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UG: Did you take a fairly traditional approach for your new DVD Guitar Woman?
Sue: I’ve never known much about the instructional DVD market. Alfred had sent me some samples so I would know what they are. Originally we were talking to Alfred about my book Guitar Woman, which I’m still working on. It’s a biography on women guitar players. Because that wasn’t Alfred’s specialty, we thought that an instructional with that theme would be something that could be cool. Basically I kept the instructional part to very basic guitar methods. I tried to focus in on some of the females that influenced me and told a few stories. So people kind of get a little bit of a roundabout history of some of the women of guitar.
Will quite a few women featured in your biography also be discussed in the video?
Yeah. There are some of the women who have influenced me. That’s kind of how I tied things together. It’s kind of a basic guitar approach, which is probably good for beginners to intermediate. It’s not real advanced guitar stuff, but it does touch on some stories and information about other women guitar players.
"Basically I kept the instructional part to very basic guitar methods. I tried to focus in on some of the females that influenced me and told a few stories."
It was kind of a combination of things. My father played and my brothers played. The guitar was just a part of our family thing. It’s something that we all did. My sister didn’t, but I was more of a tomboy. So I think I was drawn to the instrument. I think growing up in the 1970’s, it was the ultimate guitar hero era – Clapton, Hendrix, The Stones. The guitar was so common in our culture that it had a real indelible impact on me, seeing it around the house, hearing it on the airwaves. There were certain women who I thought carried the instrument well and played well. Nancy Wilson of Heart was one of the first women that I noticed that I thought was a real cool chick who played really well. I also liked the way Chrissie Hynde sort of flung her guitar and her attitude. I thought she was very rock n’ roll. I don’t know much about her as far as the techniques of her guitar playing, but I liked the way she held it and I liked her attitude. I loved Charro. She would take her guitar and play on like variety shows. Later on I think Bonnie Raitt’s success really was a pivotal thing for me as well.
Did you end up teaching yourself the guitar or were there lessons involved?
One of my brothers originally taught me my first chords and how to basically read a songbook. Beatles’ songbooks were some of the first things that I kind of delved into. I basically learned how songs are structured, chord changes, and everything. I would just practice a lot by myself. I wanted to learn how to play lead. When I really got into blues guitar, I took some lessons from a guitar player in Ottawa, where I was living at the time. That really helped show me how the blues works. He taught me how to teach myself, which is the best lesson you can teach anybody. How to pick stuff up off of records, how to recognize patterns, and how to teach yourself – with that I was able to go on my own. About ten years ago I took some flamenco lessons to accentuate what I was already doing and expand on it.
Given that there is such a specific posture and structure to flamenco, was it a completely new world you were entering?
It’s completely different. I had been playing over 20 years at the time when I took my first flamenco lesson. I came home from that first lesson and it was like I had never picked up a guitar. It was really humbling, but very stimulating and challenging at the same time. I really had to start from square one again. There are different techniques, a different posture.
Did you originally start off playing an acoustic?
Basically I started on an acoustic and then I went to hollow bodies. I played an archtop for a long time because I was a huge Memphis Minnie fan and she had an archtop. So I wanted to look like her and sound like her. I liked that, and then I went to a hollow body. Then finally I have a solid body Telecaster that I still play.
Is that the same Telecaster that is featured in the instructional DVD?
Yeah, that’s my main Telecaster.
What was it about the Telecaster that speaks to you rather than a Les Paul or any other model?
The Telecaster, I picked it up because I really liked a lot of the players that play Teles. I think the Tele has a real specific sound. Muddy Waters is a Tele player I really like. Basically some of my favorite guitar players play them like Keith Richards and Buddy Guy. It’s just a personal choice and I’m pretty much a loyal Tele person. I don’t play Strats and I don’t play Les Pauls – not that there is anything wrong with them! I just think that the Telecaster is really cool.
Would you say that your heart lies in the blues genre?
Yeah, I think that’s kind of where I took most of my musical education. I really enjoy a lot of different kinds of music, but blues is definitely where I got my start. I think learning a style like the blues inside out is a really good foundation for your playing. I’m really glad I started there. I don’t know if it’s as easy to go backwards, like if you learn jazz and then try and be a blues player. But you can be a great blues player and then learn jazz. Blues is just very basic. There are simple themes, but you really have to get a good tone and have a good feel and good groove. Those fundamental things are best for you playing.
What methods or techniques have made a significant impact on your playing?
As far as techniques, it was playing with my fingers and using an open hand. That’s been a real dedication of mine as a blues player. I’ve always played with a thumb pick, so I’m always kept an open hand and have been fingerpicking. I think it’s a great way to play. I don’t play flat pick at all, so I don’t know much about that technique. When I learned flamenco, since I was already pretty comfortable with an open right hand, that was one of the main things that made me able to make that transition without too much pain.
"The guitar was just a part of our family thing. It’s something that we all did."
I do. I talk about playing solo and playing like a one-man band. There are a lot of blues basics that I go into. There are fundamental things – things that are simple in context, but once you nail them down they really beef up your playing.
Why do you think there are so few women who are guitarists? Do you have a theory on that?
There is. I almost have a book load of theories! After my 100 interviews with women guitar players, I think my book will reveal a lot of the answers to that question. It’s a pretty vast question that you could write a book on in itself. I think there are many reasons, certainly role models being one of them. The image of the instrument from the start, the guitar has always been an instrument of rebellion. It also looks a little phallic if you don’t mind me saying so. It’s got a look to it. I don’t know if it really appeals to a lot of people to see a woman really playing that. I think a lot of people are sort of taken aback. Maybe they’re even turned off a little bit. I think some people get really turned on by it. Personally, I think it’s one of the coolest things that a woman can play. For some people, especially a young girl’s parents, if they were to give their daughter lessons, their first instinct wouldn’t be the guitar. They would put her in piano lessons. They’d give her a violin. They just wouldn’t hand her an electric guitar and say, “Go, girl.” I think there are a lot more reasons. A lack of role models early on, too. As we get more role models, it becomes for women another thing they can do, like an astronaut or a great physicist. There are a lot more men than women with mathematicians or whatever. I think women experiencing other women do it and knowing the possibility is there in their conscious mind, they realize it’s a possibility and it opens up for them. Up until the last 20 years, it really hadn’t been. The women who did it were anomalies. They were completely unusual. I’ve interviewed a lot of them. A lot of the women who came up in the 50’s and 60’s and even 40’s, they were always very unusual people. They’re not cut from the same cloth as the girls down the road. Definitely unusual.
You’ve also created an entire company called Guitar Woman Inc., correct?
Yeah, it’s called Guitar Woman. I’m putting the building blocks in place. The book is still probably a couple years off. I’m doing another project right now, recording, and touring. I’ve put that on the backburner for a bit. It’s a mother of a project. I was doing the research and then I realized, “Wow, this is getting bigger and bigger.” Everybody that I talked to would give me the name of someone else to talk to. They’d say, “You have to look into this” or “Have you researched this?” I’m only one person. How am I ever going to do this justice? There is a great history. There are some really amazing women that came before us who are great musicians. They really contributed to the instrument. They made innovative contributions to the instrument. There are women coming up now who are young and are master shredders. I think it’s only a matter of time before people kind of go, “Oh, yeah, I can do that, too.”
What current projects are you working on?
Right now we’re working on a project called He Said, She Said. It’s bluesy and singer/songwriter. It’s also based around guitar. I do a lot of flamenco and Peter plays a lot of Dobro and slide guitar. It’s very cool. We’ll be touring that at least another year and a half. As I’m doing that, I’ll get back into this book and finish that.
| Check out a trailer for Sue Foley's DVD "Guitar Woman" below: |
Interview by Amy Kelly
Ultimate-Guitar.Com © 2010
i think it's very interesting to see girls play guitar, especially if they have a unique style 