Kathleen Edwards is poised to touch the Canadian in all of us kathleen edwards' debut album failer has turned out to be anything but. the canadian singer-songwriter has impressed everyone from rolling stone ("one of the ten to watch in 2003") to david letterman ("fantastic singing...this is great stuff"), and is poised, as they say, to make it big. edwards, most often compared to lucinda williams - although she doesn't cite williams as an influence - writes with wisdom and insight that seem far beyond her 24 years. ("westby", one of the tracks on the album, contains the oft-quoted zinger "and if you weren't so old i'd tell my friends/but i don't think your wife would like my friends.") edwards also seems to have a healthy understanding of the way things are in the music business, titling another track "one more song the radio won't like." she is defiant and playful onstage: at her show with guster at the aragon in october she didn't seem the least bit troubled by the fact that most of the crowd was there to see guster. she was not about to kiss up to them-at one point she pulled down her pants and wiggled her undies at the crowd.what are your early influences and how did you get your start? tom petty, neil young, and ani difranco are some. i listened to my older brother's record collection growing up. canada is interesting; we don't play music to get deals, we play to be creative and to play. it's about being musical people and about community. i think our intention is honest and genuine. success isn't based on a record deal. did success come quickly? certain things came quickly, like an appearance on david letterman and playing some legendary venues. i feel as if i have worked really, really hard for the last year. what's one thing about fame that you weren't expecting? i don't think i'm famous. one thing i didn't know was that you have to give so much of yourself, make compromises and lose touch with friends. i wasn't prepared to be on the road for a solid year and to work this hard. i enjoy being at home. i miss my cats and i like gardening. your schedule sounds challenging. what do you do to keep yourself feeling normal? it's been tough. i talk to my family a lot. the band is great and we have become close friends being on the road together for over a year now. there are days when i'm fed up and they help me through it. and i remember i'm doing what a lot of people don't get to do. what gets you out of bed in the morning? earl grey tea; i love tea. some days it's because the bus is moving and i can't sleep anymore. how does inspiration come to you? i like to be private about it and in my own time, just let it come. i don't sit down and write poetry. i play my guitar and come up with the music and words at the same time. have you still been writing songs in the last year? not at all. if i get a day or evening off i'm so tired i don't live that lifestyle anymore. we're not partying all the time on the road. i get my inspiration from people who do but i'm not a big party hound. it's more about writing about people who frequent bars rather than i hang around bars. where did the title of your album failer come from? i came up with the word while i was writing "six o'clock news." it represented my life at the time. i was waiting tables. it was really me poking fun at myself, so people might say "is that what she really thinks of herself?" where do you go when you're in chicago? i like schuba's (3159 n. southport). we hung out there when we played there in march. and park west (322 w. armitage) is a beautiful room, al-though there weren't a lot of people when we played there in june. tell me about your cross-canada music tour in a 1988 chevrolet suburban. it totally decided things for me. i didn't have anyone wanting to play with me so i put together a demo cd and decided i was going to go for it. i called clubs across canada and they'd say, "yep, you can come and play here." what would you like to have happen in your career? i'd like a life where everything is able to find a place. music is one of the things that is also in my family life, my mom met my dad singing in a choir. i'd like to be home a bit and go away a little bit and have some balance. mary taylor and lisa shannon davidson thetapchicago.com				Album reviews Feature articles Interviews Show reviews