Songstress Edwards follows success of Failer singer-songwriter kathleen edwards releases her sophomore album, back to me, on tuesday. that night, she'll perform on the late show with david letterman, and on march 15, bravo will air a live at the rehearsal hall performance from toronto. kathleen edwards once wrote with pent-up fury, "do you think your boys club will crumble just because of a loud-mouthed girl?" but now that scenario from her song hockey skates no longer is a concern: more than enough loud-mouths are keeping the name of this ottawa-born, toronto-based alt-country singer-songwriter on everyone's mind. just ask david letterman, for instance. "fantastic singing," letterman told his late show audience back on jan. 17, 2003, gushing over edwards' debut, failer. "i listened to this whole cd this afternoon, and this is great stuff." 'that whole experience changed my year," edwards says. "before we went on the show, and again afterwards, people were suddenly going, 'hmm, who is this?' " edwards and company will be serenading letterman a third time on tuesday to coincide with her sophomore release, back to me. additionally, bravo will air a live at the rehearsal hall performance on march 15, 8 p.m., with blue rodeo's jim cuddy making a cameo. "i'm so lucky. i've had some fantastic experiences that not a lot of people in my position get to have," says edwards, rhyming off letterman, jay leno, a slot at sarsstock, and glowing magazine reviews from rolling stone, blender, elle, usa today and billboard. even back to me's guest roster - richard bell (the band, janis joplin), my morning jacket's jim james, pierre marchand (sarah mclachlan) and benmont tench (tom petty and the heartbreakers) - shows edwards has come a long way from toughing it out in hometown bars, folk-festival tours and what-not. yet canada remains a vital component of edwards' material. "i'm writing songs about our people, our country, yet it's funny that america is embracing them," the 26-year-old says. 'that can get a little frustrating." though she calls toronto home now largely due to her marriage to guitarist-bandmate colin cripps, the move from the nation's capital region was a personal struggle, which prompted her to pen pink emerson radio. in fact, themes of dislocation - relevant from her childhood given that her father served as a canadian diplomat, which meant the edwards clan resided in korea and switzerland before settling back in ottawa - run rampant throughout the likes of good things, away and somewhere else, the latter written by ottawa compatriot and longtime friend jim bryson. "we're like brother and sister. a lot of the reasons i've started my music career were because of him," says edwards, who once again adds bryson to her touring band. ian nathanson metronews.ca				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews