By Chris Nixon
May 8, 2008
Musicians get caught in the same cycles as everyone else: You get up and go to work. Come home and go to bed. Wake up the next day and do it all over again.
Before you know it, years float by.
For singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards, her cycles – five years of churning out albums and touring – left the creative well dry. After a productive and critically acclaimed turn as the fresh new face in acoustic alt-country, she hit the songwriting wall.
“I think I was always in a little bit of a rush,” recalled the 29-year-old singer. “And also there was a bit of expectation on my shoulders from other people to straddle the line between a commercial sound and not being too sugary or saccharine.”
DETAILS
Kathleen Edwards, with The Last Town Chorus
When: Wednesday, 9 p.m.
Where: Belly Up Tavern, 143 S. Cedros Ave., Solana Beach
Tickets: $15-$17
Phone: (858) 481-8140
Online: bellyup.com
After getting off the road in support of her 2005 breakthrough album, “Back to Me,” the process of songwriting slowed to a standstill: “I couldn't seem to break the ice. It was a really humbling experience, because I usually been able to write songs without too much of a dilemma in my own life.”
So, the clear-voiced Canadian did other things: planted a garden, worked at a winery, went jogging and learned to play the piano. She did the simple things. The space gave her a new perspective on songwriting and her career, allowing her to hone her vision of the next album.
“This time around, I said to myself whatever the consequences of making the exact record I want to make, I think I can live with them,” said Edwards. “Just being home for a while made me want to go back on the road, but I wanted to go on the road with songs I love getting up and playing every night.”
First, she assembled a crack band to record the album: drummer Don Heffington (Bob Dylan, The Wallflowers), bassist Bob Glaub (Jackson Browne, Warren Zevon, Leonard Cohen), keyboardist Benmont Tench (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers), and pedal steel player Greg Leisz (Sheryl Crow, Wilco, Robert Plant & Alison Krauss). Then, she enlisted producer Jim Scott (Wilco, Whiskeytown, Tom Petty) and recorded at Plyrz Studios in Santa Clarita.
The resulting record – “Asking for Flowers,” released last month – combines Edwards' strong songwriting skills with a more textured, layered sound. The entire album has an comfortable, effortless feel, spearheaded by the sweet opening track, “Buffalo.”
Edwards gets a little cheeky on the ABC song “The Cheapest Key”: A is for all the times I bit my tongue. But in general “Asking for Flowers” hits the mark, in an acoustic contemporary country way.
Edwards' points to the six-and-a-half-minute track “Goodnight, California” – featuring the talents of bassist Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Marc Ribot) and keyboardist John Ginty (Robert Randolph and the Family Band) on Hammond organ – as the fullest realization of her “sonic vision.”
“I always wanted to write this sweeping, instrumental, haunting song,” said Edwards. “Sonic vision means not worrying about how long the song is and not worrying about whether it has any commercial value. It means going for something and loving what my ears are hearing.”
By stepping out of music industry cycles, with its constant pressures to crank out content and take the show on the road, Edwards achieved a deeper understanding of the permanence of making a living as a musician.
“I wish I was a prolific writer; I wish I could write on the road,” she admitted. “But I can't, so I have to accept that my pace is my pace. I don't want to rush this stuff. You record a song and it's there forever. No one may listen to it, but it's still there forever. I can only stand behind the work that I end up making.”
Recrafting country
Shucking tears-in-your-beer ballads and two-stepping cowboys in ten-gallon hats, a fresh brand of singer-songwriter is reinventing country music. Adding a touch of twang to mainstream folk and rock songs, these alt-country divas focus on country music's strength: its ability to tell a story.
Kathleen Edwards is one of them. Here's a look at a few others:
Lucinda Williams
Moniker: The road-tested originator
Must listen: “Unsuffer Me,” a chilling, atmospheric track from 2007's “West.”
The skinny: The 55-year-old Louisiana native dared to bust out of the country singer mold before Kathleen Edwards was out of diapers. Her career stems from the late 1970s, but she really hit her stride with 1998's “Car Wheels on a Gravel Road.” With the ability to oscillate between tough and tender, Williams crafts songs with an eye for imagery and knack for storytelling.
Shelby Lynne
Moniker: The Nashville refugee
Must listen: “Just a Little Lovin',” the title song from her wonderfully stripped-down tribute to Dusty Springfield.
The skinny: Once a promising young bright-eyed beauty with mainstream country music star written all over her Southern belle body, Shelby Lynne gets better the further she gets from the cookie-cutter country albums and the Nashville music industry. Her most recent album – a Dusty Springfield tribute artfully produced by Phil Ramone – gives her subtly soulful vocals proper space to breathe.
Allison Moorer
Moniker: Shelby's younger sister
Must listen: “Some Sugar in My Bowl,” a sultry swing tune (originally by Nina Simone) from 2008's “Mockingbird.”
The skinny: Often defined first by her relations (older sister Shelby Lynne, husband Steve Earle), but Allison Moorer's powerful voice draws attention whether she's singing on family member's record or on her own. Dancing around the outskirts of traditional country territory, the 35-year-old singer musically touches on everything from rootsy rock to quiet country tinged folk.
Tift Merritt
Moniker: The talented newcomer
Must listen: “Keep You Happy,” a pretty, twangy track from 2008's “Another Country.”
The skinny: Full of spacey pedal steel, strummy guitars, mellow electric piano and angelic vibrato-laced vocals, Tift Merritt's latest album title suitably describes her rejection of the typical country formulas: “Another Country.”
In her own words, she describes her sound: “Maybe a little like if Creedence Clearwater Revival had a girl singer who loved Dusty Springfield and Bruce Springsteen and old French movies and played a real warm summer night right after a thunderstorm ... but really ... I'm pretty sure I just sound like me.”
– CHRIS NIXON
