“Her technique is particularly difficult to replicate because she played ‘upside down’ on a guitar strung for arighty”: Sue Foley salutes Elizabeth Cotten and her favorite female guitar pioneers in this fingerpicking blues masterclass

Sue Foley is photographed against a black background and holds her beat-up Paisley Telecaster.

On my latest album, One Guitar Woman, I pay tribute to many of the female pioneers of the guitar, all of whom are among the biggest influences on my approach to playing the instrument.

On the album, I cover material by Maybelle Carter, Elizabeth Cotten, Memphis Minnie, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Ida Presti in classical guitar, and even Charro, to whom I dedicate a flamenco piece.