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UPDATE: 11/27/06

Okay, I know its freezing for some of you and there may even be a little snow on the ground! But I am coming your way and we will melt that snow with a rocking blues-a-billy sex positive show to warm you up inside and out.

Our first show is at the Wet Spot in Seattle. I know some of you kinkier people are well acquainted with the Wet Spot and its reputation as a sex positive meeting place. BUT at this show, we will all keep our clothes on, (at least most of us will!) PLEASE come down and don't be put off by the Wet Spots racy reputation. This is a musical event and they are proving that they are not just sexually adventurous but have good taste in music too! 1602 - 15th Ave W. 98107/ 206) 270-9746 We play at 8 pm!

Next on our tour will be the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham. They have great food at this venue and it's a must that you be there! We had a super fun time with the lucky devil girlie show, but on this show, Baby Gramps will open the show fresh from his appearance on David Letterman! Please come down and brave the snow for your last taste of Candye in the year 2006.

We will cruise on up to beautiful Port Townsend for a wild night at the Upstage. We hung out with some darling big girls up there last time and can't wait to come back for some love harborside.

Then its on to Salem and Portland for some very special shows. Dec 2 at Leftys in Salem is always a great evening. And on Dec. 3 we play Starkys. It's a wonderfully friendly gay bar and we will play a special benefit for Esthers Pantry. Everyone is invited! Thanks to Joe and Rex for their help with this show.

During the day on the 3rd, we will be doing a rare instore appearance at the Music Millenium at 3 pm. A perfect chance for you to come down and bring the kids to see what all the fuss is about. On the 4th, we will be at Duffs Garage. I know its a Monday but get wild and come on down. We need you there!

Our next stop is Phillipsville in the redwoods; the Riverview Inn. Always cozy and fun at this old style roadhouse. And then, as if it couldnt get better, we will be at Biscuits and Blues in San Francisco! This is such a fun venue on the corner of Mason and Geary. We turn it into a beautiful love-in at the B&B when I am in town. Please come down and see us. Bill Stuve on bass, Evan Caleb on drums, Heine Andersen on guitar; loads of fun.

And finally on Dec. 10, I will appear solo with my sexy sistahs at the Minna Gallery in San Fran for a special Nude Aid fundraiser for the center for sex and culture. As you know, Carol Queen and Robert Lawrence have hosted me at the center several times and now they need some $$ to help with their recent move. Come on down and take photos or paint your favorite topless celebrity. Hostessed by the legendary Annie Sprinkle, this event features nude and semi nude models creating and modeling for art before your very eyes. The admission fee guarantees you an art piece. there will be items auctioned off and everyone will leave with a cherished memory and a lovely artistic keepsake. 111minna.org.

have a lovely and snuggly holiday season and come and celebrate with us!
xoxox
candye

UPDATE: 11/01/06

Hello from amsterdam!

We are having an amazing tour over here in the Netherlands and I really wish every one of you could be here with us, not only for the fun but because it is incredibly moving. I cant even begin to tell you how much joy I am getting from doing this. Last night, we were interviewed by a local TV station and the guy asked me several times why I was doing it. He kept thanking me, and so many people have thanked me. I have to thank them because I get so much out of being around these lovely people. Their beautiful spirits and energy just burst out of them and I cant help but smile and be happy around them. I am enjoying it so much; getting a chance to coach some of the singers who sing with us. Miss Moon, Lady Angel and Arthur De Kort; and then bringing up some of the kids onstage at the end who cannot sing, but who beam in pride from being part of the show and the excitement of a big band.

Of course I call them "kids" but these are people with disabilities of all ages. Some are obviously disabled and some are less obvious. Some are in wheelchairs or have what looks to me to be downs syndrome, and others seem pretty average but are challenged by an unseen emotional or mental disability. But every one of them, even the most challenged, responds to love and warmth and a kind touch or a big smile and the MUSIC and that is really amazing.

I was in a bad mood the other day and so I started thinking about this tiny woman in a polka dot dress who couldn't speak very well but got up onstage to join us in the finale. I put my arm around her and her whole face lit up. She came very close to my face and gently place her little finger on my nose and held it there. This sweet little gesture amidst all the wild histrionics of the band and the horn section playing in a frenzy, just made me all warm and fuzzy and left me smiling again. Then there was this darling brown skinned boy in a wheelchair. He has little control over his arms but they strap a drum on him and he gets to play in the Hoogvliet drum corps. I think Hoogvliet is the name of a town? He wanted to take a picture with me and so I bent down to kiss him and take a picture and he just screamed this amazing scream of sheer joy. It was just another amazing moment of so many I could tell you about.

I know there are many issues more pressing in the world; people caught in wars and horrific circumstances in Darfur, Rwanda and the Middle East. I think its difficult to make people have a sense of urgency about people born with disabilities because in most societies, there are already social services set up to help them. But this is not about helping them as much as it is about normalizing all of us through the great equalizer that is music.

When these people get on stage with us, or interact with the musicians who sometimes jump off the stage to play for them (like in sax player Johnny Ferreira and harmonicat Billy Watsons case); all of us are united in our excitement and common love of music.

Music really can heal. It heals these beautiful souls for a little while who are tormented by various disabilities but it also heals us musicians who are often self absorbed and selfish. We get so caught up in the record business and all of us fighting each other to get a bigger piece of the pie. It is extremely gratifying to see musicians (myself included) put away our big egos and give the same amazing performances we would give at the best blues festival in the world. Not just for the money or because we will get a recording contract or get on the cover of the blues magazine or win a Handy award or show up the guy in the next band; but just because there are adoring people there who need this music and are visibly and emotionally moved by it. I get all teary eyed and gushy when I talk about it but really, it is ME who should be thanking THEM.

I am so busy being healed and I hope, healing others, that I dont have a lot of time to even think about a single thing I am missing. Every thing I have is just perfect exactly the way it is and this experience is telling me that a million times as loudly as possible.

We do hope we can do this all over the world because I truly believe it is a transforming experience for anyone who witnesses it. Wish you were here!!

for daily photo updates : unitedbymusic.nl

to see us on dutch tv today: rijnmond.nl

UPDATE: 10/24/06

Seven Time San Diego Blues award winner, Candye Kane will embark on a three-week tour of the Netherlands from October 26 to November 12.

Kane has assembled a stellar band for this amazing and philanthropic tour, United by Music. The band features former Mighty Flyers Bassist Bill Stuve, Canadian saxophonist Johnny Ferreira, Harp player Billy Watson, Boogie woogie pianist Sue Palmer, trumpeter Robbie Smith, Guitarist Heine Andersen and Drummer Evan Caleb.

United By Music, in the planning stages for over a year, features native Dutch singers who have overcome various levels of disabilities, performing onstage. These young adults competed with other young hopefuls, for a chance to appear onstage with the Candye Kane band. All will perform songs in English. The repertoire includes blues standards, Candye Kane songs and some of the guest singer’s own original compositions. This inspirational program has been a transformative experience for both the singers and musicians involved, as they overcame obstacles and stereotypes and came together to share the healing powers of blues music.

While in Amsterdam, Kane will record a track with Ana Popovic. Kane's upcoming release will be produced by blues legend Bob Margolin and features guest guitar performances by Popa Chubby, Nick Curran, Junior Watson, Poison Ivy of The Cramps, Dave Alvin, Sue Foley, Kid Ramos and Bob Brozman. The bulk of the recordings will be done in early January 2007 in Hollywood's New King Sound studio.

December will find Candye back on the road in the states, visiting the Northwestern part of the USA, with dates in San Francisco, Seattle, Portland and beyond.

For photos of the United by Music tour: unitedbymusic.nl

UPDATE: 9/20/06

H y'alli;

I am happy to say that I won the award again last night at the san diego music award held at Viejas casino. I couldnt attend because I am in amsterdam (I know, life sucks) but my son and drummer evan attended and collected the award for me. I beat out many of my deserving friends, sue palmer, michelle lundeen, chet cannon, nathan james and ben hernandez, and len raney for the award. I feel honored to have won but I am just as honored to be nominated with all these great people who give so much of their lives to live music and the san diego blues community. Thanks so much to all who voted for me. It really feels good to be acknowledged for my music. I feel blessed to be singing and I hope I can continue to do so for many years to come. I asked evan to dedicate the award to legends clifford antone, floyd dixon, sam myers, billy preston, buddy blue and jessie mae hemphill whom we lost earlier this year.

I'll be home in san diego on sept 24, opening for the temptations at humphreys in a special acoustic show. I will be accompanied by heine andersen and nathan james on guitar as well as play a couple songs on my own guitar. It should be a lot of fun. I will end the month of september playing a special party for writer, publisher and healer louise hay. Louise has hired me for many of her parties through the years and its always a pleasure to play for her and share in her great energy and the warm vibes of her entire staff. hayhouse.com

October 1st finds us leaving for helsinki and starting the next month touring in europe; visiting stockholm, paris and many other points in between. Oct 26 starts the united by music tour www.unitedbymusic.nl. This is my tour of the netherlands featuring singers with disabilities and some of my wonderfully talented colleagues. Sue Palmer, Billy Watson, Robbie Smith and Johnny Ferreira will join me on this fabulous and rewarding musical journey. I cant wait to share the stage with them and with all the wonderful dutch singers who will belt out the blues and be healed in the process!

The year started out a little rough but seems to be closing on a happy note. I feel blessed and honored to continue playing music and sharing my life with people like YOU. Like many of my sister and brother Jews, I will celebrate Rosh Hashanah (The Jewish new year) this week. We dip apples into honey and wish for a sweet new year. I wish you all the sweetness life has to offer in the coming months. My you be happy, healthy and loved. Hope to see you at a blues show in the not so distant future.

Love and Juicy kisses;
candye

work what you got, if its a little or a lot!

UPDATE: 6/12/06

We’ve been having a great tour out here so far. Amazing attendance and wonderful CD buying people. Thank you ALL so much!

The tour started out great with our show in Des Moines at Blues on Grand . T Bone came down from Blues wax and we had a fun night with our buddy Jeff Wagner and his pickled body parts collection.

The next night was Lincoln Gay Pride. It was so much fun! I didn’t know it but the University of Nebraska at Lincoln was the first college to offer Gay and Lesbian studies as a major. Amazing that this happened in Lincoln, birthplace of Teena Brandon 1972-1993, the heroine of the movie Boys Don’t Cry, who was brutally murdered in nearby Falls City. All of my Lincoln friends were there, Jan, Rick, Gayle, Kara and Kelly, and I made a bunch of new friends and saw a fabulous singer songwriter, misty odell; www.mistysmusic.com It was a beautiful day in the sunshine with children, puppies and drag queens in full attendance. I hung out until the wee hours at the Panic Bar with my pals and met some really interesting people. Len, is a 70 year old farmer and peace activist who had to go home early to tend to his new baby calf and Marc Schroll is a sci fi writer. He writes books about alien life. I asked him if he had A) ever been abducted and B) ever had an anal probe. His answers were no and yes. Very interesting!

The next two nights were at the Zoo Bar, the famous blues club of Lincoln. I have been playing the Zoo since 1990 and its always a great time. Lady Bianca came down to see us,www.ladybianca.com She’s an awesome singer and pianist from Oakland, Ca who happened to be on tour at the same time. We had so much fun with our normal wild crowd down at the Zoo. Lincoln is still my favorite city in the Midwest.

After the show that night, I ate a gyro and ended up having a horrible gall bladder attack that landed me in the Emergency Room. I was surprised when the intake worker said “Hey, aren’t you Candye Kane? I have all your records! I’ m a big fan!” She came and asked for my autograph while I was laying on a gurney with an IV in my arm! She was funny but I can imagine how irritated “real ” stars must get if they get bothered by fans even when they are in severe pain like I was. Soon, they gave me the morphine and my pain was a distant memory but I still felt like crap two nights later in Springfield, Illinois where I played with Dwayne Burnside from Memphis. Dwayne is quite the ladies man and I dug his grill. Thanks Sean, Jamie and Susan for being so damn cool.

Kansas City: On the 70 freeway, we saw a sign for the Testicle festival in Olean Missouri. I am dying to play this festival! (theres a pic of the billboard on my myspace.site) I am sure it’s really a rocky mountain oyster festival but it would be great to get a t-shirt from there, at least. If anyone knows how to get in touch with the Olean Jaycees, they book this festival. Please let me know if you find out who is in charge so I can try to get a booking there!

The show in KC was rockin! Had a packed show at Knuckleheads and I heard that the kids from the new Blues Caravan were coming down. (That’s the tour I did last year with Sue Foley and Ana Popovic.) I don’t think Ian Parker, Ainsley Lister and Erja Luitenen showed up but Little Rachel did and we had a grand ol’ time. I want to apologize to my KC fans for doing half the show sitting down. I guess I was still weaker from the ER visit than I thought or maybe all the mosquito spray I had on was poisoning me, but I thought I would pass out onstage! The audience was sweet and seemed to understand. The KC blues festival was going on and so I was real happy to have such a big crowd. My friend Janniva Magness was playing at the festival the next night. Don’t know who I have to sleep with to get on that festival but I sure would love to play it!

Last night was Sioux City, Iowa at the Chesterfield. Brent and Paula used to have the Attic across the river and their new venue is just amazing. Hung out with Rob the great sound man and met cutie pie’s Mick, the bartender and Dennis who helped sell cds for me. We had a young pianist, Chris Bueller sit in from Omaha. He plays in a band from Omaha, called the Shakey Boys. They were quite good. Chris is just 20 years old and he prefers organ. But I hope he works on his left hand because he really needs to learn to boogie woogie. Then maybe I will take him on the road.

Financially, the tour has gone better than expected, THANK GODDESS. Gas prices are lower than I budgeted. (3$ instead of 4$) But we are only half way through. We still have to go to Milwaukee, Ann Arbor, Angola, Columbus and Cleveland before we end up back at home next week.

I am feeling a lot better since my bout with my gall bladder. I am modifying my diet and am trying to become a vegetarian. I am now committed to avoiding foods that had fur. I think this is a positive step towards better health for me. I don’t ever want that kind of pain again. I am much better but Evan is sick with bronchitis right now and that must be hard to play drums when you’ re hacking up science projects; but like mother like son - that boy is a trouper.

Back on the home front, my house is all rebuilt after the fire and it doesn’ t smell like smoke at all! I am really looking forward to getting back home and having some time on my beach this summer. I am also very proud of my youngest son Tommy. He just made the honor roll and got a special award for Math and Leadership. He will attend a Berklee School of Music workshop in Fullerton this summer and hopefully attend Berklee in the fall of ’07. He is home alone so much. It is a real testament to his dedication and determination that he made the honor roll. He is one smart and talented cookie. Check out his band skanktuary on my top 8 friends on myspace.

That’s all for now. Thanks to all of you who spend your hard earned money to see us! We just added an L.A. gig on July 27 at Cozys in Sherman Oaks and a bay area gig on July 7th at the Center for Sex and Culture just before our Reno Show on July 8. Please come down and support this wonderful center funded by good vibrations and run my friends Carol Queen, Robert Lawrence and Scarlot Harlot.

Happiest of birthdays to all my Gemini and Cancer friends this month.

Love and Kisses,

Candye Kane in Milwaukee

UPDATE: 4/30/06

I am in Europe until May 18th on tour. After a show in Germany that lasted until 2 am, I got a call yesterday morning at 6 am that my house was on fire, but it looked like they could save it. The good news is that no one was hurt. I had a contractor fixing a small problem on my roof. Apparently he used a blow torch to loosen some of the tar and the torch started smouldering some of the roofing insulation without his knowledge. After smouldering all day, by late Friday night, the roof and house were smoking profusely. My 17 year old son Tommy came home about 11:00 pm and opened the attic and black smoke billowed out. He wanted to climb up there with a fire extinguisher and thankfully, my roomate Josh talked him out of it and they called 911. Over 50% of my roof is gone and all the wiring has to be replace. I can't afford health insurance on my meager income, but by law I have to carry home owners insurance and so much of it will be covered. The contractors also have insurance. You can well imagine that I havent been sleeping too well here in Europe.

This is not the first time wacky stuff has happened while I have been on the road. During the last northwest tour I was on, my son Tommy, who is generally a wonderful and well behaved honors student, decided to have a little gathering. One of the boys got drunk and belligerent with a girl at the party and Tommy threw him out. The boy returned late at night and slashed all of the tires on all of the cars in front of our house. This was an expensive lesson. All the guys in my band had left their cars at my house while we were out on the road for three weeks. Tommy doesn't have friends over anymore.

Another time, in the throes of a bitter divorce, I had a young lady whom I thought I knew well stay at my house with then, 10 year old Tommy. She snapped when Tommy and his friends were playing tricks on her like unplugging the phone repeatedly and hiding the remote control. She threw a fit and locked Tommy out of the house. He called the police and me on the East Coast. I still had two weeks to go on our tour. Everyones income relies on me. I called my brother in to replace the high strung baby sitter. My brother has grappled on and off with drug addiction but was sober at the time he came to care for Tommy. During his stay, he had a relapse and invited a local crack ho into my home. He used my car for collateral for the crack and when he couldnt come up with the money, he hocked my guitars and reported my car stolen. All the while, he told young Tommy to lie to me for my own protection. This was the first time my son had lied to me about anything. I only found out what was going when I intercepted a phone message from an Officer about my stolen car. I called the Officer back and found out my car had been missing for three days. I told the officer that my car had lo-jack. They located it within an hour but it had already been in two accidents! My parents came down to San Diego to relieve my defiant brother who is now supposedly sober.

Despite the obvious perils of flying, unsafe drivers, traveling exorbitant distances daily, eating horrible road food, bad weather like hurricanes, sleet and blizzards,breathing in the second hand cigarette smoke of 100 people at the same time, little sleep on lumpy beds in noisy hotel rooms and carting heavy luggage up three flights of marble stairs with no elevators, there are the perils of what goes on at home. Being a single mom has made it even more stressful when I leave my house. I stock my house with groceries from Costco and Sams Club and leave detailed instructions for everyone around. I hire whom I consider capable people to stay with my son and now that he is older and drives, he is able and prefers to stay with our roomate pretty much on his own. (He will be 18 in a few months.) I now have a global cell phone so I can be reached 24/7 and I try to get online as much as possible. I call home every other day and have a network of good people in case of an emergency. For a long time, Tommys school was in close proximity and when he got older, he went to a private school with a good bus system. Now he drives the 25 miles to and from school each day and eats prepaid lunches in the school cafeteria. He says he enjoys his independence and is fine when I leave, but I still cry everytime I have to leave him and the comforts of my home.

I am lucky the fire wasn't worse. I am lucky that Tommy didn't stay out at his buddys house on Friday night or fall asleep with the house smouldering, or go into the attic with his fire extinguisher. I keep having nightmares about what might of happened and them finding the 5'11 body of my handsome teenage son clutching his fire extinguisher with the house in ruins. Sometimes I can't even believe the weird stuff that happens to me. I think if I wrote a screenplay about it, they would say "No way. This is too unrealistic."

Don't feel sorry for me. I am getting paid to be in Europe. Music has afforded me the luxury to take both my kids all over the world, including Australia, Europe and Israel. Music has healed my life and exposed me to amazing, incredible people. Still, with gas at four bucks a gallon and interest rates rising, I don't know how much longer I will be able to do it. Ironically, as soon as Tommy goes off to college, I may have to cut back on my road work. So the next time you see a road band, consider the sacrifices they make to be there in that funky little out of the way bar. It may seem like an incredibly glamorous life and sometimes, it is. But life has a tendency to go on without you. When we go back home, all of the bills and events that have arrived are still there, waiting for us. Sometimes the people we love may not be waiting for us anymore. The road is riddled with musicians divorces.

Thankfully, after this tour is over, I will return to my musically gifted teenager and a standing, if charred and stinky house with a huge hole in the roof. I will count my blessings and be thrilled to be back on American soil even if our government is questionable. And after a few weeks, I will jump back in the Ford Econoline and do it again. Because as Walter Trout says in his song, "This is the life I chose."

Candye in Tubingen, Germany

UPDATE: 4/18/06

Howdy Everybody! We are fixin' to leave for our European tour on Sunday; (my son Evan on drums, Bill Stuve on bass, Heine Andersen on guitar and Smedley B on piano). Every time I go, I feel so blessed and think that this could be the last time, so I want to savor each and every moment! I am excited especially about getting to visit Poland as I have never been there. Warsaw was the center of Jewish life pre WWII so I am anxious to explore what little is left of their legacy.

The summer is filling up with some exciting shows. As usual, the Gay community and the rockabilly kids are keeping me alive. I have six festivals for the GLBT community this summer and am still negotiating with Toronto and San Diego pride so I will keep you posted. My cd is # 7 on the gay channel on Sirius radio. Thank GOD for this wonderful community of tolerant and free spirited people who love my music and support me. My San Francisco pride appearance will be with the SF Gay Mens Choir and I am especially thrilled to be singing with this great group of singers. I am also doing a great rockabilly car show in L.A. later this summer, The Blessing of the Cars, as well as the Sunset Junction Street Fair with Dave Alvin and Hank Williams III. They close off Sunset Blvd East in Hollywood for this festival and it is always fantastic. Bill Wax at XM radio and some other wonderful blues djs continue to support my music as well. I really want to thank them for their continued support.

I want to tell you about the tour we will be doing in the fall in the Netherlands called United by Music. It is like an American Idol show (except not mean spirited or bitchy) for disabled people. They are having auditions now and the winners will get to sing with an American blues band on a tour. (that's us!) I am very excited about this tour and the response has been fantastic. We will do a press conference about it on May 15th when I am in Amsterdam. We did one show like this last summer in Sliedrecht and I invited some of the disabled kids onstage to sing with me. The crowd loved it and so did the kids, so it seemed logical to try it again in a bigger and better way. It is all being organized by my friend and fan, Joris Wijngarden. If you know any Dutch journalists or photogs who may be interested in this project, please send them our way so we can notify them about the press conference. This project will be a wonderful thing, especially because I believe that the love and applause from a crowd can be magically healing. I also think its symbolic since these people face huge challenges in their every day lives and my challenges seem tiny and insignificant compared to theirs! There is a website under construction unitedbymusic.nl and there is a documentary planned to chronicle the tour and to follow around three of the people who will be in the show. I am very excited about this wonderful opportunity to help people and to make music together.

I hope things are going great and thawing out in your neck of the woods. We face challenges in our world in every way and road musicians continue to be affected as well as all commuters, by the rising costs of gas. My undying gratitude goes to those of you who spend your hard earned money on live music. Because of YOU, people like me still have a chance to survive doing what we love. This gift you give us is immeasurable. Whenever you choose to see a live musician, you are doing a public service and guaranteeing that live music will survive another decade. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Candye

UPDATE: 1/3/06

Hi everybody!! Hope your holidays went smashingly and that you have a fabulously busy 2006 with good health and multiple eargasms for all.

I've got some exciting gigs coming up. Really looking forward to seeing all my pals in the northwest again. Santa Cruz is always a wonderful freak fest with all of us proudly waving our freak flags high! San Francisco, Biscuits and Blues has awesome greens and fried chicken. Come down and mac and see the show. I will appear on the House of Blues radio hour again in San Fran as well! Yippee. My friend Heather from the Big Bottom girls who lives in San Fran is doing much better in her ovarian cancer battle, we hear. Thanks for all your love and prayers. bigburlesque.com

Can't wait to play again in Portland area, Tacoma, Seattle on Super Bowl Sunday. Don't get too drunk on beer, save it for the show at the Tractor Tavern! I will be staying at wurlitzermanor.com check out this amazing bed and breakfast and their fantastic pipe organ. Bellingham will be a lot of fun too. We have the lucky devil girlie show burlesque girls opening and some special birthday surprises for some deserving fans. It will be such fun!

Have a special show coming up in February in Bisbee and Phoenix Arizona. Bisbee is the coolest mining town up on a hill. All the buildings are vintage and the people are super fun. Also looking foward to my special show in Cleveland at the Beachland Ballroom with the amazing band, Blue Lunch and my friend, Boston Diva Michele Willson. Don't miss this once in a lifetime show if you are anywhere near Cleveland.

Once again, wanna thank all the DJ's who played me this year especially Bill Wax at Bluesville/ XM radio. I want to also thank Beef Stew at 106.9 WCCC - Hartford, CT who named my cd #2 in his top 16 of the year. Thanks to J Doyle at Queer Radio and all of the other DJs and wonderful journalists who keep my name out there so I can survive one more year. I couldn't do this job without them and YOU. Thanks so much for all your help and love.

Hoping for peace in 2006...
love & kisses,

Candye

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