category, especially since it meant rubbing shoulders with some of her favourite artists. Fellow nominees included Fabulous Thunderbirds, Taj Mahal and Little Feat.
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'It's the top music award, so it's pretty exciting, but I lost to Taj Mahal,' Foley said in an interview, clearly delighted to be mentioned in the same breath as the 83-year-old blues legend. 'It hurt and it didn't hurt, you know. I mean, it's Taj Mahal. Anyone would give it to him.'
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Sure, but Foley is no less deserving. After decades of recording, touring and studying the blues, she broke into the pack of Grammy nominees with her 18th recording project. One Guitar Woman is an acoustic tribute to the historic female guitarists who blazed a trail for other women in blues. On it, Foley covers songs by the likes of Memphis Minnie, Rosetta Tharpe and Elizabeth Cotten.
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Foley is something of an expert on these pioneering women of blues guitar, having recently completed a PhD in musicology. In fact, the album was inspired by her studies.
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Foley, who's 59, knew she wanted to be a blues guitarist by the time she was 13. Her father and three older brothers played guitar and listened to the rock music of the day, while young Sue discovered blues via Rolling Stones albums of the mid-60s. Intrigued, she would head to record stores to look for recordings by the original blues artists.
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When she found one with a woman on the cover, it changed her life. Memphis Minnie became Foley's 'guiding light.'
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Foley first learned to play her father's guitar before moving to Edmonton with her mother for a couple of years as a young teenager. Far from her friends and making her way in a new school, she asked her dad for her own instrument at Christmas and then played it whenever she could.
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By the time Foley moved back to Ottawa to live with her father, she was hooked. 'I had figured out that this guitar was going to take me places if I just play it,' she said.
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