Kandace Springs, a pianist and vocalist who hails from Nashville, Tennessee, has had a very prestigious who's who of collaborators that she's worked with, including Norah Jones, Roy Hargrove, Christian McBride, David Sanborn and Prince, just to name a few. Her latest album Run Your Race will be released April 5th. The new single, the title song of the album, is out now and pays tribute to Kandice's late father, the track star and musician, Kenneth “Scat” Springs. Scat Springs fronted his own R&B band and he sang back up for everyone from Garth Brooks to Aretha Franklin. Kandace is performing a sold-out show in New York City's Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall on February 24th. “Run Your Race” is an emotional and passionate song that has brought tears to people that hear her perform the song in concert. I recently spoke with her about her father, the album and her evolution as a musician.
Listen to our conversation, above.
Interview transcript:
Lezlie Harrison: You have had quite an amazing run. Run Your Race will be your fifth studio recording. Give us a little background on how your father, the late Kenneth Scat Springs, guided you into becoming a singer songwriter.
Kandace Springs: He was an incredible singer himself. He performed around town in Nashville which is where I'm from, born and raised. He would take me to the sessions with him or to see his band play live.
Let’s start with music. Did you know you wanted to be a singer then? Or were you just hanging around dad doing stuff that dad wanted to do?
That sounds a little more accurate. I had no idea. I didn't even want to sing. I would cry. He'd make me and my sisters all get together and sing like in a little mini choir. We'd be singing while we're crying at the same time.
But something took hold of you to propel you to become a singer. Was it your father or did you think, “Okay, maybe this is something I could do”?
A little of both. My dad started on the radio and I was near Norah Jones and Corrine Bailey Rae and stuff like that were blowing up on the radio. He would give me CDs by singers like Roberta Flack and Nina Simone. Just hearing them stuck with me. I thought, “I really like these artists.” One day, when no one was home, I started playing on the piano we had in the living room, just pushing myself, thinking, “What if I can sing this note? How about singing like such and such artists?” It felt good, I got a rush out of it. I secretively started trying to teach myself how to sing a little bit.
Obviously, something stuck with you. Do your sisters sing as well?
They do actually. They're really good. And I'm like, “Oh shoot. You got to be famous.” My sisters are Kimber Springs and Kenya Springs. One is almost more like a pop kind of country and the other is more soul.
Okay, so you got the bug.
Yes, I sure did.
You got the bug so much so that you got to work with Prince. He also became a mentor to you and you had the opportunity to work with the one and only Prince. You performed with him at Paisley Park for the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. Tell us the origins of your collaborations with the great Prince.
Well, it started because I put up a video of a cover I did of Sam Smith's “Stay With Me.” Somehow, Prince had come across it and he retweeted it on his page. We thought it was fake until I started getting direct messages on there and we're like, “No way.” Next thing I know, my record label at the time called and said Prince wants you to play with him. And I was like, “This might be legit.”
Next thing I know I'm flying with my manager, going to meet him. I get to do a show with him and his all-female band, which is what I have now, kind of in honor of that. He's always about just keeping the music real and live and not putting too much processed stuff over it. He likes the live instrument.
You’re telling me that he was looking at YouTube videos or social media, and he saw your video. I read you inspired him so much that he said, “Let me find out who this singer is.” How amazing is that?
I feel like I don't know what happened, but I'm very grateful for it every day.
Tell me about working with him on the 30th anniversary of Purple Rain. What was that like?
That was really fun. He kind of does everything last minute. He would let the fans know with just a very short amount of time before a performance and people just packed the place. It was cool. I got to play with the New Power Generation Quartet, which is his guy band, Then the all-girl band, Third Eye Girl. When I played with him, we did Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and then played a lot of stuff from some of my previous tracks as well. It's something I'll never forget.
I bet you won't.
Just follow your dreams and be who you are and don't let the other people run you over if that makes sense. Thanks to Prince and my dad.
You speak a lot about your dad and the influence that he had on you and your new album Run Your Race, which is very personal. It's the title track and is dedicated to your father, Scat. In fact, the whole album is dedicated to your father. Tell me about the journey on writing something so personal and how that helped you in your grief, if it did.
Oh yeah, definitely. I still get emotional when I perform it. Every time we play it live, I feel like he's there in the room with us. He was my biggest influence. Definitely with music and probably almost everything. He was my basketball coach, soccer coach. He was a comedian. I would tell everybody that if he didn't know a stranger, he would walk up to just about anybody and be like, “How are you doing? Second best-looking man in the room.” When he would sell his CDs at shows, he'd say, “Okay, everybody pass the bucket around, take a CD so you can take me home and you'll be feeding hungry children. They just happen to have my last name, but you'll be doing a good thing.” He was a funny guy. He was also a track star. He ran the hurdles and he's still got some records that have not been broken to this day. I take a lot of pride in that but it was really difficult in his final years. He was unable to walk and he was in a lot of pain. It was so hard to watch, but I know he's at a better place, and this is why I wrote this song called “Run Your Race,” because he's up there, running his race again.
Was it easy for you to write the songs?
Yes, but it just reflects back from my childhood to now. It's like him looking down, like “Just reach for the sky, while you're here still, and I'll see you again at the finish line.”
Was your father also a songwriter as well?
He was. He wrote some songs that we've done. I did “Simple Things” on Indigo. There are some other ones too.
Well, I'm sure your father is extremely proud of you and your accomplishments and I'm sure he's like, “That's my baby right there.” Can you tell me, as a songwriter, do you find it difficult to write or does it come very easy for you?
It depends. I get so distracted by everything sometimes, but melody is more of a leader than lyrics for me. Some people start with lyrics but I see music in colors, so I relate colors more to melody. There is a funny term—synesthesia, so that's how I interpret music. When I feel a melody, then I'll be more inspired to write.
Now tell me, who were some of your other musical influences growing up? I know you have jazz in your background as well as pop. Did you have jazz influences, female vocalists or male vocalists who kind of propelled you to become a singer?
Yes. Nina Simone was definitely a big one. Eva Cassidy is a huge, huge influence to me. Luther Vandross, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Etta James—the list goes on. I love classical piano so in my sets I sometimes play Chopin or Rachmaninoff just to throw people off. They're like, “Huh? I didn't intend to come and see or hear this kind of music, but okay.” The list goes on such as Bill Evans on piano and more current artists like Norah Jones. I love Lewis Capaldi.
You recorded with Norah.
I did. I feel so blessed. That was one of the best days of my life.
Tell me about that best day of your life.
She came up to the studio in Brooklyn because she just happened to live down the street. It worked out perfect. We were working out what song to do and we ended up agreeing to do “Angel Eyes.” It's a great classic standard. I usually play the piano, but also play the electric Wurlitzer or Rhodes sometimes but this time she took the piano. I was like, “You go ahead, Queen.” I play the piano on that track and I'm on an old classic 140B Wurlitzer for the music heads out there that appreciate the effects on that instrument. It was such a good time. We did a lot of give and take and then we're harmonizing towards the end of the track.
Do you like collaborations with other singers?
Yes. It's so much fun. It just takes you into another realm that. You don't really experience that feeling unless you do it. I highly recommend it. Whether you can sing or not, sing with other people. It's such a good, healthy thing.
Well, I'm a singer and I love to sing. I don't know if I'd take that chance and collaborate with everybody, but maybe I’ll take Kandace's advice and do that. You're going to be performing at Zankel Hall, coming up, on February 24th and your record is coming out on April 5th. We know the single is out now. You have assembled an all-female band for your upcoming performance. This was intentional?
Yes, because I previously had a record that was called Women Who Raised Me. I mean, who doesn't love to see some bad women up there playing her instruments? It’s always a big hit when we play with them. I used to have Camille Gainer Jones on the drums. I’ve got to brag a little bit. She plays for Diana Ross and Alicia Keys. I love her.
That's my girl. I can't ever play with her because she's always busy working, I just have to keep working at it. Who else do you have in the band?
Caylen Bryant, and she is a boss chick. She’s kind of up and coming, but she's going to be just big time. She designs her own clothes. She plays every instrument, sings, and she's a Juilliard student. Sometimes we'll have a special guest come up too.
Any special guests we can look forward to for your Zankel Hall performance? Any secrets you can tell us?
Maybe I have a couple of things cooking, so it'll be a surprise. It's going to throw you off though, but I think you're going to love it if that's the case.
First of all, it's sold out so if you don't already have a ticket, you pretty much have to wait until the next time around when you're in the New York, New Jersey area. Kandace, who are you listening to these days?
Girl, I'll be listening to everything. I'm kind of old school. I still like throw back. I'll be listening to Sade. I'll be bumping Ella Fitzgerald in the car but I'm also digging Billie Eilish a lot. Just a mix of everything.
I do know Billie Eilish and I actually enjoyed her performance the other night at the Grammys. It was beautiful. Are you looking forward to Zankel Hall and the next performance?
Oh, so looking forward to it. I have family flying up and all my friends are trying to fly up. I guess this is a really big thing, more than I realized. I was like, “Wait. This is Carnegie Hall.”
How do you get to Carnegie Hall? You have done it all. How is the music scene down there in Nashville? Do you perform a lot? Is there still a thriving scene down in Nashville?
There is. There's just so much live music. We play there. We'll add it into a tour once a year or so. But for fun, I'll go down to some random karaoke bars and just do a song or two. I love it. It’s so much fun. I just love hanging out with folks and singing. A little stage with the mic, just having fun.
I love that you sing karaoke compared to some singers who are like, “I'm not doing karaoke. I can really sing.” What's your favorite karaoke song? Do you have a favorite and is it one of yours?
I always try to do Etta James’s “At Last.” I'll do Norah Jones's “Turn Me On.” Another one is “I'll Put a Spell on You,” Nina Simone's version.
Okay, well, there you got it. Now, if you're down in Nashville, you probably already know that Kandace rules the karaoke down there. You just blend right in with everybody.
Depends if I have my hair out or not.
You also said something before we got into the interview, that you play soccer a few times a week. Now, is that just something that you love to do? Is it cathartic? Is it just part of what you need to do to do what you do?
Yeah, I've been playing soccer since I was about 10. That's about the same time I started playing piano. Keeps me in shape. I love it. I live for it. Oftentimes I find myself being the captain because somebody else dropped out. I know everybody now. Anyway, it's so much fun. We won. We kicked butt last night. That was good.
This conversation has been edited for brevity and clarity.
