Singer-songwriter Kathleen Edwards is hitting the pause button on her music career to open up a new coffee shop in Ottawa.
"I decided to take a pretty indefinite break from music," Edwards told the Ottawa Sun over the weekend where she performed at Jazzfest on Sunday. "I got a lot of offers to play shows this year, and I turned them all down -- with the exception of this one, partly because I get to sleep in my bed after I play."
Edwards, who released "Voyageur" in 2012, says the coffee shop will be called Quitters and will be located on Stittsville Main Street. She said the last few years supporting the record were difficult personally following her divorce from Colin Cripps. "Voyageur came on the tail in a big personal change in my life, and that felt really highlighted in the media," she said. "So if felt like my life was a little bit too -- not on trial, but it definitely didn't feel right to be constantly talking about that stuff, even though it was my own creation, really. Because a lot of the songs came out of that time."
The singer -- who came to prominence with her stellar debut "Failer" -- said what "really beat me down" was the last round of touring. "You put yourself out there, and it just leaves you feeling extremely vulnerable. I went through a really bad depression -- from exhaustion and going through a really turbulent period in my life -- and I felt like I did it all on stage, and that's what was really horrible. I tried to fight through it and put a smile on my face, but there were times I'd want to burst into tears, and that's a really sh--ty way to feel when you're on stage every night."
Earlier this year Edwards hinted she might be at a crossroads. A Feb. 11 Facebook post stated she was "saying no to gigs and feel like I need some kind of change." The post closed with Edwards musing over four possibilities other than music, one being a "coffee trailer owner?" and the other a "Stittsville eating spot?"
However early as last September Edwards tweeted about the coffee shop possibility:
Edwards also tweeted in reply to actor Ellen Barkin while mentioning the new venture:
There's no word as to when Quitters will officially open or if the coffee shop or if it will play host to any small concerts. And Edwards said there's no timetable as to when or if she'll get back to writing lyrics.
"I'm just not ready to get back on the horse with songwriting, because I'm still coming through a difficult time, and I don't want to write music about it," she said. "I don't want to live in the past and reminisce about all this painful shit and then go and put it all on stage again."
