Kathleen Edwards homeward bound kathleen edwards expects her next album to be a departure from the hard-living, heartbreaking tunes which generated so much buzz on her label debut, failer. she has much of the material for her next album together already, and expects it will be released by an ambitious february or more realistically, next september. edwards, who plays the capital music hall on friday night and spoke to the sun last week from her toronto home, says she wants a new direction for her next album and is eager to discover how tunes composed on her acoustic guitar during snatched days off turn out in studio. at the same time, she hopes to stay away from writing too much about her experiences over a tumultuous past year. disheartening "i also don't want to be one of those artists who had a really long time on the road and the next album is all about touring," she said. after a disheartening six weeks spent opening for college band guster in the u.s. -- "it was an attempt to expose me to younger people and it failed miserably" -- the toll of that gruelling experience is still sitting forefront in her mind. it's been a big year for the 25-year-old ottawa-born musician, who got her start busking in the byward market as a teenager. rolling stone named her one to watch; she appeared twice on the late show with david letterman, on the tonight show with jay leno, cnn and last call with carson daly. the u.s. edition of time pegged her as deserving "a place at the table, somewhere between lucinda williams and sheryl crow" while the washington post trumpeted "debut albums this impressive make you wonder where the artist has been hiding." then, in july, edwards and her band took the stage in front of an estimated 450,000 people to play at the rolling stones sars benefit in toronto. "it kept our spirits high for a long time after that, because it was one of the coolest things any of us had been a part of," she said. "it makes you feel better when you have to play bumf---, idaho in front of 20 people." in for the long haul the cumulative effect of all that attention was not radio play or record sales. maple music records estimates failer sold 20,000 copies since it was released in sept. 2002. edwards, who's already stated she's in the music business for the long haul, simply says she'd like to make more money next year. "because i didn't make any this year, maybe next year will be a good year," she said. having her guitarist boyfriend colin cripps along for the ride has also made the tough times of the past year a lot easier to swallow. "he's an amazing performer and i've learned so much from him. he's a great friend, we all get along, the whole band," says edwards. "i wouldn't be with him if he hadn't come on the road with me." ann marie mcqueen ottawasun.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews