Edwards brings fans back to her the first time kathleen edwards toured canada she did it all by herself. "i drove all the way from ottawa to victoria in my car," she says, reached on a tour bus somewhere in pennsylvania. "i just decided to do it, so i called all the clubs myself and put together a 15-date tour. i had a demo and i printed a bunch of copies. i wanted to not be just a local act anymore, and i wanted to see what it was like to get on the road. it was a good experience, though it certainly did nothing for my career." well, it couldn't have hurt. five years after that tour, edwards is living in toronto, has two critically acclaimed albums to her credit, and is a late night talk show favourite, particularly on the late show. in fact, david letterman is such a fan, it seems as though edwards can call up and arrange her own appearance whenever the whim strikes her. "it's slightly more complicated than that," says edwards. "you never know, though; we played his show twice on failer, and we played on leno, too. then we took some time off. but [late night talk shows] are really fun to do." failer, her 2002 debut, boosted her profile with indelible, rootsy tunes like "six o'clock news," "hockey skates" and "one more song the radio won't like." back to me, her latest, is just as earthy and tuneful. hardboiled lines that seem to have been lifted from the pages of a pulpy crime novel tumble effortlessly out of her, and edwards has just the gritty, take-no-guff kind of voice to convincingly deliver them. her lyrics are full of telling details and cutting lines. the cloudy rural atmosphere of opener "in state" features the pivotal putdown, "you wouldn't even be yourself if you weren't telling a lie," while her threat "i know where the cops hang out" tells listeners all they need to know about the man she's singing to. the title track is a rousing send-off to an ex: "i've got ways to make you sorry/start my life with someone else/i've got ways to make you fall/i'll tell you all the things that i lied about." the more subdued, rueful "copied keys"-'this is your life, i get copied keys"-is about moving from ottawa into the toronto digs of new husband colin cripps (who produced back to me). "yeah, there have been lots of big changes," she says. "it's good. i miss living in the country and i miss the quiet, but i'm on the road so much now that it's sort of irrelevant. i try to go back as much as i can." the record also benefits from having high-profile guest players like benmont tench, keyboardist for tom petty's backing band the heartbreakers, and singer jim james of alt-country act my morning jacket. tench's participation was particularly exciting for edwards, who says on her website that a live tom petty dvd is her chief pre-show inspiration. "it was a total thrill," she says of working with tench. "we weren't sure if he would do it, but we put the word out and he called back. we sent him the first record and he listened to it and liked it so he played on four songs." edwards' next vancouver appearance is june 1 at the commodore. asked where she played in town on her first tour, edwards takes a few seconds before it comes to her. 'The railway club," she recalls. did anything stand out? "not really, no. i probably wasn't very memorable." whether that's false modesty or not, it's unlikely the same will be said about her upcoming show. shawn connor vancourier.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews