Late last week, I chatted briefly with Kathleen Edwards, the Canadian pop singer-songwriter whose new album is the critically well-received Asking For Flowers. She's currently on a national tour, promoting the CD, her first release since 2005's Back to Me. Edwards play Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis Friday night.

My first question was a pretty obvious one: Why the long wait between albums?

"It's kinda hard to record an album I didn't have any songs for," Edwards said, calling from the road en route to Toronto. "I couldn't write songs about my life if I didn't have one. Being at home helped, like cooking, spending afternoons with friends, finding this sense of normalcy."

Being domesticated for a while informed the smart, relaxed songs on Asking For Flowers. The music is still steeped in the pop-glossed roots-rock of its predecessor. The title track is a standout.

"It's a song about a really close friend of mine," Edwards says. "You can't never ask someone to buy you flowers. They have to want to give them to you. I love that idea. It's trying to explain the need of wanting to be treated with kindness and respect."

Edwards says she excited about the way the songs are taking shape on stage. She's actually looking forward to the Annapolis gig.

"What's good about the Annapolis date is that we're not going to be road-weary," the artist says. "The songs aren't carved in stone. So you don't know what's going to happen."

For more information about the show, go here.

(Photo of Kathleen Edwards by Victor Tavares)