b. 11 July 1978, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Singer-songwriter Edwards spent much of her childhood in South Korea or Switzerland owing to her father’s work for the diplomatic core. Trained on classical violin as a youngster, Edwards launched her musical career in the late 90s as a singer-songwriter. She established her reputation on Ottawa’s downtown folk scene and in 1999 released the EP, Building 55, a quirky collection of rootsy country pop. She moved out of the city and into the Quebec countryside to complete the writing for her debut album. Recording work on what would become Failer began in late 2000, with Edwards joined by many colleagues from the Ottawa scene, notably fellow singer-songwriter Jim Bryson and producer Dave Draves. Originally given an independent release in early 2002, Failer was remixed for distribution on the Rounder Records’ imprint Zöe later in the year. The album drew favourable, if somewhat lazy, comparisons to the work of alt country favourite Lucinda Williams. Edwards’ drink-sodden and love-weary tales of faltering relationships played out in honky-tonks and bars often belied her 23 years, although the bitter imagery and spiky put-downs of ‘Hockey Skates’, ‘Six O’Clock News’, and ‘Westby’ marked her out as an utterly contemporary writer.
Edwards and her band spent the next two years touring in support of her debut, including prestigious opening slots for Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. At the start of 2004 she returned to the recording studio to begin work on her highly anticipated second album. Edwards and her producer Colin Cripps stuck close to the formula established on Failer, with guest musicians Benmont Tench and Eric Heywood adding subtle textures to the rock solid backing of the singer’s road band. Released at the start of 2005, Back To Me served further notice of Edwards’ songwriting talents on tracks such as ‘In State’, ‘Summerlong’ and ‘Away’.
