Kathleen Edwards’ album may be called Failer, but consider this—in the past few weeks, she’s been on Letterman, Leno and Carson Daly, every magazine from Rolling Stone to Entertainment Weekly has sung her praises over the last couple of months, and she’s signed to noted indie labels MapleMusic in Canada and Rounder in the U.S.
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter sounds slightly baffled by it all on the line from Toronto (she recently relocated from her native Ottawa). She’d just flown home that same day from Atlanta after a week of doing U.S. promotion and press, including a spot on CNN. But Edwards isn’t letting the dizzying schedule get the better of her.
“It’s been really wild, and it feels like I’m always trying to catch my breath,” she says. “I don’t get overwhelmed by all the stuff that’s happening, though. Obviously it’s really great that it’s happening, but I take it in stride.
“Ultimately, it’s just going to be great for me to go out and play shows, and there’s going to be people there that I’ve never played to who are there. So that’s the exciting part.”
Even landing coveted spots on all of the late-night TV shows didn’t faze Edwards, who says the experience has been more enjoyable than nerve-wracking.
“They were a lot of fun. Letterman was great, and the people who work on the show were really nice. We were in and out really quick, and it was a bit of a whirlwind—I barely remember playing at all!”
“Carson Daly was cool because they film that show in the studios of Saturday Night Live. And so I was walking around backstage going, ‘My god—I’ve seen this through my whole childhood, this whole backstage area!’ So it was really cool.”
Edwards credits her American label and her local management team (whose stable also includes like-minded singer-songwriters Sarah Harmer and Danny Michel) for getting behind Failer and giving it the push it needed to fuel the current buzz.
“Ultimately, I wouldn’t be where I am without Patrick (Sambrook, her manager). But all of the amazing things in the press that have happened, a lot of that is because the people at Rounder are working really hard for me. And it also is pure luck—being at the right place at the right time is half of it in some ways. There are so many amazing Canadian songwriters, like Sarah Slean, and Jim Bryson, Oh Susanna… All of them have done really well, but I know in some respects none of them have had the opportunity that I’m getting. It’s not because I’m any better than them—it’s just timing, in some ways.”
Edwards knows of whence she speaks—her current Stateside success comes long after Failer was first released. She may be a new name to many, both in Canada and the U.S., but Edwards has been honing her music since she was a young thing playing the fiddle, growing up in a musical family.
She released the roots-rock Failer independently in 2001 before it was picked up by the fledgling MapleMusic imprint, which joined forces with Universal to re-release a remastered version of the record last year, and finally Rounder picked up the album for a U.S. release at the end of 2002.
While there certainly was some degree of buzz around Edwards here at home, it was negligible in comparison to being listed in Rolling Stone as one of their “ten artists to watch in 2003,” or appearances on nearly every television network in the country. Her quick ascent in the U.S. is in stark contrast to her reception here, and serves to underscore the age-old Canuck inferiority complex.
“My record came out in Canada, and it did nothing. The press did nothing, and the record company basically got no interest from radio,” Edwards explains.
“I probably sold 500 copies of my record in Canada. I went and toured the West Coast with Danny Michel, and some nights there were ten people there. It’s not about blame, but it’s like the typical scenario of Canadians having to leave Canada and be given a lot of media coverage in the U.S. before Canada sits up and goes, ‘Yeah, she’s from here!’ and ‘Isn’t she great?’ Why do I have to go to the U.S. to be successful in Canada? Why can’t I stay in Canada and have success in Canada before leaving Canada? It’s happened to so many people here, and I’m just another person.
“I guess in some ways, I’m really lucky, because I’m getting the chance to do well, possibly. I’m not complaining, I’m just stating that fact for the purpose of other people who are out there, who are struggling to sell albums in their hometown when they’re really great.”
Edwards says she never would have gotten as far as she did without solid support from her own hometown, and you can it all over Failer.
From producer Dave Draves to guitarist and fellow singer-songwriter extraordinaire Jim Bryson to Starling drummer Peter Von Althen, the album’s backing cast is a who’s who of the Ottawa music scene.
She’s been called the next Lucinda Williams, but Edwards is more like Sarah Harmer’s kid sister—equal parts twang and keening, rural meets urban. Lyrically, Failer’s barroom confessionals rub up against plaintive ruminations, with a clever wit holding it all together. It’s an album with more promise than polish, but that’s just the way Edwards wanted it for her very first record.
“I think I always had an idea of how I wanted the record to come out, in terms of arrangements,” Edwards says. “But there’s always an unknown going into the studio… I couldn’t have asked for better from my players, because in the end I knew the record sounded exactly the way I had hoped it would. I’m really happy about that—it’s not a perfect record, but I think it sounds just the way I wanted it to at the time.”
But how did this humble Canuck skyrocket to Next Big Thing status? She isn’t part of the new wave of rockers, isn’t Scandinavian and certainly isn’t about to bust a move. Why have people responded so well to Failer?
“That’s a really good question,” muses Edwards. “I think in some ways it’s because the trend of manufactured schlep is coming to an end. People are becoming more conscious of it, and they’re appreciating things that are real, instead of things that aren’t. I think people are happy that it’s not icing on the cake anymore—we’re talking about making the cake, y’know?”
(Catch Juno nominee Edwards at a rare local appearance April 2nd at the Horseshoe.)
