Pop Music Pick Of The Week - Kathleen Edwards At The Sweetwater

By John Roos

Kathleen Edwards made one of those scary but necessary life-changing decisions back in 2014. After the Canadian singer-songwriter-guitarist fought depression and her voice was giving out after years of recording and touring, she left it all behind to open a coffeehouse not-so-subtly named Quitters in her hometown of Ottawa. This new business venture and change of pace brought a sense of normalcy to Edwards' life but she did miss the joy of making music. Awhile later, a friend named Matt Mays invited her to open a pair of shows at the famous Massey Hall in Toronto. Those performances in May 2018 rekindled her creative spirit, which soon led to her first recording in eight years, 2020's Total Freedom. A welcome return to form, this album captures the essence of Kathleen Edwards: powerful, relatable songs that ring true. Much like her best work, captured in earlier numbers like "Six O'Clock News," "Asking for Flowers," and "Change the Sheets," her latest lyrical treasure chest unflinchingly examines all the complexities of the human condition, particulary love won and lost and persevering through it all. And, being a Canadian, she's an ice hockey fan not afraid to name drop the Great One and Marty McSorley. Now if that's not being true to yourself, I don't know what is.

*Kathleen Edwards with Ken Yates appears Sunday night at the Sweetwater Music Hall, 19 Corte Madera Ave, Mill Valley, (415) 388-3850. 8 p.m. All ages. $42.73, includes fees. www.sweetwatermusichall.org.