Candy Lee, band to perform farewell concert before singer’s departure
By Richard Davis
TFW Staff Writer
(Staff Photo: Richard Davis) Candy Lee and the Sweets performing Sunday, March 27 at Greenhouse Grille in Fayetteville.
It’s been a treat for the last year or so, but this audio delicacy soon won’t be a regular item on the menu anymore.
Candy Lee and the Sweets will give a farewell performance Sunday, May 1, at Greenhouse Grille before the band’s namesake and her husband head off to pursue opportunities in Jacksonville, Fla. The farewell concert will be a family friendly event with other musicians performing in celebration of the Fayetteville favorite.
Before she leaves, Candy hopes to get a head start on funding to tour in the southeast part of the country. You can make a donation to her cause at Kickstarter.com and get a little something in return. Go to the website and search for Candy Lee. As of Tuesday, March 29, she had raised $730 of her $2,000 goal. If she doesn’t raise the full $2,000 by April 29, however, the singer-songwriter won’t get any of the money. Read further for more details on the project.
Candy Lee Long took a moment earlier in March to talk about her time in Fayetteville and what the future holds.
TFW: What prompted the move to Jacksonville?
Candy: Well, it’s actually a decision my husband and I made. He has some opportunities for him there, so we’re going to be following his bliss for a little while.
I plan to be kind of just be in between Jacksonville and Fayetteville for a while, coming back playing with the Sweets.
Pretty much right after we move, when I take myself to Jacksonville we’re going to be doing like a southeast tour. That’s what my Kickstarter page is for. It’s going to be pretty expensive with gas and everything, so I’m just trying to get a little funding for that. It’s my very first tour ever — should be a lot of fun.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuFr8Hhc9I&feature=channel_video_title[/youtube]
TFW: Where did your interest in music come from?
Candy: I was raised in a pretty musical family. My mom and my grandmother are both really great singers. My grandmother still plays music. She’s a drummer in a band in her little retirement community. Ever since I was little, my mom brought me up on musicals and I just loved music since then and I’ve been singing ever since. Then I started playing guitar so I could write songs. I’m not a great guitar player, but it gets me through.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5nDA07086s&feature=relmfu[/youtube]
TFW: How do you describe your music style?
Candy: I usually call it folk jazz. There’s the folk aspect in the music part of it and it’s very conscious music lyrically … but then it has jazz elements in some of the vocal patterns.
TFW: Explain what Kickstarter.com is.
Candy: Dana Idlet (a Fayetteville artist) just did a Kickstarter page and reached all of her goals and everything. So she’s the one who got me interested in it.
It’s a website where people can go to donate. They donate, and you have to set a goal for yourself monetarily. You have to give people rewards for however much money that they donate. And, you have to reach that goal — you can do it for 30, 60 or 90 days — but if you don’t reach that goal, you don’t get any of the money. So you have to reach it.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIT7h3Z-f9E&feature=relmfu[/youtube]
TFW: Describe the farewell concert.
Candy: It’s going to be awesome. We’re going to turn Greenhouse Grille into a music venue. It’s going to be a family friendly event. It’s going to be all really positive music. It’s going to be the Tin Pan Alley Cats, which is my bass guitarist Jennifer Graham and her friend Chris Parker. Lacy Morris is going to play some of her original stuff and The Cadre. Candy Lee and the Sweets will play. And we’ll end the night with some Tiffany Christopher Band.
I really enjoyed my time in Fayetteville, and people have been really supportive. People have been so accepting. It’s just a great community of musicians and people who support music in this town. I’m going to miss it. I’m going to miss the people a lot. But I’ll be back. I’m going to be back a lot.
