Before She Was Famous- Kathleen Edwards

I just got back from dropping Jesse off at the airport for his 7am flight to Ottawa. He and the team (Kelvin High School) he co-coaches are competing this week for the Canadian Improv games. This competition gathers together all the top teams from across Canada to Ottawa to vie for the coveted crown of national high school improv champs. If you're not familiar with improv as a sport or want more info check improv.ca. As a tribute, I thought I would post something from Ottawa native Kathleen Edwards, who I'm sure you know is a favourite here at TDIT. For my 5:30am drive to the airport I played Kathleen's, Failer CD which upon further reflection might not have been the best choice for luck's sake considering he was going to a competition. (As a related note, I think Six O'clock News and 12 Bellevue are two of her best songs!) Back before Failer, which was released in 2003, Edwards recorded a six song EP entitled, Building 55 and pressed 500 copies. I had not heard of this disc until I was reading her Wikipedia page and I quickly sought out this previously unheard piece of music. This very limited disc must be a collectors item and I would like to own a physical copy, but a little searching on music blogs with the help of search engine, Captain Crawl (which as of a couple of days is not running), I was able to find Building 55. Not a bad first effort, her voice is more raw and gruff, but the sound quality and playing is passionate and inspiring. Most of the songs are exclusive to this release, except for track 7, which was re-recorded and re-titled Westby when it appeared on Failer 4 years later. I like the EP, it's not glossed over and slickly produced and this is a good introduction to her music. It's really more of interest for established fans that want to hear how she hasn't veered too far from her original vision or taken on any other identities or personas. Newbies should really start at Failer, Back to Me and Asking For Flowers, all outstanding albums. KATHLEEN EDWARDS Building 55 (1999)

1. Injustica
2. Nagasaki
3. 5 Years
4. Big Star
5. Wordgamething
6. Violin for Mom
7. Titled Untitled

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