Edwards aims for mainstream and hits the Valley
By CHRIS PAGE
Get Out

Canadian singer/songwriter Kathleen Edwards earned critical acclaim and an awful big question mark with her 2003 debut album, “Failer.”

Edwards, then 23, was peddling country tunes that were just too smart for the mainstream. They had a folkie’s edge for storytelling (and a sharp humor, evident in songs like “Westby”: “If you weren’t so old I’d tell my friends/But I don’t think your wife would like my friends”), a popster’s ear for melody and a rocker’s playfulness.

She didn’t fit the mold, though, and was dismissed — relegated to the alternative-country pool with other under-the-radar greats like the Old 97’s and Kasey Chambers. Which Edwards must’ve predicted, considering she recorded a loping ditty called “One More Song the Radio Won’t Like.”

Fast-forward two years, through mainstream country’s identity crisis, past Gretchen Wilson’s sassy hit “Redneck Woman” and the recent release of Edwards’ sophomore album, “Back to Me” — a more serious effort that tones down her playfulness in favor of more straight-ahead country vibes. The fates might be conspiring to give Edwards a chance to hop off the alt-country shelf and into the mainstream spotlight.

Already, she’s getting radio and video play for the new disc’s frisky and whiskey-fueled title track (with a sly nod to her alternative side in the video: That’s X bassist/songwriter John Doe co-starring). She played Letterman. She’s slated to play Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado later this month, after which she’ll tour with Willie Nelson up in the Great White North.

Monday, though, she’ll play a more intimate gig in the Valley, bringing her band to the Rhythm Room.

It’s your chance to answer the question for yourself: Is Edwards a quirky underdog or — just maybe — destined for the charts?