I Just Read About That…

[ATTENDED: July 16, 2026] Kathleen Edwards

When I saw Kathleen Edwards in 2021, I traveled to NYC to see her because I thought that this was a one and done kind of thing.  That she had basically retired from music but was going to do this show and I’d finally get to see her.

Who would have guessed that five years later I would have seen her seven times.

I didn’t necessarily need to go to this show, but I knew that a Kathleen Edwards set would be enjoyable and Musikfest Cafe is a delightful place to see a show.   I was also vaguely curious about Patty Griffin.  I have two of her albums from the 1990s but otherwise know little else about her.

We arrived way too early because the last time, parking was a struggle.  There was something going on downstairs–I wonder if it was supposed to be outside.  Because of the fires in Ottawa the air quality was terrible today.

When I bought tickets I had purposefully bought ones where no one was around us and it paid off, we had a nice buffer around us.  So we relaxed and waited for Kathleen,

I had no idea how this show would work.  It seemed like a double headline bill.  But, in fact, Kathleen was the opener.  For this set it was only her and Matt Sucich.  I think I’ve seen this combo before, but I always marvel at how every one of her shows has been different in some way.  Kathleen played acoustic guitar and Matt played various guitars adding solos and riffs and of course backing vocals.

I had asked on two social media channels if she would play “I Make the Dough You Get the Glory,” my favorite song by her, which I have never seen her play.  But she obviously didn’t get the memo.  But this turned out to be a kind of greatest hits set and it was fantastic.  Interestingly, my wife also had a “wanna see” song (Hard to Everyone) and she didn’t play that either.

With it just being the two of them, Kathleen was looser and the songs sounded different (not better or worse, just different).

She opened with Asking for Flowers (a song I’ve seen her play six times).  Then she moved on to her latest album and played two songs from it.  I’ve seen her play these at the last three shows and I enjoyed how these sounded a little different.

She introduced the next song by saying she hadn’t played it much recently (I go my hopes up) but it was the song about her dog dying, Who Rescued Who.  This song made me look up what a catalpa tree was.  During this song we noticed in front of us a woman bent over an her husband (I assume) rubbing her back very very vigorously.  Too hard for back scratching.  She looked like she was crying or sick, but either way his ministrations were way too intense.  She soon sat up and that was that.  It was pretty odd.

She introduced In State to a smattering of applause.  Musikfest Cafe is a strange venue.  It feels very quiet and I think most people are very respectful of the audience.  But hearing only a smattering of applause for a song made her laugh and she said two people were exited for it, which of course made the rest of the audience applaud.

Then she told us about how she had played a Neil Young cover (he’s everyone’s father if you play guitar in Canada).  This got my wife pretty excited as we didn’t know which song it would be.  Kathleen grabbed her violin and they played Comes a Time–absolutely gorgeous. Matt sang the first verse and then Kathleen took over the rest.

Kathleen made a joke about when she wore a Mets cap in Philly (we were at that show at Xponential Fest) and said that she would soon be playing Massey Hall (wow) and couldn’t wait to sing The Leafs still suck at playoff time there.  Sheintroduced Six O’Clock News by saying that Waxahatchee had just covered it.  I had literally just discovered it two days earlier.  I guess it’s for a show. Kathleen was delighted that a younger generation of women are discovering her songs.

She ended with Glenfern, another great song and one that I’ve seen her play every time!

I was sad that her set was only 50 minutes, but it was a really fantastic set.  And it also meant that she could meet people during intermission.  We went out to the foyer and she came downstairs.  My wife had deliberately worn her Kathleen Edwards’ Quitters shirt and Kathleen was delighted to see it.  We had nothing to sign, but we chatted for a minute and she was super nice (and surprisingly short).

I didn’t really need to go to this show, but I’m so glad we did.  It was cool finding out that Kitty the Fool is so nice.  Now if only I can find out how to request a song from her.

$ = Billionaire (2025)
© = Covers EP (2025)
¥ = Total Freedom (2020)
√ = Voyageur (2012)
∇ = Asking for Flowers (2008)
⇐ = Back to Me (2005)
⊕= Failer (2002)