{"id":904096,"date":"2026-09-21T12:46:14","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/904096\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T12:46:14","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T12:46:14","slug":"kathleen-edwards-takes-massey-hall-not-by-storm-but-by-perseverance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/904096\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathleen Edwards takes Massey Hall, not by storm but by perseverance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kathleen Edwards performs onstage during the 25th Annual Americana Honors & Awards at Ryman Auditorium on Wednesday in Nashville, Tennessee.Terry Wyatt\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Kathleen Edwards released her first album nearly a quarter-century ago, was nominated for Songwriter of the Year at the Juno Awards for the first time way back in 2004 and once took a long hiatus from the music business to open a coffee shop in suburban Ottawa. That she called the place \u201cQuitters\u201d is an example of her acerbic humour and not an indication of her character.<\/p>\n

Clearly, because the folk-rock singer-songwriter finally made her Massey Hall headlining debut on Friday, at the age of 48. There is no quit in her, and none in her fans either. \u201cI think there are a lot of people in the room tonight who I love a lot, and a lot of people who love me,\u201d she said early in the 17-song performance. <\/p>\n

The red-haired spitfire took the stage a few seconds behind her crack five-piece band to warm applause. The Fleetwood Mac song Everywhere, written and sung by Christine McVie, played on the house PA system as she arrived: \u201cI\u2019ll speak a little louder, I\u2019ll even shout \/ You know that I\u2019m proud and I can\u2019t get the words out.\u201d<\/p>\n

The music of Edwards falls under the general heading of roots rock or, in today\u2019s jargon, Americana. She played a fiddle more than once. Her high, silvery soprano voice excelled in the tender ballads (such as the heartbreaking A Soft Place to Land) and stood up to the heartland rock of When the Truth Comes Out, off her latest album, Billionaire.<\/p>\n

From the archives: Singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards is back to making music after a six-year coffee break<\/a><\/p>\n

I imagine she\u2019s been compared to Sarah Harmer over the years. They share a taste for evocative melodies and excellent guitarists. At Massey, Gord Tough, who has played with Harmer in the past, showed a knack for electric solos that were equal parts wicked and empathetic. <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a tinge of melancholy to Edwards\u2019s delivery even when she rocks. A fan of John Prine, she is able to be clever and sad simultaneously: \u201cYou can get blisters from your favourite shoes,\u201d she sang on Say Goodbye, Tell No One, also from Billionaire. <\/p>\n

The title track to the album is an expression of grief in monetary terms over the death of a young friend: \u201cIf this feeling were a currency, I\u2019d be a billionaire.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a 2020 interview<\/a>, when she returned to the music business full-time after selling Quitters, Edwards spoke with me about the cost of what she does. \u201cBasically, I emote professionally,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s what I do for a living, and it really takes its toll.\u201d <\/p>\n

She began the concert with Glenfern, the opening track to her 2020 comeback album, Total Freedom. It\u2019s a softly rocking song of gratitude to her former husband and bandmate, Blue Rodeo guitarist Colin Cripps. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Edwards performs on the mainstage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in July.Matt Duboff\/Reuters<\/p>\n

Like, we had a tour bus with a bed in the back<\/p>\n

We bought a rock and roll dream, it was total crap<\/p>\n

We toured the world and we played on TV<\/p>\n

We met some of our heroes, it almost killed me <\/p>\n

Edwards has graced the Massey Hall stage previously, notably so in tributes to Joni Mitchell (performing You Turn Me On, I\u2019m A Radio in 2013), Gordon Lightfoot (Carefree Highway, 2024) and Neil Young (Comes a Time, 2025).<\/p>\n

The seven-time Juno nominee arrived to her headlining engagement at the historic venue as her career swings upwardly, particularly in the United States. Last week she performed at the Americana Honors & Awards gala at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium. Billionaire, co-produced by alt-country superstar Jason Isbell, was nominated for top album but lost out to Tyler Childers\u2019s Snipe Hunter.<\/p>\n

South of the border, the Florida-based Edwards receives airplay on adult album alternative radio and on public radio. Canadian radio host Raina Douris has featured Edwards more than once on NPR\u2019s syndicated music program World Cafe. <\/p>\n

On the live side, she\u2019s on the client roster of High Road Touring, founded by high-powered American booking agent Frank Riley. In July, Edwards made her Newport Folk Festival debut one day and opened for Patty Griffin at the famed 92nd Street Y the next. On Oct. 8, she\u2019s one of the artists paying tribute to Prine at the Chicago Theater.<\/p>\n

At Massey, the encore set consisted of Goodnight, California \u2212 \u201cI could go all night, but they\u2019re turning up the lights\u201d \u2013 and a cover of Neil Young\u2019s Powderfinger. Edwards, who has more than one hockey song in her catalogue, was presented with a mock Stanley Cup by her bandmates. The drummer is a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who haven\u2019t won the real trophy since 1967. Edwards knows something about long waits. <\/p>\n

Ken Yates opened the night with a short set of thoughtful soft-rock balladry. The Creemore, Ont.-based singer-songwriter said he was pulled over on the way to the concert for driving 30 kilometres over the speed limit. He explained to the policeman that he was on his way to perform at Massey Hall and was let off with a warning. <\/p>\n

The thing is, Yates is only 37 years old. What was the rush? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Kathleen Edwards performs onstage during the 25th Annual Americana Honors & Awards at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":904097,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[49,48,361,75,2922,208],"class_list":["post-904096","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-noastack","tag-review"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=904096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/904096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/904097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=904096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=904096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=904096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}