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Sue Foley
Photo: Scott Doubt (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0)
Modern

Sue Foley

Born: March 29, 1968, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada• Canada• Active: 1988–present
Texas BluesContemporary Blues

Sue Foley is a Canadian-born blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter who has been a leading female voice in modern blues since the late 1980s.

Sue Foley has played the same pink paisley Fender Telecaster — nicknamed "Pinky" — on nearly every album and almost every show for more than thirty years, and finally gave the guitar top billing on her 2021 record "Pinky's Blues," which won Best Traditional Blues Album at the following year's Blues Music Awards. It was a fitting tribute: the instrument had been doing the work of building her reputation since she was barely out of her teens. She was born on March 29, 1968, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Inspired by the Rolling Stones, she picked up guitar at thirteen and played her first gig at sixteen, working through high school with a group called Back Alley John and recording as the Blue Lights. After graduating she moved to Vancouver, formed the Sue Foley Band, and toured extensively across Canada before, in 1988 and 1989, touring North America and Europe with harmonica player Mark Hummel — an itinerant apprenticeship that included roughly 300 shows in 1989 alone (Kilde: Wikipedia). Clifford Antone, founder of the legendary Austin blues label and club Antone's, discovered her in Memphis and signed her to Antone's Records in 1989. By twenty-one she had relocated permanently to Austin, Texas, the city that would define her musical identity for the rest of her career. Her debut album, "Young Girl Blues," came out in 1992, launching a catalog that has grown to sixteen albums under her own name across labels including Antone's, Shanachie, Ruf, Blind Pig and Stony Plain (Kilde: Wikipedia). She built deep ties to the Austin blues establishment, recording and performing alongside B.B. King, Buddy Guy, ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons, Jimmie Vaughan, Duke Robillard and Deborah Coleman. Her 2018 album "The Ice Queen" brought Gibbons and Vaughan into the studio together, a record widely regarded as a career highlight. In 2001 she won a Juno Award for "Love Comin' Down," and across her career has collected five Blues Music Awards, seventeen Maple Blues Awards and three Trophées de Blues de France (Kilde: Wikipedia). "Pinky's Blues" (2021) marked a full-circle return to raw, unadorned Texas blues built around her original guitar. In 2024 she released "One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar," an album honoring overlooked women guitarists across genres, which earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Blues Album in 2025 (Kilde: Wikipedia). Beyond performing, she holds a PhD in musicology, has written for Guitar Player Magazine and contributed to "The Cambridge Companion to the Electric Guitar" (2024), and has a book of her own, "Guitar Women," due from Sutherland House Publishing in 2026 — turning the same research instincts that shaped "One Guitar Woman" into a scholarly project about the history she has spent her career adding to (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Musical Influence

Sue Foley has been one of the defining voices of Austin blues guitar for over three decades, building deep working relationships with figures like B.B. King, Buddy Guy and Jimmie Vaughan while her scholarly work — a PhD in musicology, her album "One Guitar Woman," and her forthcoming book "Guitar Women" — has actively worked to recover the history of women guitarists the genre has historically overlooked (Kilde: Wikipedia).

Influences

The Rolling StonesJimmie VaughanTexas blues tradition

Formative experiences

  • •Age 13: Picks up guitar, inspired by the Rolling Stones. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1988–1989: Tours North America and Europe with harmonica player Mark Hummel, playing roughly 300 shows in 1989. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •1989: Discovered in Memphis by Antone's Records founder Clifford Antone; signs to the label. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •Age 21: Relocates permanently to Austin, Texas. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •2021: "Pinky's Blues" wins Best Traditional Blues Album at the Blues Music Awards. (Kilde: Wikipedia)
  • •2025: Earns a Grammy nomination for "One Guitar Woman." (Kilde: Wikipedia)

Instruments & Equipment

Guitar

"Pinky" (pink paisley Fender Telecaster)

Her main guitar for over 30 years, played on nearly every album and show; namesake of her 2021 album.

Stories & Anecdotes

"Has played the same pink paisley Fender Telecaster, nicknamed "Pinky," on nearly every album and almost every show for over 30 years. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Discovered in Memphis by Antone's Records founder Clifford Antone, who signed her in 1989. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Her 2018 album "The Ice Queen" brought Billy Gibbons and Jimmie Vaughan into the studio together. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Holds a PhD in musicology and has written for Guitar Player Magazine. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"
"Her book "Guitar Women" is due from Sutherland House Publishing in 2026. (Kilde: Wikipedia)"

Collaborators

Clifford Antone

Founder of Antone's Records; discovered her in Memphis and signed her in 1989.

Billy Gibbons & Jimmie Vaughan

Both appear together on her 2018 album "The Ice Queen."

B.B. King, Buddy Guy

Recording and performing collaborators through her Austin blues career.

Mark Hummel

Harmonica player she toured extensively with in 1988–1989.

Watch & Listen

Featured

Sue Foley - Pinky's Blues

Title track named for her signature pink paisley Telecaster.

cyaraland

Pinky's Blues

Pinky's Blues

Sue Foley plays Slow Blues at Festival De Guitares de Monde June 2023

Sue Foley plays Slow Blues at Festival De Guitares de Monde June 2023

Watch & Listen

Henter videoer fra YouTube…

Discography

YearTitleProducerStudioLabelChartSalesMusiciansYouTubeNotes
1992Young Girl Blues——Antone's Records———Debut album.
1993Without a Warning——Antone's Records————
1995Big City Blues——Antone's/Discovery————
1996Walk in the Sun——Antone's/Discovery————
2001Love Comin' Down——Ruf Records———Won the Juno Award.
2004Change——Ruf Records————
2018The Ice QueenMike Flanigin—Stony Plain Records——Billy Gibbons (Guitar), Jimmie Vaughan (Guitar)Features Billy Gibbons and Jimmie Vaughan.
2021Pinky's BluesMike Flanigin—Stony Plain Records——Jon Penner (Bass), Chris Layton (Drums), Mike Flanigin (Hammond organ, producer), Jimmie Vaughan (Rhythm guitar)Named for her guitar "Pinky"; won Best Traditional Blues Album, Blues Music Awards 2022. Drummer Chris Layton of Stevie Ray Vaughan's Double Trouble also appeared.
2023Live in Austin Vol. 1——Stony Plain Records————
2024One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar——Stony Plain Records———Grammy-nominated, Best Traditional Blues Album (2025).

Famous songs

01Pinky's Blues
02Say It's Not So
03Young Girl Blues

External links

YouTube Music Wikipedia

Booking / Contact

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Sources

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