Kathleen Edwards: Back To Me on her 2003 debut, kathleen edwards was a twenty-three-year-old folkie trawling dead-end bars and the ashtray of her mind for character sketches and tough, heart-rending tunes. she sang of alcoholism, bad parents and a gun-toting lover, and managed to sound older than she was. on back to me she still does, for good and bad. the roots-rock downers are blander than her admirers would hope, full of sepia-toned melodies and abstractions about old mistakes and never going home again. when she's on, her tunes suggest an unavoidable presence, as on the opening one-two punch of "in state" and "back to me," which recalls lucinda williams' "joy" in its bar-ready, man-defying feistiness. but edwards' mix of bravado and beauty is epitomized by "what are you waiting for?" a midtempo rocker in which she gracefully harmonizes, "you've gotta be fucking kidding me."  rating: 3 [out of 5] christian hoard rollingstone.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews