Eleven years ago, Kathleen Edwards was a rising indie star. Her debut album, Failer, garnered national attention. David Letterman invited her to perform on Late Night. Rolling Stone named Edwards one of their Top 10 Young Artists To Watch.
But this year, after a divorce and ensuing album that Edwards made "in a haze," she quit the music game.
Her official notice came in the form of a Facebook post.
I'm really sorry but I'm pretty sure I don't want to make music anymore. And I feel like I'll be disappointing people, but I just can't seem to get back in the saddle. I'm saying no to gigs and feel like I need some kind of change. Maybe this feeling will pass, and maybe it won't, but I hope you'll understand it isn't for lack of love and support i've had from you all...
Landscaper? Coffee Trailer owner? Farmer? Stittsville eating spot?
hmm.....
Edwards recently opened up to the Toronto Star about the downward spiral that took her out of music after her 2013 album, Voyageur.
"The questions would go like this," Edwards said. "'So, you're divorced now and you just made a record with your new boyfriend about your ex-husband?' I'd just sit there thinking, 'How the f--k did I do this to myself? I'm such an a--hole.' I just felt vulnerable all the time."
She decided to move back home to Ottawa and start up a coffee shop called Quitters.
"I was comfortable right away," she said. "All the thousands of places I've been, I always felt right here.
"I'm a single woman in her late 30s. I thought by now I'd be in a settled relationship, with babies, living in Wisconsin. And that didn't happen."
Edwards said she cried through many interviews after releasing Voyageur, and has found something much more fulfilling outside of music.
"I'm an excellent barista," she said. "I had to realize: Fame is not acceptance, it doesn't validate you as a person. It means nothing. You know what means something? Having people from the neighbourhood come in, getting to know them, seeing their families, and hearing them say 'thank you for giving us a place to go.' That's . . . awesome."
Here's a throwback to her early days:
