CANDYE KANE "SUPERHERO" Source: Boulder Outlook Hotel & Suites Blues Letter Date: 06/2009 Writer: Chick Cavallero & Honey Sepeda

Candye, Kids, and the Dallas Blues

The wordsmith in me has found two new favorite words:  "Candye" and "Kane."  When put side-by-side, Candye Kane evokes smiles, grins, blushing, chills, wonder, awe, and a sense that anything is possible.  God knows she's proven it.  The show was one night of magic not to be forgotten by any of us, ever.  I'm going to let Chick relay his views on the night, but I assure you, he's no less inspired than I.  Here's Chick:

I have to admit that I was pretty clueless to Candye Kane before last New Years Eve. I hadn’t heard much about her, but we were bored and looking for a fun New Years Eve, and the Candye Kane show in Cheyenne sounded like a great deal, so we decided to check her out. Well, her show and band were so much fun that night I couldn’t wait to see her again.

She is as entertaining performer as I have seen. She has a big and brassy blues voice, writes great tunes (with hilarious and sometimes bawdy lyrics), is a great storyteller, and has a solid band behind her led by a killer young guitarist named Laura Chavez who belongs in that group of fast rising young Blues stars. Candye’s show is non-stop entertainment. It might not always be ‘pure’ but it sure is all about the Blues from start to finish. Candye mentioned that Roger Nabor of Blues Cruise fame thought her act was too ‘country’ for the Blues Cruise. Some of you local Blues Cruisers need to straighten Roger out on that. Confusing Candye with Country & Western is like confusing Roger Nabor with Jim Nabors (he of Gomer Pyle fame).

The Blues Foundation must have disagreed as well since they nominated her in 2008 for best Blues Contemporary Female, and you can’t get a much higher endorsement than that. Before that New Years Eve show, all I knew about Candye was hearing Jason Ricci talk about her fighting pancreatic cancer last year and needing all the help she could get. I’m married to a nurse and I know not many beat that disease. Well Candye is one helluva fighter because she didn’t just beat it, she pulverized it and stomped on it and shoved her foot on it’s throat.  In December she was still a little weak and did part of her show sitting down, but this time she was up the entire show, sassy and tough throughout, a real “Superhero” ready to take on anything and anyone. Blind Blues Daddy Bryan Lee calls his music his six-string therapy, Candye’s should be called “Blues belting” therapy. She might have been to hell and back, but I bet she made it a better place while she was there. This lady goes beyond Blues Diva, she is a Blues Goddess and tough as nails.

Candye gave us a generous dose of her new CD “Superhero” and it kicks ass. All of her material was bluesy and gritty, about life,about humanity, and despite all she has been through, all of it contains a lot of fun. The joys of life as well as the sorrows, but Candye doesn’t let you dwell long on the downside of life; she is all full-speed ahead.  Her style has a lot of swing and fun to it, like Mae West belting the Blues. Her son, Evan Caleb, on drums and Paul Loranger on bass, with LC on guitar round out the band.  LC is Laura “Devil Baby” Chavez, and one slick guitarist. She has these intense facial expressions that project a lot of ‘attitude’ while she is playing, and she is so good she is allowed all the ‘attitude’ she wants. But it’s a stage attitude, because off the stage she is a sweetheart, and even when she is rattling off her killer licks and the audience is screaming louder, her face almost takes on a ’aw shucks’  expression like she didn’t believe she did anything that special. Except that her playing IS plenty special.  Trust me on this prediction: you will be hearing more and more of that name in the future.  LC is as smooth and talented as they come.

We even got a special bonus last Wednesday. Candye’s Delta Groove label-mates, The Insomniacs, were in the house, first to watch, then to play. Vyasa Dodson (guitar) and Dean Mueller (bass) joined Candye and the band for a couple songs, a real sweet bonus. Then LC jammed with Vyasa, Dean, and drummer Dave Melyan and that was something special, with Laura and Vyasa trading nasty riffs back and forth. Ahhhhhhhhhh, that is the beauty of live music; you never know what you are going to see or hear next. (note to Honey: get The Insomniacs into the Outlook). [NOTE TO CHICK:  GOT 'EM, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18].

What a night. Y’know, I bought tix for my in-laws to see the show but they were too beat to stay up and missed it. Still it didn’t matter to me, the show was worth double the price.  No, triple. Heck, I had my money’s worth in the first 15 minutes. I cant wait to catch Candye (and Laura) the next time they come back through.  It’s always a killer show.