Vinyl Anachronist: Let me just start off by saying thanks to Colleen, who saw me bitching on Facebook about the loss of my Edith Frost Telescopic CD and then jumped onto Amazon.com and bought me a new copy.
New Edith Frost Telescopic CD: Yes...you don't deserve her.
VA: I know, I know.
EF: Shame on you anyway for losing your original Edith Frost Telescopic CD. Haven't you learned anything about lending CDs to friends? Have you ever gotten a CD back from a friend? There was the girl back at Frank's Nursery & Crafts who borrowed your Alanis Morrisette Jagged Little Pill CD back in the early '90s, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
VA:Yeah, I just liked the one song.
EF: Then you lent your ex-father-in-law your Bill Hicks CDs and suddenly he decided they were his. That was fun.
VA: I still have trouble watching old clips of Bill--I always think of my CDs and how I'll never laugh again.
EF: So, once again, what do you say when someone wants to borrow a CD?
VA: "Support the artist! Buy your own copy!"
EF: Exactly. So now that you're lucky enough to own me once again, what questions do you have?
VA: Well, I suppose the first is obvious. What happened to Edith? Why didn't she become a huge star, or at least develop a nice cult following?
EF: I suppose that had something to do with you losing your CD those many years ago, so you haven't been playing it for random people at trade shows and having them say, "Wow! Who's that? Where can I get a copy?" But Edith's still around, making music. She's likes to hang out on YouTube and make videos of herself composing songs and trying them out for her fans. It's pretty darned cute.
VA: I bet. Did she come out with any other albums than Telescopic?
EF: Four albums, three EPs and a compilation disc. But if you're going to discover the greatness of Edith Frost, Telescopic is the best place to start. You remember the first time you heard that CD back in 1998?
VA: Of course! I subscribed to CMJ back then and one of the songs from the album--"Are You Sure?"--was on the CD sampler and I went bonkers for that. Back then my allergic reaction to hearing country-and-western music was intense; I was still a few months away from hearing Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road for the first time. Telescopic was such an easy entry point for me, super-psychedelic and trippy but the songs followed a basic country formula that was true and honest and sincere. When I embraced that album, I felt like a whole world of music had opened up for me.
EF: You should see her live. She played in Longmont, Colorado earlier this year. On her website she said, "I'm practicing like crazy. Haven't played live in about 25 years, but the pipes and the hands still seem to be working." She has a website, you know. You should probably follow it.
VA: I will.
EF: By the way, I noticed you've played me twice in a row. Maybe you should just stick the CD in the player in the car and listen to it for a year-and-a-half, like you did with Janelle Monae and the Black Keys.
VA: Well, I missed you!
EF: I missed you, too. Just don't lend me out again. Make everyone buy their own copy, okay?
VA: Okay.
EF: Any other questions?
VA: Uh...can I get you on LP?
EF: Shut up.
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