Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards

Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian singer-songwriter and musician from Ottawa, Ontario. She is associated with folk and alt-country, and her music also draws on country and pop. She begins recording and touring in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and becomes known for a style that brings together melodic songwriting and country-influenced arrangements.

Early releases

In 1999, Edwards records a six-song EP, Building 55, and presses 500 copies. By the fall of 2000, she is touring across Canada and handling her own gigs. In 2001, she writes seven of the ten songs that appear on her 2003 debut album, Failer.

Failer is released in 2003. Its singles include “Six O’Clock News” and “Hockey Skates”, which help establish her on radio and with critics.

Major albums and recognition

Her second album, Back to Me, is released in 2005. It features the singles “Back to Me” and “In State”, and the track “Summerlong” also appears on the soundtrack to Elizabethtown. The album receives strong critical attention and leads to nominations at the Juno Awards for Songwriter of the Year and Adult Alternative Album of the Year.

Her third album, Asking for Flowers, is released in 2008 and also appears on the US Billboard 200, reaching the Top Heatseekers top 10. Her fourth album, Voyageur, is released in 2012 and becomes her first album to reach the top 100 in the United States, peaking at number 39 on the Billboard 200, while reaching number 2 in Canada.

Background

Edwards is born in 1978 in Ottawa. Her father is Leonard Edwards, a former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. Because of his work, she spends parts of her teenage years in Korea and Switzerland. She marries musician and producer Colin Cripps in 2004, and they later divorce.

Later work

Her album Billionaire is produced by Jason Isbell.