As an Americana fan, it can be a pretty rare occurrence to get to see an artist you love on your non-internet-connected television set, so I was pretty excited back in 2008 to be able to catch Kathleen Edwards on Late Night with David Letterman. Now it should be mentioned, actually getting to see it was something of a challenge at that stage as this was at a time when Letterman was only being shown at ridiculous o’clock on ITV3, but still, waiting up was totally worth it.
‘The Cheapest Key’ is a sharp shock amongst the generally more mellow songs on Edwards’ third album, ‘Asking for Flowers’, and it makes for an energetic live performance that even features a harmonic solo from Edwards herself. So while I’m grateful to have seen it the first time around, I’m even more grateful that YouTube is now far more comprehensive than it was then so I can not only watch old clips back, but also discover new performers and see old favourites without the hassle of having to stay up late, cutting straight to the good stuff – irrelevant chatter from irrelevant guests be damned.
