Sue Foley

Sue Foley was born in Ottawa on March 29, 1968. Raised in Ottawa, Canada, Foley was drawn to the guitar at 13 and performing professionally by 16. She began playing guitar at 13, learning from family members and later from blues musician Tony D (Diteodoro), and through her interest in the music of The Rolling Stones, she became aware of traditional blues. By the age of 21, Foley had relocated to Austin, Texas, where she began recording for Antone's Records. Known as a fiery guitar player and seasoned blueswoman, Sue Foley plays blues-rock on a pink paisley Fender Telecaster guitar. Foley also holds a PhD in Musicology from York University. Sue Foley has received numerous prestigious awards throughout her career. She is a five-time winner of the Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist (2020–2025). She won her fifth consecutive Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female Artist) at the 2025 Blues Music Awards ceremony. Her latest release, One Guitar Woman: A Tribute to the Female Pioneers of Guitar, was nominated for the 2025 GRAMMY Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. In 2001, Foley won the Juno Award for her CD, Love Comin' Down. Over the course of her career, Foley has earned seventeen Maple Blues Awards and three Trophees de Blues de France, and multiple awards at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis, Tennessee. She also holds the 2024 Maple Blues Blues With a Feeling Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2024, Foley released the album One Guitar Woman. Her forthcoming book, Guitar Women: Conversations with the Heroines of Guitar (Sutherland House, 2026), chronicles her interviews with groundbreaking female players.

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