ROOM WITH A VIEW of the blues..... Sue Foley "Change" Ruf Records On a cold winter night in 2002 my wife and I ventured to The Turning Point in Piermont, NY to see Sue Foley. I had recently heard cuts from her new, at the time, album “Where the Action Is” and was anxious to see her live. Unfortunately between the bad weather and a lack of promotion she played to an almost empty room. The show was fantastic. She started with some acoustic blues and I was mesmerized by her sultry tremolo and stage presence. Later joined by her band she played electric guitar as well as any guitar slinger. Like a dazed schoolboy with a crush I purchased her cd and got it autographed. Sue Foley is a Canadian who went to school in Austin, and as a blues musician wound up becoming part of “Antoine’s Women, Bringing You The Best In Blues” cd which Antoine’s Records released in 1992. The cd featured nine women of the blues. I recommend that you seek out music by all of them. They include Angela Strehli, Marcia Ball, Lou Ann Barton, Sarah Brown, Barbara Lynn, Toni Price, Lavelle White, and the youngest Sue Foley. That same year Antoine’s Records released “Young Girl’s Blues”, Sue’s first album. Recently I obtained a copy of Sue’s newest cd “Change” on Ruf Records. It was recorded live on a winter night at a club similar to the one I had been in, this time it was Hugh’s Room in Toronto. Sue played an acoustic guitar that night and started off solo as usual. There is a lot of the acoustic blues here that influenced Sue although she displays a variety of styles. Sue can be Memphis Minnie Sue, Chicago Sue, or rockin’ Sue, depending on her mood, and you know by now that “Change is the only thing that ever stays the same”. The band joins in on “Doggie Treats”, Sue knows that men are dogs and she lovingly puts us in our place. The other tracks with the band include, “Careless Love”, “Bad Luck Women”, “Sugar in My Bowl”, and “Me & My Chauffer”. Sue handles suggestive lyrics without sacrificing her classiness; she makes me want to get my Gibson out of the closet and practice. If you listen more than once you’ll love this cd, it takes sometime to get used to Sue’s Texas tremolo, but when you do you can’t get enough of it. Sue Foley has got it all, a great voice, guitar mastery, and she’s beautiful. Getting back to the music, when you hear the acoustic numbers you have visions of the blues women of forty years ago. Sue Foley respects tradition and yet she is as timely as yesterday’s news. She is really worth writing about. Richard Ludmerer Director, NY Blues and Jazz Society ricdale2@yahoo.com