Songwriter and pianist Kandace Springs, who just released her debut album Soul Eyes on 6/24 via Blue Note Records, will be in Pittsburgh on 8/10 to play The Pittsburgh Winery.
Produced by Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein (Lizz Wright, Melody Gardot, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Hancock), the album touches upon soul and pop while channeling her jazz influences as well as her Nashville upbringing. Kandace counts such stylists as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Roberta Flack and Norah Jones as her heroes, but as evidenced by Soul Eyes, Springs mimics none of them.
In 2014 after hearing Kandace’s cover of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” Prince invited Kandace to perform at Paisley Park for the 30th Anniversary of Purple Rain. “He encouraged me a lot before I recorded this new record, especially during the time in which I was trying to figure out my sound,” Kandace says. “He told me that I needed to do what comes naturally to me. He was absolutely right.” Prince once said that “Kandace has a voice that could melt snow.”
Kandace’s journey to discovering her uniqueness didn’t happen overnight. In fact, her 2014 self-titled debut EP had a decidedly contemporary R&B/hip-hop bent with production by Pop & Oak (Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Miguel). The EP was incredibly well-received and led to performances on Late Show With David Letterman, Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, as well as appearances at the Afropunk and Bonnaroo festivals.