WALDOBORO — The Waldo Theatre hosts two talented female singer-songwriters on the stage in June. Kathleen Edwards will be performing her only Maine appearance on Sunday, June 23 while Alisa Amador takes to the stage on Saturday, June 29. Both shows are at 7:30 p.m.

“With both having similar stories about almost giving up on the music business and then coming back stronger than ever, these promise to be two nights of unforgettable music in the Midcoast,” said The Waldo, in a news release.

For decades, Kathleen Edwards has been a cornerstone of North American roots music, according to the Waldo. Since making her debut with 2002's Failer, she's spent the 21st century occupying the gray area between genres, swirling together her own mix of alt-country, folk, and heartland rock & roll. It's a sound that has earned its creator more than a half-dozen Juno nominations, as well as Top 40 success on both sides of the Canadian/American border.

After a public divorce and a short-lived relationship with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon, performing and writing new music had started to feel emotionally harmful.

“None of it felt right,” Edwards says. “It was all stuff I just wanted to heal and recover from, not sit with every day.”

After a six-year hiatus from the music industry (and opening a coffee shop called, ironically enough “Quitters”), a phone call arrived from Maren Morris, who was looking for songwriting partners for a new project. Edwards jumped at the chance to collaborate. The two musicians co-wrote "Good Woman," which appeared on Morris' Grammy-nominated album Girl in 2019.

Back home in Canada, Edwards continued to write new material, eventually partnering with producer Ian Fitchuk for the album Total Freedom. Released in 2020, the album reached the Top 30 on the Triple A chart in America. Total Freedom didn't just mark her return to the music industry. It was a rebirth, too.

Alisa Amador says the day she decided to walk away from her career in music was, ironically enough, the day her career truly began.

"I was burned out and dealing with all this personal grief and trauma, and I finally just came to the conclusion that I couldn't go on the way I was anymore," she said. "And then as I was walking through the logistics of how I would break the news to everyone in my life, I got a phone call telling me that I'd won the NPR Tiny Desk Contest."

When she got word from NPR that she'd taken top prize in the prestigious Tiny Desk Contest, Amador decided that the only way she could accept the honor and carry on professionally was with a complete and total reset.

Now, two years later, Amador is an artist reborn, both spiritually and sonically, with a stunning full-length debut to show for it. Recorded with co-producers Tyler Chester and Daniel Radin, Multitudes finds the bilingual singer/songwriter formally introducing herself with a bold, captivating self-portrait, one that serves not only as a testament to how far she's come, but also as a celebration of where she comes from.

To purchase tickets to these shows and for more information about The Waldo, parking and other upcoming events, please visit: thewaldotheatre.org.

This vibrant, beautifully restored 1936 theatre serves as a local cultural hub offering theater, music, film, and a wide array of performing arts to our Midcoast community. Through programs like youth arts education, after-school activities, master classes, workshops, and other events, The Waldo seeks to expand arts participation for residents of all ages and enhance the quality of life for all.