Sue Foley's Triumphant First Return to Canadian stage after Covid
by Miles Overn
Having spent the last few days listening to Sue Foley's recently Juno award nominated Pinky's Blues CD, I was delighted to hear the opening riffs from the tune of the same name growling out of Sue Foley's pink Telecaster like a dog ready for a fight start off the night.
Having strutted out of the wings and onto the Mary Irwin Theatre stage, she grabbed her trademark axe and launched into both the song and the concert like someone itching to get at it. Her and the band got into it in an instant, and the gathered crowd was there
with them just as quickly.
All 10 songs from her latest release, which was recorded down in Texas over 3 days back in 2020, made it into the show and were delivered with the same attitude and energy with which they were recorded. The album was recorded in what is known as a "live, off-the-floor" fashion,
which means there were no isolation booths for the musicians, no overdubs, no fancy shenanigans, just this dynamite trio in the same room, breathing the same air, their hearts beating as one in time with the tunes as they each pumped out their parts
with all the passion you hear on the record. That magic, which is so rarely done in the studio these days, was what was delivered in Kelowna last night. And the energy level was even higher.
Sue Foley on guitar, Jon Penner on bass, and Chris Layton on drums. The classic blues trio. The performance we were gifted to was an example of one of the very best trios in the genre giving it up on one of their very best nights.
8 of the first 9 songs were off the new CD, and were a mix of songs penned by others and those by Foley herself. So many different blues grooves across those songs, with gorgeous tones and greasy feels, as well as the other tunes played this night. Not only were the feels nailed and delivered with
the authenticity you would expect from a world class and multi award winning artist, the transitions between songs and the flow over the course of the everning were so smooth that it didn't even hit you until you were on your way home how much styistic ground
was covered in the 90 minute show.
While Foley is clearly most well known for her killer work on those aforementioned pink teles, she can also shred on an acoustic nylon string guitar as well. Midway through the night Penner and Layton headed off to the stage left wings and Foley picked up
a gut string guitar that had obviously been played ferociously over the years by this force-of-nature musician and performer, sat herself down on a pink stool, chatted a little, and then blew everyone's minds and near ripped their heads off with some
magical brew of classical meets flamenco, gets drenched in the blues, thrown into a blender, and served up Texas style to all in attendance.
A quick seque back to the pink Telecasters. I had brought up the topic of the shiny new "Pinky" on the album cover in a recent phone conversation with Ms. Foley and asked about the original road warrior version I had photographed at previous shows. She explained
that she no longer travels with the original, but instead with two new ones. One of the new axes was gifted to her by Jimmie Vaughan, and the other by Billy Gibbons.
Foley is off to Vancouver tonight and then Vancouver Island for a pair of shows the next 2 nighs after that.