An interview by Neil Gladstone that appeared in the June 1997 issue of Earshot, a publication of the Philadelphia City Paper.

Zoom: Edith Frost

If singer-songwriter Edith Frost sounds like a sweetheart of the rodeo on her new album, Calling Over Time (Drag City), it’s not because she’s ever tamed a buckin’ bronco.  Simply put, the 32-year-old balladeer is just a fanatic about cowgirls. She was surrounded by rodeos and ranch hands growing up in Texas, but it wasn’t until after moving to Brooklyn in 1990 that she connected with the cowgal culture.

"My mother likes to shop at flea markets and she wanted to know what she could get me," explains Frost on the phone from her current digs in Chicago.  "I told her to get me cowgirl stuff because I figured she wouldn’t buy me anything too icky with that in mind."

Seven years later, Frost has a collection of cowgirl paraphernalia that includes hundreds of figurines, beer signs, dolls, posters, calendars and a Western Beauty potato sack.  Every month, her mother sends her another trinket.

Some of Frost’s pre-war cowgirl figurines are worth well over $100, however, her favorite piece of memorabilia is a signed photo of the music act Maddox Brothers and Rose.

"I’m not sure how much it’s worth, but to me it’s priceless," she says.

Frost doesn’t love cowgirls just for their kitsch value.  Even though she admits it’s hard to say exactly what fascinates her about them, it’s easy to hear an appreciation for range life in the lyrics to "Pony Song," a serenade directed at a cowgirl’s best friend.

"I don’t wanna give you no reins," woos Frost.  "I’ll look out over the fences when I see you running/ Oh, can I call you over?"  Her campfire vocal and sparse strumming amble along, soothing like a warm breeze rolling over the plains.

As for horses, Frost’s affection for them started early.  She was riding horseback by the time she was 5.  When her family lived in Mexico for a brief spell during her childhood she had a horse at her disposal.

"That horse was a jerk," recalls the singer with a laugh.  "He threw me one time and I got afraid and never rode him again."

But Frost’s appreciation for cowboy culture actually comes from reading up on her heroes and researching them on the World Wide Web.  She’s even chatted online with relatives of Dale Evans, Roy Rogers and Patsy Montana.  A Web programmer by trade, Frost set up a "Cowgals Home on the Web" home page a few years ago.  Even though that site is now defunct, you can still find plenty of cowgirl info and links on the Edith Frost Web page (http://edithfrost.com/).  You can also find out odd facts about her: she has extremely large feet for a girl, is a big Hello Kitty fan and can juggle flaming torches.

There’s also a page or two about Frost’s musical history.  When she picked up guitar in high school, she had blue hair and was into punk rock.  When college rolled around, she became a fine arts major at the University of Texas, but flunked everything except for music classes.  Though she never graduated, she took several classes in theory and voice.

"At first I was worried that I’d turned into an opera singer," recalls Frost, "but of course I didn’t.  Any kind of training you can get is a help."

After moving to New York, she tinkered around in rockabilly and hillbilly bands, eventually settling on a country-folk sound.  The demos she sent out to various record companies resulted in two offers: one from the rootsy, Texas-based Dejadisc and the other from Chicago’s Drag City, home to low-key indie rockers like Palace and Smog.  A big fan of Palace, she opted to go with Drag City on a gut instinct.

Frost fell in love with the Windy City while recording her album there last year.  When her marriage broke up she decided to relocate to get away from her ex.  Quite a bit of her romantic turmoil is documented in the lyrics to songs like "Too Happy": "I don’t want to be bitter anymore/ Wanna let the sunshine at my door/ I don’t want to be too happy/ just enough to keep me goin’."

For the meantime, she’s content living in Chicago, but figures the cowgirl in her will bring her back to the Lone Star State in the future.

"I’m more proud to be from Texas than I ever was when I lived there," says Frost.  "It’s taken me years to appreciate what’s great about that life."