Thu, 03/28/2024 - 10:44 am

Keri Lupien

Kathleen Edwards will play The Waldo June 23 - get your tickets now. Mike Dunn photo

The Waldo is excited to have Kathleen Edwards on stage for her only Maine appearance on Sunday, June 23 at 7:30 p.m.

For decades, Kathleen Edwards has been a cornerstone of North American roots music. Since making her debut with 2002's Failer, she's spent the 21st century occupying the gray area between genres, swirling together her own mix of alt-country, folk, and heartland rock & roll. It's a sound that has earned its creator more than a half-dozen Juno nominations, as well as Top 40 success on both sides of the Canadian/American border.

A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Edwards was still in her early 20s when she released the critically-acclaimed “Failer.” The album's warm, woozy sound — crystallized on radio hits like "Six O'Clock News" — quickly turned her into one of the era's alt-country heroes. "No one knew what to call my type of music back then," she says of those early years. "The Americana genre didn't exist yet, so they couldn't categorize me. I just made the kind of music I wanted to make."

Edwards continued blazing her own trail with follow-up albums like “Back to Me.” “Asking for Flowers” and “Voyageur.” After touring in support of “Voyageur's” release, Edwards left the music business altogether and moved to suburban Ontario, where she opened a coffee shop called — defiantly — Quitters.

When a phone call arrived from Maren Morris, who was looking for songwriting partners for a new project, Edwards jumped at the chance to collaborate. The two musicians co-wrote "Good Woman," which appeared on Morris' Grammy-nominated album “Girl” in 2019. Back home in Canada, Edwards continued to write new material, eventually partnering with producer Ian Fitchuk for the album “Total Freedom.” Released in 2020, the album reached the Top 30 on the Triple A chart in America. “Total Freedom” didn't just mark her return to the music industry. It was a rebirth, too.

General admission tickets are available for $35 in advance and $40 the day of the event. If this show has not sold out, a limited number of tickets may be available at the box office starting at 6:30 p.m. when the doors open. Concessions will be available for purchase. All tickets are final sale and non-refundable. To purchase tickets and for more information about The Waldo, parking, and other upcoming events, please visit: thewaldotheatre.org.