Reviews and Info

Candye Kane's Newest CD, "Superhero", is probably the best and most appropriate name for an Album I have come across in a long time. 

Over coming being raised in a dysfunctional family, dealing with teenage pregnancy, and laying a smack-down on pancreatic cancer, Candye has more than deserved the right to call here album "Superhero" and perhaps feel like one to.

"Superhero" is my first introduction to this amazingly powerful belter of the Blues, in fact with a set of vocals chords like hers, it can be safely argued that she could quite easily hold her own against any female blues singer, past or present.

Mainly consistent with Jump Blues, "Superhero" starts off strong and continues on an even keel throughout, as Candye delivers us gem after gem, in her own Soulful Blues Drenched Style, making it totally believable, that she has been through the Blues and that she knows what she is singing about. 

After listening to "Superhero", it is abundantly clear that her fans will be excited with what she has created and also that many more listeners to her music, such as myself, will become a fan.

Candye Kane's "Superhero", is perhaps her best Album, thus far, and it sure to continue receiving the accolades, it certainly deserves.

John Vermilyea (Blues Underground Network)

Candye Kane Superhero is the name of the original song and the title of her recently released CD for Delta Groove records. 

Superhero is Candye’s tenth CD and most significant to date. After fighting off deadly pancreatic cancer over the last year, it is an understatement to say that this recording is a miracle. The title of the CD applies literally and the blues never sounded more relevant for Candye and her fans.

With a career spanning two decades Ms. Kane has earned her keep in life and as a standout blues vocalist, earning the most esteemed acknowledgement from her peers by being nominated for a 2008 National Blues Foundation Award for Best Blues Contemporary Female. Awards and accolades pale in comparison after surviving cancer and then to turn around and record another album is a tribute to the resiliency of Kane and her ever growing legacy.

Superhero hit the streets on June 17th and the feedback has been positive. Amazon.com said “With renewed energy and a new lease on life Candye now makes her triumphant return with Superhero, her most personal and rewarding effort to date. 

Superhero was produced by Kane and 26 year old guitar virtuoso Laura Chavez who also plays in her live band. The CD features guest performances by Kid Ramos, Dave Gonzales and Mitch Kashmar along with Kane's' rhythm section featuring eldest son, Evan Caleb on drums and bass veteran, Paul Loranger. 

Candye is a warrior of life and the music industry and Superhero is the culmination of those experiences. The blues cooks along and so does Candye, sounding as emotive and passionate as ever.  Posted by: Chip Schutzman

With renewed energy and a new lease on life Candye now makes her triumphant return with Superhero, her most personal and rewarding effort to date. Featuring special guests Kid Ramos, Dave Gonzales and Mitch Kashmar.  Amazon.com

What a CD! What a performer! And now she is a producer! Not even the big C could keep her down! Candye shines again on another CD that will not only please her passionate fans, but will win over new people who have yet to be captivated by her voice. Buy it, you wont be disappointed. By musiclover

Anyone would feel like a superhero after going through the year Candye Kane did and come out alive. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well check Candye's website blogs to hear about the odyssey she underwent. However, the big personally and even bigger vocals are back and on her best album to date. This is by far the best I've heard Candye sound, ever. The album is a superb display of her vocal talents, coquettish personality, and her unique vaudevillian style blend of West Coast Blues.

First off, before I even go into the highlights of the disc let me also heap praise on Kane's guitarist, the incomparable Laura Chavez. She wowed me on last year's live recording on the Blues Caravan but this album is purely devastating. Chavez can bust heads with any of the boys out on the Left Coast. I'd put her in stock with Frank Goldwasser, Kid Ramos, the Insomniacs, or any of the Delta Groove stable of West Coast Blues guitarists. She's got some nasty chops in full, tasty gears here. Chavez is also an accomplished songwriter to boot, helping Kane write 6 of the 15 tracks here.

There are several songs here that are going to be instant Candye Kane songbook essentials. "I Put A Hex On You," "I'm A Bad, Bad Girl," "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?," and the autobiographical "Till You Go Too Far" are all signature tunes. Sung with true zest for sex appeal and almost-blunt flirtation; Kane delivers a powerhouse vocal performance that is in full display. See her pack the punch in Willie Dixon's "You Need Love" or as some of you know it by Led Zeppelin's title "Whole Lotta Love." The jumper "Hey! Toughen Up!" puts Chavez and Kane's rhythm section (Evan Caleb on drums, Paul Loranger on bass) on display for the stop-time swinger. The aforementioned Ramos and label mate Mitch Kashmar join Candye on two of the tightest numbers on the disc ? the duet "I Like 'Em Stacked Like That" and the aforementioned "Till You Go Too Far." The album is capped with an intimate solo vocal by Candye giving us all blessed assurance she'll be around for awhile on "I'll Be Just Fine."

This album is well deserving of accolades and Kane is long overdue. This album, much like Guitar'd and Feathered shows that Kane is worthy of being heralded with some of the top women of contemporary blues. Much like blues women of the past she isn't afraid of her biography or her sexuality or her politics ? she is who she is in a great big way. This album is a summation of those fine principles and blues fans and music fans alike should give a nod to such bravery and honesty whether you agree with what she has to say or not. That, in and of itself, is super heroic. Juke  By Ben the Harpman, Joint Soul http://jukejointsoul.blogspot.com/

Track Listing

1. Superhero
2. Hey! Toughen Up! 
3. I Put A Hex On You 
4. I'm A Bad, Bad Girl 
5. Ik Hou Van Je (I Love You)
6. Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?
7. Don't Cry For Me New Jersey
8. You Need Love
9. I Like 'Em Stacked Like That
10. Till You Go Too Far
11. Picture of You 
12. You Can't Stop Me From Loving You 
13. I Didn't Listen To My Heart 
14. Throw It In The Trash Can Love9 
15. I'm Gonna Be Just Fine

Listen To Samples Here http://www.amazon.com/Superhero-Candye-Kane/dp/B0025KN442

About Candye Kane

Candye Kane Superhero is the name of Candye's' original song and the title of her soon to be released cd for Delta Groove records. It is also an apt description of the jump blues singer and songwriter from East Los Angeles who has earned this moniker the hard way. Nominated for a 2008 National Blues Foundation Award for Best Blues Contemporary Female (the highest honor for blues artists) and beating down pancreatic cancer the same year, Kane is one tough cookie. She has performed worldwide for presidents and movie stars, but her path to success was not always glamorous or easy. 

Raised in a dysfunctional, blue-collar family, Candye became a teenage mother, a pin up cover girl and a punk rock, hillbilly and blues-belting anarchist by the time she was just 21 years old. Nine cds, six record labels, millions of international road miles and countless awards later, Miss Kane has proven to be a true survivor as she scrambled her way to the top of the roots music heap, creating a world renowned reputation that has spanned two decades. 

A colorful mixture of the traditional and the eclectic, Kane cut her musical teeth in the early 80's onstage with Hollywood musicians and friends, Social Distortion, Dwight Yoakum, Dave Alvin, The Blasters, X, Fear and Los Lobos, to name just a few. While raising two sons, this role model for the disenfranchised, championed large sized women, fought for the equal rights of sex workers and the GLBT community and inspired music lovers everywhere. Her fans are a mixture of true outsiders: bikers, blues fans, punk rockers, drag queens, fat girls, queers, burlesque dancers, porn fans, sex workers, rockabilly and swing dancers, grey haired hippies, sex positive feminists and everyday folk of all ages, flock to see Candye and hear her musical messages of love, hope and empowerment. 

Kane's' live shows are the stuff of legend. She honors the bold blues women of the past with both feet firmly planted in the present. She belts - growls - shouts - croons and moans from a lifetime of suffering and overcoming obstacles. She uses music as therapy and often writes and chooses material with positive affirmations that leave the audience feeling healed and exhilarated. A show that is part humor, revival meeting and sexuality celebration, she'll deliver a barrelhouse-tongue-in-cheek blues tune or a gospel ballad like Jesus and Mohammed, encouraging audiences to leave behind religious intolerance. She'll slay the crowd with her balls out rendition of Whole Lotta Love or glorify the virtues of zaftig women with 200 pounds of fun. She often says she is a "fat black drag queen trapped in a white woman's body" and she dresses the part. Bedecked in bright colored feathers, sequins and rhinestones, Kane's performance is Mississippi by way of Las Vegas with a quick stopover in San Francisco. 

Kane's tenth CD release, Superhero will hit the streets June 17th on the premiere West Coast blues label, Delta Groove. The cd was produced by Kane and 26 year old guitar virtuoso Laura Chavez who also plays in her live band. It features guest performances by Kid Ramos, Dave Gonzales and Mitch Kashmar along with Kane's' rhythm section featuring eldest son, Evan Caleb on drums and bass veteran, Paul Loranger. This newest effort is chock full of the songs of triumph and empowerment that have made Kane a favorite with enlightened congregations everywhere. 

Candye has been included in countless Blues and Jazz Anthologies including the Rolling Stone and Music hounds Guide to Jazz and Blues and Dan Akroyd's' 30 Essential Women of the Blues and Elwood's Blues. In addition to her music successes, she is an activist and philanthropist. In August 2008, she appeared in Cape Town, South Africa for the World Congress for people with disabilities with her United by Music show for special needs kids (www.unitedbymusic.eu ). This project provides performance opportunities, blues history lessons and songwriting instruction to young people with disabilities, encouraging them to write their own blues songs to help them overcome their daily challenges. 

Candye is a fighter par excellence and her authenticity, determination and optimism are what keep her shows passionate, honest and irresistible. One evening with Candye will keep the crowds happy, hopeful and coming back for more!

People are talking about Candye!

An Older and Wiser blues diva
-All Music guide

A Blues Diva of the 20th century who can liven up any party without shedding a stitch
- People Magazine

A serious and seriously powerful singer who lays it all on the line
- The Philadelphia Inquirer

Candye Kane has that big, brassy voice that has authority and sass; the kind of thing men like because its seductive and women like because its powerful
- BB King to the San Diego Reader

A voice that is a natural wonder - like the Grand Canyon.
- The Washington Post

This tough cookie wails with a rousing confidence and affirmation of identity and the courage of her convictions
- Downbeat Magazine

Candye Kane may identify as a white trash girl but her music is most certainly high class
- Jazz and Blues report

A smart sassy blues diva mama with a powerhouse voice and a generous frame
- Style Weekly

Bawdy, brassy and gloriously omnisexual, the plus sized singer belts out the blues like nobody's business
- Dallas Voice

Kane's sassy singing is a joy to behold
- Montreal Gazette

The Most powerful and entertaining female blues singer of her generation
- Bluesbytes.com

A natural born, supremely gifted vocalist who can sing her humanity while touching ours
- Illinois Blues.com

Candye Kane feat. Laura Chavez Metro Fountain Blues Festival - Bad Girl

Recorded May 9th, 2009 in San Jose CA at 29th annual Metro Fountain Blues Festival, not the best quality video because it was taken on a small digital camera directly up in front of the stage with bass woofers pounding, which felt good, but distorted the audio quality, however it was AWESOME live. This is a cool song, cant wait for the new album "Super Hero" to release. Courtesy Of freykr

http://www.candyekane.com/

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