‘Candice Night’ Medieval Princess: A Fairytale Journey with ‘Ritchie Blackmore’ - Exclusive Interview (2024)

By Ray Shasho
Candice Night interview:

CANDICE NIGHT is the enchanting singer, songwriter,and multi-instrumentalist, for the medieval folk rock group Blackmore’s Night.

Candice was raised on Long Island, New York andbegan a modeling career at the age of twelve, appearing in print ads,commercials, and promotions at trade shows into her 20s. She hosted a rock showat a local Long Island radio station which helped transform her destiny.

Night met Ritchie Blackmore, legendary leadguitarist for Deep Purple, at a soccer match hosted by WBAB the classic rockradio station she worked at. Blackmore enlisted Night to sing backup vocals forDeep Purples’ The Battle Rages Ontour in 1993.

Night went on to co-write and contribute her musicalstyles to Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow on the tracks, “Aerial” (Charted #2 inEurope), “Hall of the Mountain King,” “Black Masquerade,” and “Wolf to theMoon” for the Stranger in Us All album(1995). Night also toured with Rainbowas a background vocalist.

Candice also provided vocals on Ritchie Blackmore’sversion of “Apache” on the album, Twang!A Tribute to Hank Marvin & The Shadows. The compilation features someof the greatest guitarists of our time.

In 1997, BLACKMORE’S NIGHT catapulted the duo ofRitchie Blackmore and Candice Night into a fairytale journey, performingwizardry medieval folk arrangements with a dose of rock and roll. The group’sdebut album, Shadow of the Moon enduredthe European music charts for seventeen weeks. The track “Play Minstrel Play” featuredIan Anderson, the superlative flautist of Jethro Tull.

Blackmore and Night toured Europe extensively withtheir newly christened band, decorated in medieval garb, while capturing theambience and spirit of Renaissance as they perform shows at castles, theaters, churches,opera houses, and fairs. The group also performs with many of the musicalinstrumentation used during the Renaissance age. Self-taught, Night learned toplay the hurdy-gurdy, the shawm, rauschpfeife, pennywhistle, recorder, cornamuse,and gemshorn. The addition of these amazing instruments, along withperformances by virtuoso musicians, spotlighted by Ritchie Blackmore’s valiant andpoetic acoustic strumming and Candice Nights’ enchanting fairy talevocalizations, completes an exciting and extraordinary musical celebration.

But then occasionally you’ll also witness RitchieBlackmore “the legendary rocker” wailing on his ‘Strat’ on tunes like “TheCircle.”

Blackmore’s Nights’ music is positive, inspiring,romantic, and it wakes up the soul. Their audiences are so inspired, that theycontribute to the celebration by dressing in their favorite garb, mimickingtheir most revered fairy tale, medieval, or Renaissance era character.

Blackmore Night’s subsequent album releases … Under a Violet Moon (1999), Fires at Midnight (2001), Ghost of a Rose (2003), The Village Lanterne (2006), Winter Carols (2006), Secret Voyage (2008), and Autumn Sky (2010).

Ritchie Blackmore and Candice Night finally tied theknot in 2008 after a nineteen year relationship. Their first child together,Autumn Esmeralda Blackmore was born in May 2010. Blackmore’s Nights’ eighthalbum, Autumn Sky was dedicated tothe birth of their first born daughter.

Candice Night released her first solo album entitledReflections in 2011. It’s anawe-inspiring collection of musicwritten and performed by Candice. The album was not influenced by husbandRitchie, leaving Candice alone to do her own thing. Track two … “Gone GoneGone,” should be sitting at the top of the country charts, while “DangerousSmile” could easily be the theme to the next James Bond movie. “Alone withFate” is a beautiful composition reminiscent to the timeless classic “Thosewere the days” by Mary Hopkin.

… I instantly fell in love with the CD and gave it (5) stars.

On February 7th 2012, Candice Night gave birth totheir son Rory Dartanyan.

Blackmore’s Night continues to amaze and illuminateaudience’s worldwide, bringing joy and happiness to their faithful, young andold, and who for one very special evening are transported into another placeand time … filled with fantasy, magic, chivalry, clever repartee, and a reasonto be merry.

Blackmore’s Night is currently celebrating theirfifteen anniversary.

The group’s latest release is called Blackmore’s Night: A Knight in York. It’san incredible journey of some of the groups most recent tracks performed livein York, England. The special edition collection contains a single audio CD accompaniedby (1) DVD and (1) Blue-ray DVD. The DVD is where you’ll receive the genuineBlackmore’s Night experience. You’ll witness the colorful onstage wardrobe andscenery, capturing the true ambience and celebration of the show. You will alsoshare what their audience’s have experienced for fifteen years … the enjoymentand magic of being part of a Blackmore’s Night event. I gave Blackmore’s Night: A Knight in York - TheCD/ DVD special edition collection (5)stars.

Coming in mid January 2013! Blackmore’s Night willbe releasing “The Beginning” A documentation of their early period. -Including ShadowOf The Moon and Under A Violet Moon aswell as rare video footage of their early tours "Live In Germany1997-1998" and "Under A Violet Moon - Castle Tour 2000” -Availablefor the first time on DVD and only in the "The Beginning” box.

I had the delightful opportunity to chat withCandice Night last week about her life before and after meeting her legendaryguitar-hero husband.

Candice was definitely one of the most personableartists that I have interviewed. She gleams with positivity, is extremelycheerful, and just a pleasure to talk with.

Here’s my interview with the enchanting songstress/songwriter/ and multi-instrumentalist for Blackmore’s Night… CANDICE NIGHT.

RayShasho: Candice, thank you for being on the call today, where are you callingfrom?

CandiceNight: “I’m in cold, wet, and rainy New York, but theleaves here are amazing right now.”

RayShasho: First of all, I’d like to say congratulations on the groups fifteenyear anniversary.

CandiceNight: “Thank you very much Ray … you’re one of a few menwho remembered an anniversary (All laughing).”

RayShasho: TellRitchie, I also like to clean house and run the vacuum like he does.

CandiceNight: “Ihate to tell you this … but this is probably one of the main reasons why yourwife married you, because I could say that about my husband (Laughing). Hecalls it a Hoover, because the big separation of language between the Englishand American, so I often need a translator when he’s talking. So when he saysI’m running the Hoover, I say that’s exactly why I married you my darling (Alllaughing).”

“But it’s so funny when you listen to all thedifferent dialects when you’re traveling and touring. This one whole area whereRitchie’s ancestors are from, Jamaica Inn, which was based on an old story byDaphne du Maurier, it’s a little bit north and east of Penzance where all thepirates use to come and bring all their booty there and distribute it. So theJamaica Inn actually exists and it’s very haunted on Bodmin Moor. Whenever wego to England, we try and go to this place because a lot of Ritchie’s ancestorsare from there, it’s a lot of farm country, and all the people out thereliterally have a pirate’s dialect. It’s like being out on a movie set … youhave the sign swinging in the wind, it’s really dark and misty, the cobblestonesare outside, and then the door blows open and some guy comes in talking like apirate … and I go, can somebody just pinch me, I just love it!”

RayShasho: Ritchie always looked like a swashbuckler anyway … put a sword in hishand and he could even be one of the Three Musketeers.

CandiceNight: “He’s a big fan of Errol Flynn as I’m sure you couldimagine. And of course you watch ThePrincess Bride and he’s like Inigo Montoya. Actually Mandy Patinkin whoplayed that part, we went to see him in concert at Westbury Music Fair awhileago and he was just brilliant. He has this amazing voice where when he sings hesounds like an old 1920s record. It’s so funny because apparently for hisencore he ends by running back on stage and saying “Hello: My name is InigoMontoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.” And then everybody applausesand he comes back off the stage (Laughing).”

RayShasho: Candice, you and I share something in common … we were both in radio.

CandiceNight: “Actually, when I first met Ritchie that was mychosen career path. I tried to figure out where I’d fit into the radio world,trying every aspect of it … promotions, I was cutting commercials, and justseeing where I’d fit in before someone came along and scoop me up and ride offin a white horse … or black horse probably.”

“I met Ritchie back in 1989 on a soccer field. I wasthere to cheer on my team; we were actually number one arbitron-rated for aclassic rock station here in Long Island. I was going to New York Tech forcommunications and taking my radio courses. So I was interning there for abouta year and half at WBAB and Deep Purple came into town and said let’s play acharity soccer match. We brought our guys down, and they brought all theirringers from Europe, and our guys were not the most athletic, they were reallygood at eating pizza, and running up and down on the field was not their forte.So you can imagine that Deep Purple beat us pretty badly. So after the game, Iwent over and congratulated him and that’s when our meeting began.”

RayShasho: Was Ian Gillan the singer of Deep Purple at the time?

CandiceNight: “Yes, but the funny thing was he wasn’t on thesoccer field. Ritchie and Roger Glover came, but I think the rest of the guysjust said have a nice time boys.”

RayShasho: I chatted with Joe Lynn Turner last year, and it sounded to me that hereally cherished working with Ritchie, so they must have had a really goodworking relationship. But it didn’t sound like Ritchie and Ian Gillan likedeach other very much.

CandiceNight: “Joe and I ended up doing a duet; we redid “Streetof Dreams” on one of our albums a couple of years back. Joe is one of thoseguys we keep in contact with and just such a good guy and so overenthusiasticand has got a lot of energy. But yea, I think there was a lot of friction andfrom what I wound up seeing there was a large amount of friction in the lastdays of that Deep Purple incarnation, which was so sad because in the beginningthey had such an amazing rapport and they had so many amazing songs. But towardsthe end, everybody is travelling in their own separate limo and they only talkwhen they get onstage …if then, and maybe egos were pulling everyone inopposite directions, and it’s kind of bad to see that sort of thing happen. Youalso don’t want to keep people in one box when they’re like that becausesomebody is going to explode somewhere along the line.”

RayShasho: What did you think when Ritchie asked you to become his musical partnerat that time?

CandiceNight: “It’s a funny thing; we never actually went througha conversation like that. Everything that we’ve ever done has been a reallynatural evolution. When I first met him, we ended up being friends first andthen obviously the evolution of our relationship grew and he got me on the roadwith him. He knew I could sing …when he has parties, he’ll bring out theacoustic guitar and play for you, but he also wants everybody to give a littlebit of themselves to be on an equal playing field. He doesn’t care if it’sreciting a poem, or doing a dance, or playing an instrument, singing a song orwhatever it is, just bring it and let everybody have a good time and participate.So when it got to my part when I first met him at one of his parties, he saidwhat’s your contribution to the party? I said I’ll sing a song … and I thinkthe first song we ever did together was the “Theme from Mahogany” believe it ornot, he loves that song. At that point he knew I could carry a tune. So when Iwent out on the road with him in 1993 with Deep Purple, he had asked me to dosome backing vocals on his “Difficult to Cure” solo. So they had me well hiddenbehind some drapes and had amplifiers stacked up in front of me so nobody couldsee me.”

“So really after that … was when he left that bandand reformed Rainbow, and he knew I was kind of a closet poet, constantlyscribbling in my journals and writing poetry. So when the guys in Rainbow werehaving a hard time coming up with lyrical content he came to me. He called meup on the phone and I was coming up to visit anyway, he played me a backingtrack over the phone and said, look, see what you can do, if it’s not somethingthat works for us, we’ll fly up a professional guy and head that way. So Ithought I’d just give it a shot and got on the ferry up here from PortJefferson to Bridgeport and by the time I got to the other side, and after anhour and fifteen minutes of just looking at the water and listening to thatbacking track in my head, I came up with fourteen versus. When I got to theother side they said … great! We’ll take this one and that one. Then they’recircling … yea, this one, that one, and the other one, and we’ll piece thistogether … there’s the chorus and there’s the song. I said wow that was easy! And it was somethingI really loved. So that was actually how I ended up writing or co-writing.”

“While the other guys in Rainbow were doing thebacking tracks, Ritchie and I would be sitting in front of a big ragingfireplace in Massachusetts at Long View Farm Studio with the snow falling down,and he and I would have the acoustic instruments, and I would make up lyricsand he would make up songs, and that was kind of his escape from what the rockand roll world had become for him, because he had been in it for over thirtyyears at that point. So like I said, it was just all a natural revolution, westarted writing together, the people wanted to hear the music more, and then arecord company offered, and it grew and grew. Now it’s been fifteen years andevery step of the way has been amazing.”

RayShasho: Blackmore’s Nights’ music is positive, inspiring, romantic, and itwakes up the soul.

CandiceNight: “This is one of the only shows where people leavewith smiles on their face. It’s like a contagious energy that’s all positiveand it makes me feel so good in a world that is so unsure, unknown, andnegative. And you have everything from road rage to air rage to your sensesbeing bombarded by texts and emails and everything is always in your face allthe time. Even the commercials are screaming at you all the time …and it neverends! For me it’s just nice to seepeople enjoying the music and enjoying the escape to be able to close theireyes and go someplace else and get away from all the stress and the pressure. Ilove the age range of the people that come to the shows … from five year oldlittle kids who are enjoying it because they’re still innocent enough to dressup and become anything from princesses to fairies, or Robin Hood. Then theparents get involved because the fathers followed Ritchie’s music since the60s, and now that guy’s married to a wife who likes the romantic lyricalcontent. Then there’s the grandparents who think it’s just good old melodicmusic.”

RayShasho: I watched an interview that you and Ritchie did implying the decisionto play Renaissance-type music was because of Yoko Ono … was that a joke?

CandiceNight: “Its tongue and cheek I think. I’ve heard rumors that I may be referred to that occasionally butno one has been brave enough to say that to my face luckily, probably because Ido have medieval torture devices all through my house. We have converted ourhome into a medieval dungeon. I think when people get so caught up innostalgia; they just look at their favorite bands and think those bands are goingto be exactly the way they were in the 70s, just stay in that box and be likethat forever and ever. And when something comes along, that world changes andtheir whole world gets shattered and they have a hard time dealing with that.”

“Let’s go back to the John Lennon/Yoko Ono thing,when you’re watching any of the documentaries, for better or for worst, did youever see John Lennon happier than with Yoko Ono?”

RayShasho: I don’t know … I really thought Paul McCartney broke up The Beatles.(All laughing)

CandiceNight: “When the Beatles ran their course and weren’t happyanymore, you can’t keep them in that box. So who’s ever around at the time endsup getting blamed, and I can speak from personal experiences. Being withRitchie, I’m with him first and forth most at a personable level and ifsomething is going to make him smile and be happy than I’m for that one hundredpercent. But if somebody’s going to tell me, he’s got to go on stage and beabsolutely miserable, and I know its eating him up inside, and he hates whathe’s doing every night, which one are you going to support? I stand behind himwhatever decision he makes, and so the decision he made was to follow anotherpath.”

RayShasho: I do like hearing all those Ritchie Blackmore rock and roll stories though.Like when he destroyed the cameraman’s TV camera at California Jam. Greg Laketold me that he’d become annoyed over the fact that Emerson, Lake & Palmerwere headlining. They didn’t want to be playing in the support role.

CandiceNight: “I think they were promised by the promoters when theywere to go out and do their show that they would be the first band to play whenthe sun went down. So they ended up getting completely screwed on that. He saidhe had people banging on his door for like an hour saying you’re going to getcut from the list, than you can’t go out, and you’re going to get sued…. theytried to get rushed out and he said no, this is what was in the contract, thisis what we were promised. So… sorry Greg, it had nothing to do with that. Butit was probably the fact that they had promised him that slot and he was justso pissed off. It’s just such an amazing visual when you’re the first band thatcomes onstage when the lights come on.”

“But there were problems on the Come Hell or High Water video too. And these are all the storiesbehind the stories. We were in the dressing room and we knew they were going tofilm that night, Ritchie had said, “Why don’t you film on the first couple ofnights because the singer tends to blow his voice out on like the second orthird night and I’d rather you guys get a good performance.” So they keptputting him off, and putting him off, and saying no. They finally decidethey’re going to record more towards the middle or end of the tour. So Ritchiewasn’t happy about that, he didn’t feel like it was going to be a really goodperformance for everybody involved.”

“Ritchie goes to the side of the stage and seescameras setup on the stage, and a camera was setup right in between him and theaudience. He said, “That is not going to happen because those people paid moneyto see me, not to see the back of a cameraman’s head.” Everything he does isfighting for the fans, which is so ironic because he has such a bad name, butnobody ever hears the stories behind while these temper tantrums are happening.So he spoke to management and they said okay I get it, we’ll move thecameraman, get ready to go onstage. Ten minutes later, the cameraman hasn’tmoved an inch, he’s still out there. So Ritchie says, “That’s it… I’m tellingyou, I’m not going out there.” And everybody is waiting and the guy still isn’tmoving. Ritchie says, “I’m not having a cameraman in between me and the fans!”

“By the third time, Ritchie tells the roadie to movethe cameraman. Five minutes later, Ritchie hears the band starting. Now they’restarting “Highway Star.” Ian Paice is out there getting the drumbeat started;everyone is starting and their waiting for Ritchie. The band is thinking ifthey go ahead and played Ritchie has to come out and play at some point. Sothey’re going on and on and on with the backing track of “Highway Star” withouta guitar.”

“Ritchie says, “That’s it!” He went out with a glassof water and threw it right into the camera and it was taped. The guy’s camerawas ruined, and I think somewhere along the way when he threw that water it gotIan Gillian’s wife at the same time. It was not international but it didhappen. So that was the story behind that.”

RayShasho: Deep Purple will never capture the excitement it once had; especiallynow that Jon Lord has left us. Did you and Ritchie attend Jon Lord’s funeral?

CandiceNight: “We actually got the news five minutes before westepped on stage one night. We didn’tgo; we were actually on tour at the time but we were invited to it. We actuallymade a large contribution to pancreatic research in his name and obviously sentcondolences to his family. But it was just devastating for Ritchie.”

RayShasho: Blackmore’s Night recently released AKnight in York and will be releasing “TheBeginning” box set sometime in mid January of 2013. I really want to chatabout “Reflections” your first soloalbum …it’s an awe-inspiring CD.

CandiceNight: “Wow, that’s so nice thank you. When you dosomething solo you kind of take off the training wheels, you’re doing the wholething by yourself. Ritchie didn’t even know I was going to the studio and doingthat, I would book time when he wasn’t in the house with the producer, anddidn’t even ask his advice or want him knowing it. If I had asked his advice itwould have been the same as a Blackmore’s Night song. So it was reallyimportant for me to do that one hundred percent by myself.”

RayShasho: The second track on the album “Gone Gone Gone” can easily be sitting ontop of the country charts, are you a big fan of country music?

CandiceNight: “I love country music; Richie stays far away from thatstuff, I obviously have different influences than he does, he’s much more intothe renaissance purist aspect of things and I get more involved with thefantasy aspect of things. And I’ll listen to radio tracks, even on “DangerousSmile” I was getting inspiration from a Kelly Clarkson track at that pointwhich was “Walk Away” as far as instrumentation and production was concerned.Yea, I love country music and listen to it often. As a matter of fact it’sprobably almost the last passion of music where I feel they really craft theirsongs and their lyrics. Sometimes I listen to some of those lyrics and itbrings tears to my eyes. I can’t think of another genre of music that makes mefeel that deeply at this point.”

RayShasho: The DVD of Blackmore’s Night:A Knight in York is so importantbecause it captures the full essence of the concert experience, not only themusic, but the beautiful set and wardrobe. How do you determine the on-stagewardrobe?

CandiceNight: “I have a lot of different colored outfits that Imix and match so it looks like I’m wearing all different outfits every night. On that show, I was five and a halfmonths pregnant. My daughter comes out in one of the songs and I did not knowthat they were going to bring her out at that song. We’re in a brilliant operahouse and she’s walking out onstage while I’m playing the shawm towards themicrophone and there’s a big huge drop where the orchestra pit was. So I’mwatching her frantically as she’s walking out and I’m having a mommy- moment. (Alllaughing) So I finally scooped her up while I finished the song because I knewshe was in my arms … but it was so funny.”

RayShasho: A lot of your audience also dresses up in renaissance garb as well?

CandiceNight: “We’ve seen everything from five year old littlegirls dressed up in fairy outfits to knights and shining armor, peasants, kingsand queens, minstrels, and eighty five year old jesters in full bells inEngland. Actually in England, I’ve seen men dressed up like women coming to theshows. But it always adds to like a costume party type of event and makes theshow a lot of fun. It’s always so interesting to me to see what these peoplewear, when they wear their personality on their sleeves.”

RayShasho: Candice, you are an awesome songwriter, where do you usually receiveyour inspiration for writing?

CandiceNight: “Nature is my number one inspiration. I think thereis just so much complexity and simplicity in dealing with nature. You go outsideand see a flower and really get involved with the intricacies of that flower ….Like the bees going into it. Nature provides miracles and magic every singleday and so many people are caught up on survival mode, or survival techniques,so we don’t get a chance to see it, enjoy it, or appreciate it. And if you kingof unplug everything and just step outside …listen to the crickets, feel thewind in your hair or face, see the stars or sunset … all these things are infront of you all the time. If you just unplug and give yourself to that moment….it’s incredibly inspirational. So if I ever feel low on inspiration, I justtake a walk through the woods and it all comes back to me.”

“The other thing I like to do is when we aretravelling, doing our touring, I always like to get absorbed in the legends,the myths, and fairytales of the regional area, which I always findfascinating. That’s where songs like “Benzaiten” about one of the Goddessesfrom Japan wound up coming to me. She actually lived at the bottom of a lakeand played this sixteenth century instrument and married the dragon king and Ithought … huh, that’s kind of close to my life. But she’s an incredible legend, out of the seven Gods of good fortune; she’s the only Goddess fromJapan. So I reworked that legendary story and put it into a song.”

RayShasho: We’ll belooking forward to “The Beginning” boxset coming out in mid January 2013. The set also includes footage from yourearly castle tour?

CandiceNight: “Forthe fans who really want to see where our roots came from and where it allstarted, I think it’ll be a great collector’s piece for them and they’ll reallyappreciate it.”

RayShasho: Candice,thank you so much for all the great music you and Ritchie have given to us overthe years. And please come down to Florida … Imagine Blackmore’s Nightperforming at Epcot or the Magic Kingdom?

CandiceNight: “We love Epcot! Ritchie use to have a house downthere on Marco Island about twenty years ago.”

“It was great talking with you Ray!”

Ordernow…Blackmore’s Night: A Knight in York atamazon.com or on Blackmore’s Night official website.

Ordernow … Candice Night’s incredible solo release Reflections at amazon.com

Comingin mid January 2013! Blackmore’s Night will be releasing “TheBeginning” A documentation of their early period. -Including ShadowOf The Moon and Under A Violet Moon aswell as rare video footage of their early tours "Live In Germany1997-1998" and "Under A Violet Moon - Castle Tour 2000” -Availablefor the first time on DVD and only in the "The Beginning” box.

Specialthanks to Chip Ruggieri of Chipster PR & Consulting www.chipsterpr.com

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