Emerging artist Candace Nicole takes her sound to the next level with new album

Detroit-based composer, pianist and bandleader Candace Nicole has become a presence on the local music scene with a rhythmic blending of classical mixed with R&B grooves.

While she is new as a solo artist, Candace Nicole has enjoyed a lifelong relationship with music that started very early in her formative years.

Listen: Emerging artist Candace Nicole takes her sound to the next level

The following interview has been edited for clarity and length.

On her exposure to music during her formative years:

Music was passed down. It was generational. My grandmother always had a piano in her home and she made sure that my mother took lessons. Then my mother made sure I took lessons. Music was always there. The living room in the house I grew up in had one of those stereo/record players that also doubled as furniture. Motown was played a lot in the home. I was formally taught classical (music) through my piano lessons for much of my preteen and teenage years and later in my early adult life. Later, I wanted to explore performing more improv and jazz songs and began venturing off into that. My brother was deeply into music and DJing, so there was an awareness of hip-hop, house and overseas electronic music. I grabbed all those elements and put them into my compositions and style and made them my own.

On what led to her composing her album:

I was writing for a long time and creating music on my keyboard and Logic software and after a while (the songs) just started adding up. I started honing in on perfecting the songs and pulled in some local musicians to play on the tracks. We went into the studio and recorded pretty much in one day. The musicians laid down their parts, then we had the vocalists come in for a couple days to put their parts down and we knocked the project out in a week. The musicians saw my vision of where I wanted to go with the songs, and it came out well.

On her respect for the Detroit music scene:

Detroit has the hardest working musicians I’ve ever worked with. A lot of them are underrated as they often go overseas and blow up because they are gifted musicians and songwriters. The local scene is phenomenal.

On describing the makeup of the Candace Nicole Experience in-studio and when performing live:

The artists that worked in-studio on the album were amazing and included percussionist Jeff Canaday who served as executive producer, Terry Washington, the bass player and musical director, who assembled the wonderful group of musicians. There’s Booker, who was on guitar, who heard my songs and just went with it. Twan Green was a beast on keyboards and other instruments and brought lush symphonic sounds to the project. Leroy Ramsey brought great percussion playing to the sessions. The vocalists included Yolanda (Yo-Yo), a gifted performer and ultimate professional, Nata, a powerful vocalist and Kenyetta who has been one of my long-time music collaborators for over 25 years. Assembling this group for the album in-studio was a wonderful experience.

In terms of the live band, the Candace Nicole Experience also includes a larger group of additional musicians such as Keith Glass, a drummer who is phenomenal and has played with everybody. T.C. Shane held it down on keyboard. Guitarists Carlton Smith and Bruce Meyer, and saxophonist Mario Gordon who never plays a wrong note, along with Wade Tolbert to round out the live performance lineup.

On the business of music and how she juggles many roles:

The fun part is making the music. The hard part is doing the business side of music. From the time that a song is created, it must go through studio recording, mixing, mastering and having qualified individuals do audio engineering. After that’s done, you work with distributors and different performing rights organizations to make sure that what’s being put out is top notch and that it gets a large distribution and listenership. Even the artwork that goes with the songs can be grueling to get completed. The business of music is a lengthy process that takes time and money and is an ongoing learning experience.

On future music endeavors:

I’ll be putting out more music and finishing up the second album project. I will also look at performing at more festivals and do more musical collaborations as well.

Visit candacenicolemusic.com for updates related to performances, tours, and artist releases.