Whose House? JD’s House

Mike Sudoma

1) Piano (Mike Sudoma)

2) Joan Baez/Grateful Dead show poster (Mike Sudoma)

3) Nursery (Mike Sudoma)

4) Office artwork (Mike Sudoma)

5) Kitchen (Mike Sudoma)

6) Basement/”Man cave” (Mike Sudoma)

JD Edwards is a name that is familiar to many Winnipeg music fans. The Oshawa-born musician has lived in this coldest of cities for the past decade and the JD Edwards Band has been a local music staple for nearly as long. 

The singer-songwriter has been backed by many musicians over the years (the group’s current line-up is a six piece, complete with a Hammond organist), but his folk-tinged alt-country sound has remained consistent throughout. 

Edwards, his wife Jenna and 15-month-old son Charlie make their home in the Riverview neighborhood. Their house is of particular importance to the family. 

“Jenna and I have owned the house for four or five years,” Edwards says. “But this is an old family house. It’s my wife’s grandparents’ house. They lived here for many years. Just after we got married, her grandfather died. He willed the house to her aunt and we bought it. It’s kind of neat. Jenna grew up visiting here.” 

While Edwards does much of his writing in the house, he says it’s not the best place for band practice. 

“The band has come here a couple times,” he says. “But it’s not the best jam house. We have a lot of old neighbours.” 

 

1) Piano 

“This little piano has been around Winnipeg for a long time. I got this off Jaxon Haldane from The D. Rangers, and he got it off (fiddler) Don Zueff. The triangle actually belongs to Alexa Dirks from Chic Gamine. 

 

2) Joan Baez/Grateful Dead show poster 

“That’s a print of an original poster. I just got it this summer in BC from a guy who was selling all kinds of prints of old posters. I thought it was neat. It’s got a funny little saying at the bottom. And, of course, Winnie the Pooh.” 

 

3) Nursery 

“It’s a pretty sweet nursery. We’ve got some cool art in here. Some old posters from a festival I did in Australia.” 

 

4) Office artwork 

“When I went to school in Kingston I had a big 10-piece rock band. One of the guys was an art student and he made that. All the faces on there are the band. I’m in the top right corner, second from the left. It was his final thesis and he made a didgeridoo as a correspondence piece. I had it rolled up in a tube for so long, but I thought, it’s such a neat memory.” 

 

5) Kitchen 

“Our kitchen is pretty simple and kind of old-school. But I got this (colander) from the old Times Change(d).” 

 

6) Basement/”Man cave” 

“There’s a lot of super old stuff down here. The furniture’s been around forever. We have a fridge that’s been down here since the house got built.”

Published in Volume 70, Number 4 of The Uniter (October 1, 2015)

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