Kathleen Edwards Raises Her Glass To Canada on a blustery afternoon, a bundled up kathleen edwards saunters into toronto's horseshoe tavern ready to dance up a storm. the few patrons who are comfortably saddled at the bar or engrossed in a billiards match raise their heads in this visible sign of comfort and relief, as if the redhead declared, "i'm home, and boy i could use a drink." not that canada's next "it girl" condones the use of alcohol, but... "a lot of people my age spent tons of time in bars," the 24-year-old ottawa-area songstress says between sips of bottled water. "booze is part of my life. i drink when i want and yeah i get a little carried away. it's gotten me into a little bit of trouble on occasion. but i can't control the way people perceive who i am. some people live their lives that way, but it doesn't mean it's my life." which explains the showering of praise over edwards' full-length debut, failer. a rootsy, no-holds-barred honest disc that tells of broken relationships, false promises and dysfunctional lives, failer has garned edwards buzz aplenty in the u.s., including glowing reviews in the washington post, time and rolling stone plus appearances on the american talk-show circuit (late show with david letterman, tonight show with jay leno). in louisville, ky, the record is a top-five favourite. "people can relate to this record," says edwards about failer's oft-autobiographical, observational lyrics. "sometimes it's a sad thing that i or someone else get into a situation and all you can think about is, 'do i need a drink?' for me, i like to go hard, then i like to go home. i'm drinking water right now, so i must be doing all right." edwards considers the u.s. buzz complimentary, but she would like to see more support in her own country. released in september 2002 on maplemusic/universal, failer landed edwards a spot on open mike with mike bullard," opening stints for the likes of tom wilson, blue rodeo and great big sea and, most recently, a juno nomination for best roots and traditional album of the year. a far cry from her days busking cover songs in ottawa to be sure, but... "i want to tell everyone i'm canadian, that failer is a record about canada, the songs are all about me living in canada," says edwards, who calls wakefield, qc home. "but in this country, you're considered a local artist until your record does something somewhere else. suddenly, it's not worth checking out a show or buying a debut record just in case you might not like it. but, oh my god, rolling stone" says it's ok, well, maybe then you go out and buy it. 'that's frustrating. i'd rather be successful in canada before i'm successful in the u.s." should her wishes become reality, canadians will drink to that. chartattack.com staff chartattack.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews