Ana Popovic

For a long time, female blues guitarists were fairly rare in a male-dominated field.

Was there anyone who you would say opened the way before you?

Oh, Sister Rosetta Tharpe.

I mean, she was the first.

She was there before the guys.

Exactly.

Just about.

You're not going to read about it in the guitar magazines.

No.

Well, in some.

You have to go

digging for it.

Man, you should not have to go dig.

No, you shouldn't.

You shouldn't.

You know, there are so many, of course.

Bonnie Rae.

There were not as many back then.

And I know that I was talking to some people that were studying jazz guitar back way before me, maybe 10, 15 years before I...

And they couldn't even get a gig.

They were so good.

And it was just like, they want a male guitar player, you know? And I mean, that was like that.

It was that way back then.

Luckily, things have changed now.

And I wouldn't know why, what was holding us back.