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Candye Kane sings the Blues:    WILD BUFFALO, 208 W. Holly Bellingham, 360-752-0848    Saturday, Jan. 28, 2006    UPSTAGE, 923 Washington, Port Townsend, 360-385-2216    Wednesday, February 1st, 2006

Candye Kane, Blues Hip or Blues Hype?

When you see the ads declaring Candye Kane as our "National Blues Queen", it's easy to dismiss her as the latest product of the blues hype machine, packaged to sell but lacking substance. If there were such a thing as a national blues queen, wouldn't artists like Koko Taylor, Etta James and Bonnie Raitt  have more rights to the title? From the 'people believe ads' point of veiw, it is good marketing, but the slogan can also be a put off to her potential audience of actual blues fans.      But if you can get past that moniker, who do you have? A strong and savvy performer who understands that music is a business, just like many of the big stars of blues and other genres.Candye's colorful past posing for covers of magazines like Juggs and Hustler is not a secret or a disadvantage, in fact it's proven to be a great attention getter in promotion. In a sea of blues performers, her biography has got the shockers that make good copy...and good copy makes for good sales. Just ask Madonna if that works.      Going to her web site to find out more about Candye Kane gives you the opportunity to buy her Therapeutic Bra Pillow (each guaranteed to have been personally worn by Candye for a cool 300 bucks), read about her disfunctional upbringing, her size 44 GGG breasts, her porno career and how it gave her the money to publicize herself and record music to reach her "disenfranchised audience" of fat girls, bikers, queers, porn fans and feminists.  Okay, but still little idea about her blues music...      Perhaps you can see why it would be easy to dismiss Kane as blues hype and it may be difficult to change that opinion to blues hip. But with seven albums under her belt (including Home Cookin which features her Whole Lotta Love duet with Charlie Musselwhite on Germany's RUF label), an exhausting tour schedule and her message of love and empowerment gaining her fans, perhaps the trick is to ignore the media hype and simply focus on her music.      Candye Kanes seventh CD is titled White Trash Girl (with wonderful tongue in cheek cover art) and features tunes like Masturbation Blues, Estrogen Bomb and Queen of the Wrecking Ball.      Having a blues performance also be good theatre is a long tradition. Kane's costuming and personality provide that element of theatre and make for a memorable live show. Sexually explicit lyrics are also a longtime blues tradition, though the white bread family festival character of contemporary blues barely displays this aspect anymore. Critics of Kane's lyrics might do well to remember that colorful terms (needing definition today) in older classic blues were common slang of their time and fully understood by the genre's listeners.      One of the most appealing aspects of Candye Kane is her strength. Her longtime dream of being a musician is realized, despite incredible odds against her. If some people are having a laugh at her, Kane is joining in with them and enjoying the last laugh. The woman is doing it, making blues music that speaks to her past and future, making money and having a blast. No, she's not really the National Blues Queen, but she's definitely one of the "Ladies in Waiting" of the court.

CANDYE KANE

Critics of Kane's lyrics might do well to remember that colorful terms (needing definition today) in older classic blues were common slang of their time and fully understood by the genre's listeners.

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