Work your connections. It’s been emphasized since the dawn of the music business. Connections of all types––that includes family. The right word in the right ear can mean the difference between laboring in obscurity and landing a deal that ultimately leads to playing with Prince at Paisley Park.
In 23-year-old Kandace Springs’ case, her father had been a singer in Nashville for years. You don’t stay in the business that long without making a few friends, if you know your craft. Indeed, through an acquaintance, he was able to get Kandace’s demo played for songwriting and production team Carl Sturken and Evan Rogers of SRP Music Group. The duo has been pivotal in the career of Rihanna and written for artists including Christina Aguilera and Jessica Simpson.
After hearing her material, Rogers ventured from New York City to meet with the young Springs. He liked what he heard and saw. “Evan heard my demo and signed me to SRP,” the singer recalls.
“Evan heard my demo and signed me to SRP.
Then they started shopping me
around to various labels.”
“Then they started shopping me around to various labels. Eventually we met with Eli Wolf of Blue Note. He got us to Don Was [label head, producer and noted for his band Was (Not Was)]. I auditioned for him in Studio A at [Los Angeles’] Capitol Records. He ended up signing me three months after that.”
Springs’ EP Kandace Springs will drop on Sept. 30. Her full-length album Drive is slated for a March 2015 release. In the meantime, she’s playing shows throughout New York City––which is now her home––including Rockwood Music Hall and famed West Village venue The Bitter End, a virtual breeding ground for comedians and musicians. The club claims a hand in the careers of Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell. She also plans to make it back to L.A. to perform.
When Music Connection spoke with Springs, she was en route to Brooklyn for a video shoot for her song “Love Got In The Way.” And in late July she was invited to play with Prince at Paisley Park. For an emerging artist, the opportunities don’t come much sweeter. – Rob Putnam
