Page 63 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2024 Digital Edition

Sure, Foley has faced challenges in the music industry and
acknowledges the vulnerabilities of being a female on the
road, and thus surrounds herself with people she can trust (like
her bandmates). She says, “In general, I’ve been very lucky
and I’m extremely grateful for all the people who have looked
out for me, and who have believed in me.” The music industry
is a tough one, for everybody. She states, “It’s hard for men
and it’s hard for women. The way women must navigate the
landscape is unique. For me, focusing on the work and getting
better at my craft, staying positive and working with good
people has been my saving grace.”
Foley also credits her perseverance to getting her where
she is today. She explains, “It’s a business of survival and of
constant change. You must be resilient. I think early on, it was
challenging as a young woman to be the boss of men, as
my band were all males. That takes a certain amount of grit.
Luckily, I had that in spades. I was driven from a young age
and nothing could stop me from my goal to play the blues.”

Kelly Richey: Lighting the Fire
Kelly Richey’s journey into the world of blues guitar began
with defiance and determination. Receiving her first guitar at
the age of 15 in the late ‘70s, she encountered skepticism from
the outset. Richey remembers, “Walking into my first lesson,
my teacher lit a cigarette, grinned and said, ‘You know, girls
can’t play guitar.’ His statement ignited a fire within me that
never died.”
As a teenager with dyslexia and ADHD, traditional
learning methods didn’t satisfy Richey’s curiosity or allow
her to excel. She recalls, “I needed an identity, and playing
the guitar was iconic and mythical.” None of the guys
would let her join the band, and when she answered ads
in the paper, she was told the slot was filled. “With each
obstacle, it fueled the fire – I played harder and practiced Kelly Richey. Photo by Jeff Shiflett
longer,” she says.
Post-high school and through the ‘80s, Richey became a rewards you with more than you give. Being a woman in a
member of the National Musicians Referral Service, joined male-dominated world was challenging, but over the years,
several bands, spent time in New York playing talent shows I’ve witnessed significant changes. Opportunities that once
and open mic nights, and in 1986, signed with Arista Records.
This marked the beginning of intensive touring and larger- seemed impossible, became attainable. I’m proud to have
scale performance opportunities, teaching her the industry’s stayed the course and made music my path. Today, the future
intricacies. Richey describes a defining moment in her career remains an open road, and I’m committed to following my
playing with Albert King in Nashville: “He kept me on stage muse wherever it leads.”
for the entire show. This experience would pave the road for
my journey into the blues.” Melody Angel: Fighting for Equality
By the early ‘90s, Richey became disenchanted with the Melody Angel’s narrative is one of incredible talent up
corporate music industry and formed the Kelly Richey Band, against a music industry often rife with racial and gender
a blues-rock power trio. Taking control of her career led to discrimination. Angel’s electrifying performances, searing
over a decade of self-managed bookings, playing over 4,000 guitar solos and dynamic vocal range push the boundaries
shows, one million miles on the road and 16 albums with the of blues-rock, reminiscent of the likes of Jimi Hendrix.
Kelly Richey Band. In 2018, she formed the Spear Shakers However, she explains, “No matter how talented [they]
with drummer Sherri McGee. think I am, in this society, I am put on the bottom of every
Richey’s story is not just about overcoming doubts, list, but my own.”
it’s about blazing a trail for future generations of female Angel has found that not only being a woman, but being a
guitarists. She says, “Life as an independent artist is not for Black woman, has barred her from many opportunities in her
the faint of heart – it demands everything you’ve got, but music career under the pretext of “That’s just the music business.”

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