Anthology

An Interview with Candye Kane

by: Casey Pukl

There are few women in this world as open, honest, raw, and inspiring as our local blues love, Candye Kane. The “L.A. gang member, unwed teen mom, plus-sized, ex-pornstar, bi-sexual, multi-award winning blues phenomenon,” has truly done it all, and even added “cancer survivor” to her list. I was fortunate enough to score a phone interview with her this morning, and I can’t even begin to express my deep respect and appreciation for not only what she has survived, but also what she continues to achieve.

CP: We are so excited to have you come to Anthology tomorrow night! I know it’s your only show in San Diego for 2011. Tell me about this show and what we can expect to see?

CK: We’re coming to Anthology with the show we’ve been touring all over the world this year promoting the two most recent releases. My eleventh record, Sister Vagabond, that was co-produced by Laura Chavez is the first, and then we’re also playing from my record with Sue Palmer called One Night in Belgium. Sue and I are going to open up the show playing songs from that record, and then we’ll bring up the band and rock out. Laura has been called the reincarnation of Stevie Ray Vaughn, and she’s unreal, so it’s a really guitar focused show. It’s just really fun to have two crazy girls on stage, and especially in blues where it just isn’t done that often.

CP: Earlier this year you went to New York City to perform your biographical stage show, “Toughest Girl Alive.” Are you bringing it back to San Diego again soon?

CK: We’re bringing the stage play back to San Diego January 8-16. We actually performed the play at the Moxie Theater here in San Diego and sold out every night. It was really well received. When we took it to New York and it did really well there also, so I’m excited to bring it back here again.

CP: At the time, your introduction to the music business was pretty unique and controversial, yet you always seemed to stay true to yourself.  Tell me a little about getting into this.

CK: My background is colorful. My childhood was rough, I mean, my mom taught me how to shoplift, but then also put me in charm school. There was a lot going on. Then I was a teen mom. My son was actually my drummer for 8 years. When you have a kid at 17, you both grow up together. When he was young, I worked as a stripper and wrote an advice column in an adult magazine. Everyone kept saying that I couldn’t have a career in music with that background. So that was when I wanted to show them I could. I recorded a cassette tape at the Belly Up called Burlesque Swing, and I toured all the Dick’s Last Resorts in the US. I put out a press release that said, “Candye Kane Tours Dicks of the US,” to show everyone it could be done. I put condoms in all the press packets.

When I first started doing this, there were two things that were really important to me. Number one was to have a sense of humor. Number two was to be open and honest. I wanted to be the one to address the pink elephant in the room. It was a really big deal back then that I had done adult entertainment, but I used sex to further my music and financially emancipate myself. I wanted to show them that it wasn’t a big deal. It wasn’t like I was a porn star who suddenly decided to sing, I had always written music and sang and wrote songs of affirmation to make myself feel better.

CP: I know that you’ve said before that your battle with pancreatic cancer has changed you, and you now feel more comfortable being a bit more serious in your music. Tell me about how this has been reflected on your latest record.

CK: Absolutely. It’s not like that was the first bad thing to happen in my life, but it did change me. When I was younger, I felt that I needed to address sexuality more and have a sense of humor. You know, I wrote songs like,  “Masturbation Blues,” and, “All You Can Eat (And You Can Eat It All Night Long)” because they made me feel better, and let me address sexuality like I felt I needed to. I love to write songs that celebrate masturbation, size, bikers, queers, rockabilly kids, all of that. But now I have a need to write some darker stuff. And not only that, but songs I wrote before this have taken on a whole new meaning. “Toughest Girl Alive” was written about my divorce, but now when I sing it, it takes on a whole new meaning. You know, some of the songs on Sister Vagabond like “Walkin’, Talkin’ Haunted Horse,” and, “You Can’t Take It Back From Here,” might not have been born without the cancer and Laura Chavez. Laura is really incredible. She’s young, but she’s so serious. She’s always wearing black and stuff, and I’m goofy, but our paradoxical relationship just works. She’s given me permission to be darker. She’s given me permission to be serious and explore a new place.

Be sure to come out and see San Diego’s favorite, “Toughest Girl Alive,” here at Anthology tomorrow night. You can also check out our Spotify playlists of our favorite Candye Kane tunes below!

Candye Kane Spotify Playlist

WHAT: Candye Kane
WHEN: Friday, October 28th, 2011, 9:30pm
TICKETS: $10-$28 Buy Tickets
MORE INFO: Artist Profile