Failer a success This week marks the triumphant homecoming of Kathleen Edwards, the young Ottawa singer-songwriter who went south to play a few shows in the U.S. and ended up as the music industry's latest Canadian alt-country darling. Edwards' debut album, Failer, is being adored all over the American press, and her recent appearance at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, caused lineups and more raves. Tomorrow she plays the Horseshoe, then travels to Montreal before hitting her home town Friday, just in time for Juno weekend. Then she's off for more touring in the U.S. and Europe. It all can be a bit overwhelming, but Edwards is keeping her feet on the ground. "I didn't really anticipate ever being one of those people, the buzzed-about act," she says. "It's definitely welcome - it's better than no one giving a shit - but it's not really why I've been doing what I'm doing. And it's not going to change what kind of music I want to play or what kind of path I want to be on. "All the attention enables me to go to a city and play for a room full of people, but that's all I wanted to do anyway. And I'd be doing this even if I wasn't 'one to watch.' " In any case, Failer's oblique, often gloomy tales of lovers and losers are obviously hitting a nerve with people. "I think I'm an everyperson," Edwards explains. "I have experiences that are no different from those of the people listening to my record, and in that sense there's a commonness to what I do." There's definitely a commonness to country music's themes and sounds, whether you live in Nashville or Ottawa. Edwards' father grew up in rural Saskatchewan listening to Johnny Cash, so it's not surprising that some elements of that music ended up in her songs. And on One More Song The Radio Won't Like, she sounds quite a bit like Lucinda Williams. But she claims her real influences were much closer to home. 'The local scene in Ottawa affected me much more than any music from the U.S.," she says. "Jim Bryson (another talented Ottawa songwriter who plays guitar on Failer) was one of my biggest influences. Maybe he was listening to American country, but I was listening to him." Failer has been finished for nearly two years now, but was only released in the U.S. in January. Edwards has been writing in the meantime, and is anxious to begin working on its followup. "I'll play a few new songs live," she says. "I'm kind of waiting to go into the studio again. I know it's not going to be for a while. It might not be my ideal agenda, but at least I'm getting to do what I want to do." Mary Dickie Toronto Sun				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews