CANDYE KANE "SISTER VAGABOND" Source: Standard Examiner Date: 08/2011 Writer: Linda East Brady

Candye Kane Shows Her Spirit on "Sister Vagabond"

Candye Kane has been many things in her life — mother and scholar, actress (of both blue movies and the legitimate stage) and songsmith, pinup girl and punk rocker.

But what Kane has always done best is belt out jump blues and its musical kin. She has an expressive set of pipes that she uses to best effect yet on her 10th release, "Sister Vagabond."

The album was produced by Laura Chavez, one of the best young blues rock guitarists working today. Chavez also works as a co-songwriter with Kane on many of the tunes, and provides the crunchy and stylish lead playing that sings throughout the record. The twosome also worked on Kane's last album, "Superhero."

The material on "Sister Vagabond" ranges wide. Acoustic jazz spice is offered up on "Down With the Blues," written by the late Steve White, who passed away during the making of the CD. Chavez's honed and gritty licks act as a second vocal on the spooky and lush "Walkin', Talkin' Haunted House."

"Side Dish," about a gal who won't settle for being anything other than the main course in her lover's life, shows off both Kane's ample vocal chops and sense of humor. And Kane's delivery, with Chavez striking a dripping Delta electricity in her lead work on the old Brenda Lee gem "Sweet Nothin's," makes that song new again.

Kane demonstrates her songwriting abilities on the song "You Can't Take it Back From Here." According to her liner notes, the song was originally inspired by her resentment toward her missing biological father, but was rewritten to benefit the Blues for the Gulf Project, raising funds for those affected by the BP oil rig explosion and resulting spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Sample lyric: "The moon cried on all the damage that's been done, Louis Armstrong's rollin' in his grave/ You can knock three times on Cemetery Number One, Storyville will never be the same/ Do unto others is a simple golden rule, greedy men in suits don't give a damn/ They'll line their pockets with the suffering of the poor, while dolphins wash up dead upon the shore."

The term "survivor" is perhaps overused in the music business, but it is apt in Kane's case. She hasn't let the hard knocks hold her down, even in the past several years as she has valiantly battled pancreatic cancer. And she surely shows her fighting spirit on every aspect of this record. If you love a blues groove on the guitar and a big and beautiful voice, "Sister Vagabond" will knock your socks off.