Kathleen Edwards defies category -- country, alt country, folk, rock, indie rock - all apply, but none adequately describe what she can do with a song. As a singer/songwriter she can show poignant delicacy one moment and diamond hard resolve the next -- sometimes in the same song. Her third CD, "Asking For Flowers" arrives on March 4th, and you won't find a smarter, catchier, more vital collection of new songs anywhere.

"Asking For Flowers" continues the growth curve from her debut "Failer" back in 2003. Edwards has dialed back the rock a little bit, but not the power of her song/stories. "Flowers" has the intimate portraits she's known for, but now a political edge is starting to come through. Oil Man's War is about a lot more than a young couple breaking out on their own. Same for Oh Canada which addresses issues of class and color in her native country. Edwards is the daughter of diplomats and it's her eyes wide open approach to contemporary life that puts her music in the genre-busting category.

Edwards has a great sense of humor too. The Cheapest Key is a snappy barroom rocker. The lyrics play off the different music keys: E is the exit sign backstage at shows/F is my favorite letter, as you know. The girl does love to drop the occasional F-bomb. And who else would title a tender, acoustic love song Sure As Sh**. And then there's I Make The Dough, You Get The Glory -- if you don't care about hockey or cars this one might leave you a little lost, but if you do it's a total hoot. Marty McSorely your legacy is now complete!

The true heart of the CD is the back to back tracks Asking For Flowers and Alicia Ross. You have to put "Flowers" at the top of any list of Edwards' best songs. It's a woman done wrong song of heartbreaking truth and humility. A dying relationship is described in the chorus as:
Asking for flowers/Is like asking you to be nice/Don't tell me you're too tired/10 years I've been working nights.

It's a big leap from the guy on the edge in Six O'Clock News from "Failer" or the creep from the title track of "In State." Alicia Ross I can only describe as Canadian Gothic. Beautiful, powerful and haunting.

Producer Jim Scott, who helmed Whiskeytown's alt country classic "Strangers Almanac" back in the 90's has surrounded Edwards with a brilliant group of players for "Asking For Flowers." Keyboardist Benmont Tench from The Heartbreakers, drummer Don Heffington from The Wallflowers, pedal steel wiz Greg Leisz, and guitarist Colin Cripps (Edwards' husband). They all blend beautifully and the recording is rootsy and tight. The addition of a string quartet on several tracks adds a lush level, but it's not overproduced. That said, I think a lot of these songs are going to rock a lot harder in concert.

Happily, Boston doesn't have to wait too long until Edwards hits the stage in our parts. She plays the Paradise on March 28, the next night she's at Pearl Street in Northampton. Get your tickets now.

Will "Asking For Flowers" be the breakthrough CD Edwards richly deserves? Hard to know. I can say with certainty, however, anyone with an appreciation for lovingly crafted songs will find everything they're looking for.

http://www.kathleenedwards.com/

One of the things I like best about entertainment blogging is going to bat for an artist that deserves a big chunk of spotlight, but sometimes has to settle for a sliver. One of my favorite singer/songwriters, Kathleen Edwards, will release a new CD at the beginning of March and play a show at The Paradise a few weeks later. She is so worth your time, money and support. Since the recording and radio industry can't seem to do anything right these days, it's up to us -- the true music lovers to get the word out. Mission accepted.

I've been on board the Edwards bus since her debut album, "Failer" back in 2003. It contains some of the sharpest, truthful, and delightfully self-effacing roots rock songs you'll ever hear. The sadder but wiser quality of the lyrics are surprising coming from a younger performer, but they ring absolutely true. Kathleen is Canadian, and like many artists who hail from the North she seems blessed with the gift of perspective. Unlike many emerging artists in the U.S. and U.K. she doesn't sport a giant entitlement sticker on her guitar case. The music is front and center not the act.

So, let me throw out a few tracks from "Failer" and the follow up "Back To Me" to consider. Download 'em, let them swim around in your head for awhile -- I'm betting you'll go back for more.

From "Failer": "One More Song The Radio Won't Like" -- "Hockey Skates" -- "12 Bellevue" -- "National Steel" (Actually the version of "National Steel" that I like best is on a Live EP called "Live From The Bowery Ballroom").

From "Back To Me": "In State" -- "Somewhere Else" -- "Copied Keys" -- "Away"

All these songs are wonderful, heartbreaking, and singular in their own way. I mean "Somewhere Else" is built around a simple C, F, D-minor chord progression yet it manages to capture a moment of world-weariness that is deep and universal. "Away" contains the haunting lyric, "Memory's a terrible thing/When you use it right." It's all great stuff that deserves to be heard by a much wider audience.

I'll have more on the new CD, "Asking For Flowers" in the weeks ahead. You can give some of the new tunes a listen on Kathleen's website -- here's the link. http://www.kathleenedwards.com/

Let me know what you think.

Classic can be a conundrum, especially in musical theater. Stay too close to the original and you've got yourself a fossil. Stray too far and you've got nothing put a pale imitation. The new production of "My Fair Lady" now playing at Boston's Opera House does neither -- it is a wonderfully appealing revival of Lerner and Loewe's masterpiece that sparkles with its own wit, wisdom and sense of fun.

Yes, I said fun. The sumptuous music and lavish costumes can sometimes hide the humor and biting social commentary that lies just beneath the glossy surface of "My Fair Lady." That's George Bernard Shaw coming through. His play "Pygmalion" -- on which "My Fair Lady" is based -- put these issues front and center. This production, a direct import from the National Theatre of Great Britain, isn't afraid to poke around with the class-based prejudices that Shaw loved to poke a stick in -- and then of course deliver a fabulous musical number!

"My Fair Lady" sinks and swims with it's two main characters, Henry Higgins and Eliza Doolittle and you couldn't ask for a more charming odd couple than Christopher Cazenove and Lisa O'Hare. Cazenove brings us a softer more playful Higgins than the Rex Harrison template. Irascible as ever, but charming as well. It makes the May-December attraction between Higgins and Eliza more believable in the end. Cazenove is no singer, but the talk-sing approach works just fine for him, especially in the yearning closer "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face."

Lisa O'Hare is every bit a singer. She's got the power for the show stopping "I Could Have Danced All Night" -- sort of the "Defying Gravity" of its day -- and the more subtle ones, "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" and "The Rain In Spain." She's almost too cute for Eliza -- there's no real grit in her flower girl persona, but she totally wins you over with her spunk and fire. O'Hare's Eliza is a whirlwind of ambition and insecurity. You really pull for her.

The cast is uniformly strong, and why wouldn't they be -- handpicked by legendary producer Cameron Mackintosh and directed by Trevor Nunn. The role of Alfred P. Doolittle, Eliza's father, has long been considered one of the plums of the musical theater canon. It's so well written, and blessed with two killer songs -- "With A Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me to the Church on Time" -- that the best approach is sometimes to back off a bit. That's not what Tim Jerome does with old Alfie. He's a scenery chewer from the git go -- a five star ham. Jerome is still plenty fun to watch, but more in the old school vaudeville way.

Walter Charles as Higgins' grammarian pal Colonel Hugh Pickering is prissy, but pleasing in the sidekick role. Justin Bohon plays Eliza's dimwitted upper-crust suitor Freddy Eynsford-Hill strictly for laughs. It works pretty well and he has an interesting approach to the ballad "On The Street Where You Live." Barbara Marineau is a delight as Mrs. Pearce, the grounded guardian of the Higgins estate, and Marni Nixon is luminous -- yet dry as English gin -- as Mrs. Higgins. This is a much deserved "guest" role for Nixon who was the singing voice of Audrey Hepburn in the movie "My Fair Lady" (and for Natalie Wood in "West Side Story"). It's nice to see her front and center and in the spotlight.

A few quibbles. The "Ascot Gavotte" scene is done after a newspaper barker announces the death of the King. That puts all the women in black for what usually is a very colorful number. Different, but not better. Eliza's hat is a hoot though -- it looks like the planet Saturn orbiting her head. Also, Eliza's dress for the ball is too much of an homage to Audrey Hepburn's in the movie. I wanted O'Hare to have the chance to put her own stamp on that moment.

This is, however, on every important count a triumphant revival. It truly is like going to see a first rate production in the West End. The beauty of the Opera House only adds to the experience. If you've never seen "My Fair Lady" or even if you've seen it a hundred times you don't want to miss this show. You only have until February 17 to catch the Boston run, see for yourself how this classic beautifully stands up to the test of time.

I've been tilting at windmills lately -- or for those who know me -- more than usual. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the debut of the new ABC series "Eli Stone" so much last week (we get episode 2 tonight at 10:00 pm). I'm also a sucker for a series that makes music part of its core experience. I'm not the biggest George Michael fan in the world, but the use of his song "Faith" -- and the fact that he's right there in the middle of the show performing it -- is terrific.

A great song can do so much to elevate a dramatic moment. "Faith" immediately keys you into the life changing direction that hot shot lawyer Eli Stone is about to take. In a weird way it's a lot like the failed series "Journeyman." That show tried to use time travel as a way of fixing the wrongs of the past. "Eli Stone" gives its protagonist an inoperable brain aneurysm, changing him from a heartless corporate tool -- into a defender of the underdog, a problem fixer, and possibly a prophet. Jonny Lee Miller has just the right mix of bravdo and hubris to pull it all off as Eli.

Sure it's pure fantasy -- another classic case of Hollywood's do as we say not as we do ethos -- but popular culture needs a healthy dose of positive energy. Eli can't change the whole world, but he's doing his bit. Not a bad message in these less than sunny times.

I know this is a tough day for Patriots fans, and I'm as disappointed as anyone, but I'm not depressed. I've alway felt that the quest for perfection is much more important that actually attaining it. We live in an imperfect world, and we all have our flaws.

Sure it would have been great to see the Pat's go 19-0 -- but then what? Would they become a group of bitter old crones like the 1972 Dolphins? You know "spygate" would be thrown in their faces every time the perfect season was mentioned. What's the motivation for next season? To be more perfect? I'm not sure that's possible -- flawless is flawless, right?

If the Patriots won the Super Bowl last night they would have been undefeated -- not perfect. Tom Brady and his supermodel girlfriend would have had another reason to preen in front of a mirror. Bill Belichick would have remained the paranoid guru of the modern day NFL, with no other coach fit to carry his grey hoodie. Owner Bob Kraft would have had another banner to hang at the "Big Razor", and another reason to hike prices on anything and everything Patriots.

I've been a Patriots fans all my life, and you know what my favorite Patriots item is? My hat with the old school "Pat" Patriot logo on it. It's my way of showing my team pride without promoting the corporate soulessness of the "Flying Elvis." The pre-Kraft family Patriots were an unholy mess -- far from perfect, but I still loved 'em. Successful seasons back then were cause for celebration because they were so unexpected. In a weird way, I think I like this year's team better because they fell short.

Welcome back to the real world guys. Nice to see you again.