Blackmore's Night Back On Ye Road


by Bard John Of Westport (including ye photograffes)

Play Minstrel Play, Renaissance Faire, Under A Violet Moon, Home Again, Toast To Tomorrow - Blackmore's Night fans know these songs by heart! Songs rich with color. Songs to sing and dance to. Ancient and current simultaneously. As the band hits the road for some medieval fun, vocalist / shawmstress Candice Night took some time to talk to ye humble scribe...

PS: What makes a Blackmore's Night audience different from any other audience?

CN: I always describe our audiences as "independent thinkers". They're the ones who brave their own paths, feel deeply and don't follow trends. Like us. They find us, stumble upon our music somehow, whether it’s on YouTube or on NPR or get a CD passed to them by a friend but they are incredibly loyal. Looking at our audiences, you would never think that such a group of people would enjoy the same thing. We have children next to hippies next to bikers next to grandparents next to lawyers…it’s a very mixed conglomeration of people. We don’t have a set demographic. But what they all do have in common is that they aren't dictated to or brainwashed by fashions or what is considered "in". They follow their own hearts. And we love them for that.

PS: When did you first wear garb & what drew you to it?

CN: I have been dressing up my whole life. I just look for an excuse to get all dressed up and throw on some glitter. It makes me feel good, allows me to get outside myself but at the same time, get deeply with myself. Everyone is anonymous when you wear jeans and a t-shirt. We all look exactly the same when we do that. But when you choose an identity and wear it proudly on your sleeve - it always fascinates me which identity you feel most akin with at that particular moment. Shakespeare once said something like "the mask is not to conceal, but to reveal." So to see whether people feel more magical, like fairy beings or green men, or knights in armor, or kings and queens or gypsies or minstrels, or peasants...who do you look deeply inside yourself and see yourself as? It’s an interesting psychology to see which costume or garb they choose.



PS: Are there plans for any special new material for this tour?

CN: We are always writing, so we will be heading back into the studio in the winter. But we learned not to play brand new material as it winds up on YouTube and then by the time you record it and put it out, it’s not a surprise because people have heard it already. But that’s not to say that we won’t pull some gems out of the past from our CDs of the past 20 years or take requests from the audience that we haven’t played in a long time. We are always up for that. And each show is always a different one than the one before it.

PS: What do you feel you & Ritchie bring out in each other that no one else can?

CN: There are no airs when Ritchie and I are together. We speak bluntly, honestly, and we deeply respect each other. We have nothing to hide from each other. And it isn't always easy, but we have a great forum of communication. So even if one of us says something the other one doesn't like, we discuss it and get over it. We don't let it fester until it explodes and we don't resent each other and hold anger in. It’s a very healthy relationship on and off the stage.

PS: To those who've never seen the band live before, what do you hope is the most important thing they come away with?

CN: A feeling of positive energy. A deep enjoyment of the emotional musical journey that we are on and that they just accompanied us on.

Pray do join Blackmore's Night and their guests Wizards Consort for an evening of merriment and revelry. For tonight we'll merry merry be...

Blackmore's Night
Saturday, July 28, 7 PM
The Ridgefield Playhouse
80 East Ridge
Ridgefield, CT 06877
203-438-5795
www.ridgefieldplayhouse.org



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