Kandace Springs at Rudy’s Jazz Room – Nashville, TN

Nashville, Tennessee is justifiably known as the world’s epicenter of country music, but it has produced at least one other star from a completely different genre – jazz pianist and singer Kandace Springs, whose natural gifts for lyricism and soulfulness have taken her humble start as a parking attendant and lounge pianist, to featured performer at major concert halls and festivals around the world, and recognition as one of the premier female artists of the jazz/soul genre.

Kandace’s journey to success has been helped along the way by people who recognized and nurtured the raw talent that she was born with – including Prince. But first and foremost among these is her father. Known to both friends and family as Scat, he made his living as a singer both with his own band in nightclubs, and as a backup singer for stars ranging from Aretha Franklin to Garth Brooks. Kandace would often accompany him to studios and concerts, and so it was not surprising when one day she asked for a piano. A raggedy upright was procured from a neighbor, and Scat asked his friend Reggie Wooten, of the renowned Wooten Brothers musical family, to get her started. “I sat down and started playing the theme to Soul Train by ear, and my dad said, ‘Girl, that’s not normal!’ From that time on, he pushed me to make the most of my talent.”

Occasional lessons aside, Kandace spent most of her high school years learning both jazz and classical standards on her own, by ear and intuition. “That’s how I learned, and how I still like to play “she says. But once again, Scat made a crucial intervention. “Dad said, ‘Girl, you got to sing!’. And that was that.” She started wearing out records by Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, and Norah Jones. “When I heard Norah’s first album, that’s when I said, I want to do what she does.”

But as the saying goes, easier said than done. Fresh out of high school, Kandace found herself working a job parking cars at a hotel in downtown Nashville; the one perk of the job was that she got to sing and play piano in the lounge upstairs. “Everybody in the music business probably passed by me at one time or another, but nobody ever stopped.” But once again, Scat jump started the wheels of progress. He passed her demo to a drummer passing through town, who passed it his former bandmates in New York.

Enter the next players who would recognize Kandace’s genius: Evan Rogers and Carl Sturken were hitmaking songwriters and producers who had just years before discovered a 15-year-old Rihanna, signed her to their production company, and shepherded her rise to stardom. Within days of hearing Kandace’s demo, Evan was in Nashville meeting her and her family, and a partnership was born that continues to this day. They began the all-important process of bringing out the music that was inside Kandace, and making it ready for the world to hear.

When the time was right, Kandace found herself in front of the next person who would recognize her talent and pull her further up the mountainside: Don Was of Blue Note Records. “I auditioned in the Capitol Records building, on Nat King Cole’s piano. I was so nervous! I played my version of Bonnie Raitt’s ‘I Can’t Make You Love Me’, and I didn’t even know that Don had produced that record! He told me it was the best version of the song he’d ever heard, and that just floored me”.

Kandace’s first single, “Love Got In The Way”, was a funk- flavored earworm that got her prime looks on national TV, including The Late Show with David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live! ; she also appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with Ghost Face Killah. It was a strong start, but things were about to get even more interesting.

Enter the next person who would discover and propel Kandace to greater heights: Prince. He saw a video of Kandace doing her version of Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me”, and messaged her directly. “I didn’t believe it was actually him!” she says.” We had to check with people who knew him”. A week later, incredibly, she found herself performing with him at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of the album Purple Rain. ‘It was like a dream, I’m still reliving it to this day”.

Thus began a close mentorship between Kandace and the “Purple One”, as she likes to call him. They wrote songs and shared thoughts on all things musical. “He told me that I needed to be true to myself, don’t listen to anybody else, just my own heart. That really stuck with me, and I’ve tried to follow that advice ever since”.

With Prince’s words in mind, she told Blue Note that she was going to make an album of acoustic-based, soulful jazz, whether they wanted it or not. Don Was got the message. He brought in Grammy winner Larry Klein to produce, and the result was Soul Eyes, the album that took Kandace onto the worldwide stage. It garnered 5-star reviews on three continents, with the Times of London enthusing, “Kandace Springs isn’t just a star. She’s an entire galaxy.”

Within months of its release, she found herself in front of audiences in London, Paris, and Tokyo, performing with Christian McBride and Joshua Redmond at the Istanbul Jazz Festival, and sharing the stage with Sting and Jack White on Later… with Jools Holland. And over the course of the next several years, and two more album releases, Kandace’s star only continued to grow.

The pandemic, of course, had a huge impact on Kandace’s world. Unable to perform, she channeled her energies into restoring and selling vintage cars, another one of her passions. “That kept me going, mentally and financially” she says. “But after a year and a half, I was going stir crazy. I had to get back to music.”

The time off had given her clarity on her career, and she knew what she had to do: record an album of all original songs as a memorial to her father, who had recently passed away. She collected unreleased songs from every period of her life, some of which she had actually written with her dad’s help when she was a teenager. The resulting album, Run Your Race, is the most personal and heartfelt of Springs’ career, and which she says is “absolutely the most personal record I’ve ever made, or probably ever will make. “

2025 will herald an exciting new chapter in Kandace Spring’s evolution as an artist, with the release of Lady in Satin, a loving tribute to Billie Holiday and her iconic 1958 record of the same name, performed by Kandace and the 60-piece Orquestra De Academia del Espinho. Together they recreated and reimagined the 12 songs from the Great American Songbook that made up the album. “It’s the first record I’ve made with an orchestra” says Kandace, “and it’s one of the most incredible musical experiences I’ve ever had. The moment I first sang with the orchestra, I couldn’t believe how beautiful it sounded, and even listening now, I still can’t believe it. And I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

This show is 21 and over only. All sales are final and we unfortunately cannot offer any refunds. Additional tickets may be available at the door on the day of the show even if it is sold out online.

Please try to arrive 15 minutes prior to the show start time. If you do not arrive within 45 minutes after the show start time on your ticket your seat may be resold to other patrons at the door. If you arrive after 45 minutes from the start time of the show and your ticket has been resold, although we cannot guarantee it, we will try our best to make space for you to attend the show.