Sue Foley doesn't remember the interview, but she does remember the quote. Far too well.

On the phone with the Ottawa singer-guitarist, I remind Foley of something she said during our first interview 12 years ago.

"That's the one thing about the blues -- you only get better," she said back in 1988. "The older you get, the better you get. I can't wait until I'm 40 or 50."

Foley sighs. Apparently, she didn't need the reminder.

"That's the famous quote, you know that?" she says. "That quote had followed me everywhere. I remember 'cause it was quoted in a million things after that. I guess it was a profound thing to say. I didn't think so at the time."

Sorry to tie an albatross around your neck, Sue...

"No, that's fine," she replies.

"I still feel that way. I'm 32 now, so I guess I can wait until I'm 40. I'm slowing down." And getting better.

Foley's recently released sixth album, Love Comin' Down, finds the artist reaching her creative stride. No longer the derivative blues player she was early in her career, Foley now covers the full spectrum of American R&B -- from Chicago blues to Memphis soul and rockabilly -- with a confidence and panache that recalls Bonnie Raitt and Foley's current big influence Lucinda Williams (who adds harmony vocals to one new track, Empty Cup).

Foley has grown by leaps and bounds as a singer, guitarist and songwriter. She says that's because she's grown as a person.

"Blues is such a powerful music that a little bit of age and experience goes a long, long way," says Foley, who opens for Jonny Lang Thursday night at the Jubilee Auditorium.

Love Comin' Down, immaculately produced by Colin Linden, is informed by recent events in her personal life. On the road since her late teens, she eventually got "beat down" by the circuit. She got married. She had her first child, a boy, now three years old. She got divorced.

Given that, Love Comin' Down is a surprisingly upbeat record.

"For me," she explains, "a lot of the songs are about empowerment and reasserting your own self, which is always for me a joyful experience.

"I was lost there for a while."

Foley admits she's happier now than she was a few years ago, when she realized the first 10 years of her touring career seemingly went by in the blink of an eye.

"You know what I remember (of that time)? One nightclub, one hotel, one highway, one restaurant and nothing else," Foley says.

"The circuit is exhausting. It's hard on your system. You can't keep relationships together. Everything keeps falling apart and re-forming and it's a completely chaotic existence.

"For me, 10 years on the road beat me down. By the end of that span, right before I had my son, I was beat. I was really depressed, didn't want to hear music, didn't want to play music. And that, to me, is sad. But I stopped and decided what I wanted -- having a child, learning about life -- a lot of things that put things back into perspective."