Kathleen Edwards goes back to basics it's almost a knee-jerk reaction. music critics hear kathleen edwards and comparisons to lucinda williams abound. but listen to her latest record, "back to me," and it's clear edwards isn't interested in riding anyone's country music coattails. "it's funny that people pick a woman to align me to that has nothing to do with who my influences were," she says on the phone from her newly adopted hometown of toronto. "i'm a huge petty fan and i think i'm wearing that influence totally on my sleeve." after debuting with 2002's "failer," the 26-year-old canadian singer-songwriter quickly found herself on the tips of everyone's tongue. rolling stone magazine named her one of their artists to watch and appearances on letterman and leno followed. along the way she caught the eye of some pretty big names landing opening spots for the likes of bob dylan, the rolling stones and ac/dc. and she did it all the old-fashioned way - by keeping her focus on the music and non-stop touring. "i'm not trying to sell what i look like," she says, "i was trying to break through in a lot of places and you do that by going there and trying to play." and play she did. edwards notched over 200 shows in support of "failer." but after being hailed as a singer-songwriter who could make country rock without any of the nashville schlock, edwards took some time to write her follow-up, aiming to give the set a rhythmic jolt. "'failer' did so many great things for me. it was a labour of love that i made it with my friends in ottawa. but come this record, we just wanted to go in and make it really tight and have an element that says, 'ok i've stepped it up...i'm serious about this.'" and serious she is. her songs, which she calls "mini-movies," are vividly haunting. and even though she's happily married, edwards won't apologize for wanting to sing about people whose lives aren't so cheery. "i like writing songs about life and about people who go through stuff. there's nothing wrong with wanting to write songs about people that aren't necessarily me, because they're somebody." but even if her characters are mildly downbeat, edwards shows a knack for making her desperate brand of troubadours shimmy on "back to me." the desperate "in state" and the sly title track, take musical cues from tom petty's "refugee" and "runnin' down a dream," while "independent thief" conjurers the melancholy pang of "last dance of mary jane." but it isn't just morose rockabilly dotting the musical landscape that makes up "back to me." "i do have happy songs on the record this time around," she quips. turn on the plaintive "good things" or the buoyant "summerlong," and you'll hear tracks that deal with the comforts of family and love. and as edwards readies herself to hit the road, having family close by means good things. in addition to her husband, guitarist colin cripps, edwards' pal, ottawa-based singer-songwriter jim bryson, will be hitting the road with her this month. and after blistering performances at the south by southwest festival and l.a.'s wiltern theatre last month, edwards couldn't be happier. "i don't take this stuff for granted," she says. "i'm just hoping i can continue to make another record after this record and be able to play in my hometown, which is now toronto." kathleen edwards plays a sold out show at the mod club theatre in toronto april 7 and vancouver's commodore ballroom june 1. marc daniell jam.canoe.ca				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews