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Jonathan Edwards will long be remembered for the big splash he made on the charts with his debut solo album in 1971.

He scored two mega-hits off the self-titled debut: the harmonica-happy "Shanty" ("We're gonna lay around the shanty, mama, and put a good buzz on") and the irresistible "Sunshine (Go Away Today)" with its singalong chorus ("How much does it cost? I'll buy it!").

He was in his mid-20s with a gold record, and it was the culmination of years of hard work that included busking in college dorms and performing six 40-minute sets a night with his band. Suddenly he was riding around in limousines and opening for the Allman Brothers, B.B. King and Rod Stewart.

But two years later, the rat race drove him to Nova Scotia. He said he was "flirting with the idea of retiring," becoming a "self-sustaining farm guy" and basically getting "off the power grid."

That lasted less than a year - when Emmylou Harris insisted he join her in Los Angeles and sing backup on her 1975 release, "Elite Hotel."

But over the years, he said, he has consciously worked to not plug back in completely. And to stay true to the troubadour he started out as.

"I have a self-imposed ideology on myself to not change," he said in a phone interview. "I loved my life and I loved my friends, and I didn't want it to change."

Edwards is still a singer and guitarist for hire. He still shuns long, linear tours in favor of picking and choosing his gigs here and there.

He makes a long-awaited return to New Mexico with a show on June 14 at the Albuquerque Biopark, a night jaunt on June 15 to Los Alamos and a headlining gig June 16 at the Albuquerque Folk Festival at Expo New Mexico.

And he said he will be happy to play his two most popular songs, which never get old for him.

"Those songs were so meaningful to so many people, and thus are meaningful to me," said Edwards, 60. "I enjoy the crowd reaction when I play those hits. And it's fun to put myself back in that head."

But his catalog, of course, goes far beyond those two catchy tunes.

His latest CD, the collection "Live in Massachusetts," exhibits his range, whether heartbreaking ("One Day Closer" and a somber rendition of the Beatles' "She Loves You") or freewheeling ("Sunshine" and "Shanty") or downright silly ("Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" and "Is It Peace or Is It Prozac"). The disc highlights his storytelling and banter between songs.

Edwards said the variety is key for him as a live act.

"I've been accused of doing a lot of poignant, thoughtful, slow - let's face it, sad - ballads about loving and leaving," he said. "But I don't like to dwell. I like to have fun. And people who come up to me afterward say they have fun at my shows."

Edwards lives outside Austin but still has a strong connection to New England. And he's branching out onto the big screen.

Daniel Adams, an old friend from Martha's Vineyard, asked Edwards to provide the music for "Chatham," a period romantic comedy starring big-name veteran actors and due out in 2008. (Edwards had provided the music for Adams' 1996 film, "The Mouse.")

Besides writing the score, Edwards landed a small part as a preacher.

"I was talking to the director and said, `I sure see myself as that preacher,' and he said, `Done,' " Edwards recalled.

The film, about three retired sea captains who lure a woman into marriage to take care of them in their dotage, stars Rip Torn, Bruce Dern, Charles Durning, John Savage, Keith Carradine and Julie Harris. Edwards said it was fascinating to watch the acting elite practice its craft at such a high level.

"I was warming up my lines in the trailer, and the director came to me and said: `Sit down. Do you understand where you're at and the level of talent you'll be working with?' "

His only experience close to acting was touring for eight months in the musical revue "Pump Boys and Dinettes" in the late 1980s. The avid boater also has served at host of the PBS show "Cruising America's Waterways," a travelogue of arteries east of the Mississippi.

But his calling card is as a singer-songwriter, standing onstage playing his music.

"It's been an awesome thing to be able to get to do what you like to do and occasionally get paid for it," Edwards said, "and to make people happy playing your songs."