Canadian Sue Foley rocks out to sweaty, streetwise Texas blues in her latest release

Oct. 19—Pinky's Blues

Sue Foley. Stony Plain Records.

It's hard to beat authentic Texas-style blues guitar riffs, and Sue Foley has become a master of them.

This album, being released Friday, is a follow-up to her award-winning breakout album, The Ice Queen, released in 2018.

Rough, raw, and gritty are words that barely scratch the surface of musicians such as Foley, who practically make listeners feel the heat and sweat of the streets they're singing about. Much of what Foley does are powerful, down-home jams on her signature pink paisley Fender Telecaster she affectionately calls Pinky.

Like a lot of musicians, she got restless during the pandemic's stay-at-home era. She put her combination of boredom and angst to good use by recording a collection of original songs and putting her stamp on classics.

Some are older, such as LaVelle White's "Stop These Teardrops," and some are newer, such as Angela Strehli's "Two Bit Texas Town."

In the end, the album flows like it's one big, raucous house party.

Be forewarned: You'll want to crank up this disc.

Foley is a rising star, winner of Best Traditional Female (aka Koko Taylor) Award at the 2020 Blues Music Awards and is a Juno Award (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy) nominee. She also has won Best Guitar Player honors at the Toronto Maple Blues Awards.

She and her band have done anything from opening for Eric Clapton in London to performing with Buddy Guy and Bela Fleck in recent years.

Her music is a heavy dose Texas-based blues and she's got the legendary Stevie Ray Vaughan's brother, Jimmie Vaughan, jamming with her band on one song, "Hurricane Girl."

But Foley is actually a Canadian who has made Austin her adopted town and says she's "never been the same" since seeing her first blues show at age 15.

"My home is Canada and I definitely identify as a Canadian," she said. "But I had a yearning for this music and I can't even put my finger on why or how. It got in my soul when I was a teenager. I guess I was open and I got imprinted by the sound and force of blues music."

Now in her early 50s, she's still on fire.

"The beauty of blues, and something I've always loved about it, is that you get better as you get older," Foley said. "I've always been a fan of older musicians. There's something about the message, the life experience, the whole package. If you can keep a good perspective on life, a sense of humor, and a love for what you're doing, you have much more to give. This is when it all really happens."

First Published October 19, 2021, 9:00am