Sue Foley
@ The Blues Saloon, August 30, 1996

What a pleasure it was to see such a large turn out at the Blues Saloon for the Sue Foley Blues Band. I overheard someone comment that they haven't seen this many people at the Saloon for several years. The large audience was not disappointed either, as Sue and her tight band put on a super show. Dan Akroyed was also in attendance that night.

Her band, made up of long time playing partners Jon Penner on bass and Fredde Walden on drums, provided strong support for Sue's powerful lead guitar playing and authoritative singing. You could tell they were very comfortable with each other on stage which only comes from playing together for a long time. During the first set the band highlighted many of the tunes from Foley's recent CD Walk in the Sun (Antone's/Discovery label). Her new CD contains 11 original songs and demonstrates her maturing song writing skills. Her previous CD, Big City Blues, had three original songs and some very nice covers of a variety of artists from Dylan to Dixon to Guy to Howlin' Wolf. You might want to check out her other two CD's as well: Young Girl Blues; and Without A Warning. By the way, her drummer, Fredde Walden, sang a great traditional blues song each set that was a nice counterpoint to Foleys singing style.

Sue Foley is only 27 years old but plays guitar, sings and writes songs like a well-traveled blues veteran. She plays stinging lead guitar that makes you look up and take notice. I particularly liked two of her instrumentals. One was called The Snake that was reminiscent of Hound Dog Taylor and the other rocking, foot stomping one was Girls Night Out (from the Big City Blues CD). Her voice is both seductive and down home. She delivers her material in a straight ahead fashion that is easy to listen to but with just enough tension in her voice to make you pay attention to the words.

A great live show by a young blues performer that we all hope keeps coming back to the Twin Cities.

Blues On Stage


Copyright 1997 by Ray M. Stiles. All rights reserved. All reviews are copyright protected. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.