Page 62 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2024 Digital Edition

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By Irene Johnson
In blues, a genre steeped in tradition and rich with the
echoes of soulful guitar licks, the presence of women electric
lead guitarists is a testament to the evolving landscape of
music. Trailblazers like Memphis Minnie and Sister Rosetta
Tharpe paved the way as female blues guitar phenoms,
and there are many who continue to further that path. Such
artists, including those represented in our story here – and so
many more like Laura Chavez, Joanne Shaw Taylor, Joanna
Conner, Ana Popovic, Samantha Fish, Debbie Davies, Susan
Tedeschi, Ally Venable, Jackie Venson and Bonnie Raitt –
have reshaped the narrative of what it means to be a lead
blues guitarist.

Sue Foley: Grit and Guitar Strings
Sue Foley grew up in a household of guitar players,
surrounded by a mixture of Celtic, country and 1970s
guitar-driven rock ‘n roll music. She started playing guitar
at 13 years old, saying, “At the time, the guitar was so
common in both our household and popular music culture,
that it seemed very natural for me to pick it up. It never
struck me that it was odd until later on, when I realized
there weren’t that many girls out there playing lead guitar.
The important thing was just learning how to play the music
and being good on my instrument.”
By the time she was 16, she was getting paid for gigs.
Foley met local musicians to get established, and started
hanging out at blues jams. She remembers, “As I was
underage and female, I stood out. I used to have to borrow
IDs to get into the clubs, and just pray the doorman would
have mercy on me. When they saw that I was carrying
a guitar, they always let me in; they knew I was there to
learn to play.” Sue Foley. Photo by Scott Doubt

60 Blues Festival Guide 2024