Single motherhood has empowered Sue Foley's career, in the sense that the 30-year-old blues guitarist knows what comes ahead of her musical career.

"I've learned to stand up for myself and make my own priorities lie as far as the health of my son is concerned," Foley says over a light dinner in a Westboro bar. "Sometimes I get stressed. But I bring him along because he adds such a dynamic to my life."

Foley's new outlook comes on the other side of a tumultuous marriage breakup, tough emotions which she funnelled towards her sixth disc, Love Comin' Down. On the plus side, the freedom to decide what's important has instilled Foley with a newfound sense of self-control and self-confidence.

"Years ago, somebody could come up to me and knock me over, disrupt my centre of gravity," says Foley, who performs at Barrymore's tomorrow night along with special guests Colin Linden, Tony D and Jim Bryson. "Now I feel more self-assertive, and when things aren't right, I can now stand up and say, 'This is not acceptable.' It's funny. You think when you're 19, you think you know everything. But when you get to be 30, you realize you really don't know anything. I truly believe this."