WONDER WOMEN

With her new solo acoustic One Guitar Woman, Sue Foley pays tribute to guitar's female trailblazers, from Elizabeth Cotten and Lydia Mendoza to Maybelle Carter and Charo.

- JIMMY LESLIE

GUITAR MAY HAVE historically been dominated by male players, but as Sue Foley exemplifies on her fabulous new album, One Guitar Woman (Stony Plain), some super women boldly went where no one had gone before, paving the way for the far more inclusive guitar world we live in today. In fact, many of the earliest six- string heroes were ladies who wielded parlor guitars, entertaining families and handing down techniques through generations. Martin documents its first X-braced acoustic was a size 1 made in 1843 for Madame De Goni, who was the Eddie Van Halen of her time. We simply don’t know much about players from that era because information is scarce.

We have a pretty good record since the advent of studio technology, and Foley has done a ton of research on the women who made significant impacts in all genres. Foley is widely renowned for her fiery electric blues, but she’s also an acoustic aficionado, and what she’s into may surprise you. Of course, she’s steeped in the blues of Elizabeth Cotten and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and it follows that she’s a big fan of country music matriarch Maybelle Carter. Foley has put in the hours to cop the Carter Scratch and Cotten Picking, but she’s also got a big nylon-string thing happening, drawing inspiration from around the globe. She covers classical, Tejano and flamenco quite authentically while maintaining her own voice on One Guitar Woman. And as we’ve come to find out, she truly pulls the whole thing off on a single flamenco axe.

You’re best known as an electric blues guitarist. Tell me about the acoustic side of your playing.