Kathleen Edwards

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Kathleen Edwards

Background information
Born July 11, 1978 (1978-07-11) (age 29)
Origin Flag of Canada Ottawa, Ontario
Genre(s) Country
Alt Country
Folk
Occupation(s) singer/songwriter
Instrument(s) Guitar, Violin
Years active 1999Present
Label(s) Zoe Records
Website www.kathleenedwards.com

Kathleen Edwards (born July 11, 1978[1] in Ottawa, Ontario) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Her blend of country, folk and pop music made her a favourite of music critics, and a rising star on radio in 2003 with her debut album, Failer, made popular by her hit singles "Six O'Clock News" and "Hockey Skates". Her style of music is sometimes placed in the alt country music genre.

Contents

[edit] History

Edwards performing at the 2007 NXNE festival
Edwards performing at the 2007 NXNE festival

Edwards, whose parents were diplomats, spent portions of her youth in Korea and Switzerland. At age 5, she began classical violin studies that continued for the next 12 years. As a teenager she lived overseas, away from the North American commercial mainstream. She spent much of her time listening to her brother Tim's Neil Young and Bob Dylan records, and he bought her first record, a Tom Petty album.

After high school she decided not to attend college instead opting to play local clubs to pay the bills. During this time she was influenced by Ani DiFranco. The music of Whiskeytown and its former member Ryan Adams inspired her determination to write music.

In 1999, Edwards recorded a six-song EP entitled Building 55 and pressed 500 copies. By the fall of 2000, she was on tour across Canada managing her own gigs. In 2001, she wrote seven of the ten songs for her 2003 debut release Failer. Rolling Stone declared her one of year's most promising new acts and Blender said that Failer's songs possessed "an indefinable pull that makes you love the characters they describe, no matter how fucked up they are." The New York Times praised Edwards as a writer whose songs can "pare situations down to a few dozen words while they push country-rock towards its primal impulses of thump and twang."

Edwards married musician and producer Colin Cripps in 2004.

In 2005, Edwards released Back to Me, which also garnered considerable critical acclaim, and led to the release of the singles "Back to Me" and "In State". The track "Summerlong" also featured on the soundtrack of the movie Elizabethtown starring Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst. That year, Edwards also lent her vocals to the duet "The Plan", recorded with Matt Mays and El Torpedo for their self-titled album.[2]

In 2006, she was nominated for Juno Awards for Songwriter of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year for Back to Me.[3]

In 2007, Edwards worked with John Doe (formerly of the punk rock band X) on his solo album A Year In The Wilderness. She sings vocals on three tracks.[4]

In 2008, Edwards performed at the Sasquatch! Music Festival in Washington. She is scheduled to perform at the Pemberton Festival in Pemberton, British Columbia.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Singles

Year Title CAN Country Album
2003 "Six O'Clock News" Failer
"One More Song the Radio Won't Like"
2004 "Hockey Skates"
2005 "Back to Me" Back to Me
"In State"
2006 "Married Again" (with Jim Cuddy) 39 The Light That Guides You Home
(Jim Cuddy album)
2008 "The Cheapest Key" Asking for Flowers
"I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory"

[edit] Music videos

  • "Six O'Clock News"
  • "One More Song the Radio Won't Like"
  • "Hockey Skates"
  • "Back To Me"
  • "In State"
  • "Married Again" (with Jim Cuddy)
  • "The Cheapest Key"
  • "I Make the Dough, You Get the Glory"

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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