Kathleen Edwards recently performed at the Green River Festival in Greenfield, Massachusetts. Listen to what people are saying about her latest album "Asking For Flowers" and take a listen for yourself.

"It's hard not to get swept up in the bursting emotion of Kathleen Edwards's third album, so why bother resisting? She is a Canadian folk-rocker who lures you in with melodic song-stories about hard-bitten lives, then holds you there with her gorgeously bittersweet voice.

This album sounds a lot like the addictive "Back to Me" from 2005, unfolding as a series of haunting, hook-filled portraits punctuated by the good-humored joshing that defines her new single, "The Cheapest Key."But "Asking for Flowers" shows Edwards maturing as a songwriter and a singer, too. Her ordinary characters - the guy dodging the draft in the poignant "Oil Man's War," the woman done wrong in the title cut - are subtly placed in a socio-political context so that the album has a broader scope. And her voice is slightly less rough this time out and a little prettier, but still far from the constraints of perfection. She locks in on the song, not the singing.

There's something deeply satisfying about hearing an artist at her peak, carefully produced (by Jim Scott) with rolling piano and rich harmonies and yet never buried in production. Edwards brings on none of the filler that watered down her earlier albums as she moves steadily from scathing to soothing, from rocking country to Gothic sketches, from strength to strength."

Matthe
w Gilbert
boston.com

"America outsources everything else — why not country music? Like Neil Young, Robbie Robertson and Shania Twain, Kathleen Edwards is a Canadian who crafts music that's often more "American"-tasting than domestic brands. But she's not fronting. On her strongest album yet, she sets a poignant road tale between New York and Ontario ("Buffalo") and pens a fierce, Crazy Horse-ish squall about crack, murder and racism in her own back yard ("O Canada"). The hottest border-crossing tune, though, is "Oil Man's War," a cascading-piano story-song about two kids, Bobby and Annabel, that conflates Vietnam-era draft-dodging with modern geopolitics. Obviously, it isn't likely to woo Nashville radio. Neither is "The Cheapest Key," a harmonica-charged heartland rocker whose alphabetized first verse declares, "B is for bullshit." Too bad for Edwards, who surely knows that the image of Annabel's hand on Bobby's thigh while they break north deserves to outlive all the pap on the current country countdown."

Will Hermes
rollingstone.com

Here's one of Kathleen Edward's, latest videos, "You Make the Dough", from her album "Asking For Flowers". Not being a huge hockey fan, I was totally lost trying to figure out who "The Great One" and Marty McSorley were... what was the CBC... and who the heck is Janet May...I thought the lyrics were "you make me look legitimate" not "You make me look like Janet May"? I still don't hear this. When in doubt, Google! So here's some trivia for you non-hockey fans like me! Wayne Gretzky is "The Great One". He is considered by many to be the best hockey player in NHL history. In this video, Wayne Gretzky is symbolized by Blue Rodeo front man, Jim Cuddy. Turns out Jim Cuddy, like Kathleen Edwards, is a big hockey fanatic. In fact, Jim Cuddy is team captain of Canada's Juno Cup. Juno Cup sets musicians against NHL greats to raise money for Musicounts and other music programs throughout Canada. Well known musicians like Sarah MacLachlan and Tyler Stewart from the Barenaked Ladies have participated in the event. Marty McSorley also stars in Kathleen's video. He is another well known Canadian hockey player who's had some ups and downs in his career and long track record with the Los Angeles Kings. He was also a former coach of the Springfield Falcons here in New England. The CBC stands for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and provides full sports coverage throughout Canada. As for Janet May...I have no idea who she is...If you know, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .