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No one can quibble with Candy Kane when she calls herself “the toughest girl alive.” Wife, mother, adult film star, religious convert, cancer survivor and blues diva, she’s seen it all. An unapologetic example of the power of the positive, Kane hopes that her never-say-die courage and ability to endure the bumpy and not-so-glamorous path she took to her crowning career goal of a singer will touch others. “I try to inspire people to pursue their dreams, at least a little bit,” she declares. “That’s something that is real important to me.”
Born November 13, 1961 in a rough Los Angeles neighbourhood, Kane is the product of a dysfunctional family that she describes as “a foundation to fail.” A single mother living on welfare, at the age of seventeen she turned to the sex trade to support herself and to finance her musical aspirations. Kane’s first attempts with the country-punk band the Swingin’ Armadillos fell through. But, setback became inspiration when she unearthed the blues of early kindred spirits Memphis Minnie, Bessie Smith and others in her future husband’s record collection. “Here’s a bunch of women who aren’t pressured to deny that they’re large-sized or that they’re sexual beings,” she says of her epiphany. “It was OK to dance and sing and make a joyful noise.” Realizing that the blues was about honesty and emotion rather than race, she took the genre to heart.
Now based out of San Diego, California, Kane has released ten CDs since her 1994 debut each a landmark in her ever evolving stature as a legitimate artist, gifted vocalist and a song writer of significance. Recorded in 2009, just one year after eleven-hours of abdominal surgery for pancreatic cancer, Superhero is Kane’s musical summit. “You don’t have to be a superhero to transcend your challenges,” she says commenting on the album’s title. “You just have to think like one!” The CD also reflects a more serious facet of Kane’s persona and a conscious effort to “separate the frivolous, humorous part of my act from the part of me that is more thinking, more healing and more intellectual.”
Nominated in 2010 for three major Blues Music Awards, Entertainer of the Year, Best Contemporary Album and Best Contemporary Female Artist, the press is aglow with insightful commentary like this gem from Illinoisblues.com hailing Kane as “A natural born, supremely gifted vocalist who can sing her humanity while touching ours.”
A paragon of compassion, in 2006, Kane co-founded United By Music, a charitable organization that employs music as therapy to help special needs children cope with their disabilities.
As real as real gets, Kane is at her unabashed best on stage where she growls, croons and shouts her way through ribald balladry, gospel meeting ecstasy, glitzy vaudeville and hot-blooded roots rock. An outspoken activist for the marginalized, fans of all religious, sexual and political persuasions stand side by side, to hear her unassailable message of love and fighting optimism. For, as Kane attests, “In the end, all you have is your own dignity and your own truth.” www.candyekane.com
Ken Wright
