Music

Kathleen Edwards pens open letter to guitar thieves

by Jesse Locke

Kathleen Edwards is well known as a multi-instrumentalist with guitar, violin, and bass in her regular arsenal. That makes the sting clear in her recent Facebook post pleading for a return of her 1957 Les Paul Junior, which was nabbed without a case from her home in the Ottawa suburb of Stittsville.

Edwards made headlines earlier this year when she publicly retired from music and launched the aptly titled cafe, Quitters Coffee. (Slogan: “Yes, we have wifi! No, we’re not having an open mic.”) She’s still upset about the loss of her prized guitar, yet is willing to accept its return with “a foolish drunken teenage lapse of judgement, a momentary hiccup in your moral being.”

Read Edwards’ full post below:

This one hurts. Bad.

My 1957 Les Paul junior was stolen from my home in Stittsville, Ontario. I can only guess that someone came in through the back door when it was unlocked, picked it up, without a case, and walked out.

I am hoping that this post will circulate in the Ottawa area and come across the person responsible, or someone who has noticed a friend or relative with a new instrument kicking around:

Be very VERY sure, a 1957 les Paul doesn’t just get resold online, in a pawn shop, at a guitar store without gaining attention. You won’t be able to play it in front of people. It will draw attention, someone will notice. People who buy and sell valuable instruments know exactly what they are, and when they are stolen.

You will be caught if you try and sell it. I have tons of images of it, and documented serial number. So you have no chance to sell it and make money. And worse, you will be charged for a significant theft, and linked to a break and enter.

If the guitar is returned, I can accept a “no questions asked” agreement. Whether that means the guitar is returned to my business, Quitters coffee, to my home, or through a mutual acquaintance. I can accept a foolish drunken teenage lapse of judgement, a momentary hiccup in your moral being.

I can promise you that the instrument will not make you money, it will not go unnoticed and you will at some point be caught.
Do the right thing.

And thanks for keeping your ear to the ground.