Candice Night on Deep Purple Adventures, Blackmore’s Night and Lullabies

Singer-songwriter Candice Night’s creative journey reads like an adventure novel with an international singing career that began in Czechoslovakia when she sang background vocals for Deep Purple, to her work as one of the forces behind the band Blackmore’s Night (with husband and legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore). So I was excited to catch up with Night for my podcast Whine At 9 to discuss her fascinating career and new solo album Starlight, Starbright.

She always knew that music was a central part of her life, but Candice Night never anticipated that her career would land her on stage. But life had other plans for the woman who had once predicted she might work for a record company or radio station. Looking back today, Night says it all seems to make sense.

“The amazing thing is, when you look at it from a distance, everything was a really natural evolution. So it almost seems like everything was this path that was really just simply meant to be. So we [Night and Blackmore] kind of evolved together as friends, and then a relationship blossomed. And then he took me on the road with him with Deep Purple. And he heard me singing around the hotel rooms and asked me to sing backup for some of his songs on the road with Deep Purple. And then he reformed Rainbow. And Rainbow was looking, you know, they needed a backup singer so I happened to be right there. At one point they needed some lyrics written. And I was always a closet poet, which means I basically just wrote for myself in my journal and scribbled away without sharing that with anyone. But Ritchie would see me writing all the time and he said, ‘Before I get a professional lyricist in, I’d like for you to try something.’ So they played backing tracks for me.”

Since then, Night and Blackmore have created their own unique musical genre rooted in Renaissance music. Introduced to medieval music by Blackmore, Night, the reflective musical poet and lead vocalist for Blackmore’s Night, calls the music “the perfect marriage of audio and visual. It kind of was the soundtrack to nature…it just heightens your experiences and your senses.”

Her new solo album of lullabies Starlight, Starbright seems the perfect project for the spiritual musician with the beautiful, soothing voice. The mother of two young children, Autumn, 5, and Rory 4, Night admits the album, inspired by her children, has been a bit of a family affair. Daughter Autumn wrote the song “Lullaby In The Night,” and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee husband Blackmore offered up guitar and collaborative talent on the album, co-writing some of the songs.

Night loves that Starlight, Starbright allows people to connect to the simple things. When adult fans mention that the album helps them unwind and unplug, she’s thrilled. “It’s not just for children…It’s just so nice to hear everyone being able to be relaxed through that.”

Life is good for Candice Night, and she couldn’t be more grateful. “It’s been an incredible journey….If you would have asked me years ago, when I was going to college for journalism and for communications, if this was the path that my life would have taken, I would have definitely not ever been able to imagine this in my wildest dreams. But sometimes your wildest dreams do come true. So here we are.”

By DR. NANCY BERK
JUNE 3, 2016