ATHABASCA – The Heartwood Folk Club’s spring season of Heartwood Live kicks of March 8, and local music lovers are sure to learn something from blues guitarist and Grammy nominee Sue Foley.
Foley’s One Guitar Woman act has been on tour for almost a year, and the homage to the female pioneers that inspired Foley as a little girl has been a hit. With her Athabasca show falling on International Women’s Day, Foley said it’s a great time to learn about the unknown musicians who’ve contributed to a style of music that’s forgotten their contributions.
“A lot of the artists I feature in the show are not household names, but there’s a lot of interesting styles of music,” said Foley.
“People are really surprised with the legacies that I’m talking about and the contributions these women have made to the guitar, and also about their incredible stories.”
Foley’s love of music started, like it does for many, as a kid. She toured Canada, won a Juno in 2001 with her CD Love Comin’ Down, and garnered numerous accolades, both domestic and international, for her work in the blues genre. The entire time, Foley was taking note of the women she was coming across who also loved the guitar and those notes eventually percolated into the 2024 album, which was nominated for a Grammy earlier this year.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do; when I was coming up, even as a young girl, I knew I would be a guitar player, and I wanted to play lead guitar,” said Foley.
“At the time, there just wasn’t a lot of females who played, so I would always keep track when I would see or hear about one. Through the years I’ve made it a real focus of mine to pay attention to the past and what came before. I’m honouring my heroes.”
One Guitar Woman has something for everybody, according to Foley. Despite her billing as one of Canada’s premier blues acts, the solo acoustic act includes everything from traditional Americana sounds to a piece about a Spanish guitarist.
“The strong folk component will love this; it’s not a blues album or a blues show. This is a show about traditional music,” she said.
“You’re talking country, Piedmont folk, fingerpicking, there’s some blues, Spanish guitar, there’s even a gospel song. It encompasses the fabric of American popular music, which is folk music.”
As the album approaches its one-year anniversary at the end of March, Foley reflected on some of things she’s learned as she’s toured Canada and the United States performing the solo show.
“One thing that’s really pleased me is that women have really embraced this. As a guitar player, and I’ve been playing lead guitar and electric blues guitar my entire career, most of my audience has always been mostly men,” said Foley.
“What’s surprised me is that through this project I’m helping women rediscover that they have a place in the culture of guitar music, and it’s a really good place. It’s something to be proud of.”
Foley will take the stage at the Nancy Appleby Theatre March 8 at 7:30 p.m.. The intermission concessions will be supplied by the Friends of Athabasca Fire and Rescue Society, and as always, tickets are available from Value Drug, Athabasca Health Foods, and Whispering Hills Fuel. Starting this season, tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite, although an online charge applies, and anyone under 16 gets in for free.
“It took me close to two decades to learn all these guitar styles,” said Foley.
“It’s been a long study, and the album was it all coming to fruition.”
