On her first release in three years, Whole Lotta Love, legendary blues singer Candye Kane serves up a selection of tunes as diverse as her audience — from lowdown, double entendre blues numbers (“Put It All In There”) and reggae vibes (“I Got A Secret”) to balls-out rock, as heard on her endearing, albeit uncanny, take on the title track, made famous by Led Zeppelin.

Known to many for her eyebrow-raising stage antics and life-, size-, gender- and sexual orientation-affirming message, Kane nevertheless remains a consummate musician. And just like the seeming contradiction between her professionalism and campy showmanship, Kane herself is hard to put in a box. Despite her past as a self-proclaimed “x-rated, welfare mother from East L.A.” — a past she has worked into her routine for the benefit of herself and disenfranchised music fans alike, Kane is also a mother, homemaker and a woman with strong religious convictions. The Oceanside resident spoke with the Gay and Lesbian Times about her new CD and her, at times, controversial image.

At a recent Cityfest show, Kane could be seen performing not only with longtime boogie-woogie collaborator Sue Palmer on piano, but her 23-year-old son Evan on drums.

“He’s really developed into quite a fine drummer,” says Kane. “It’s been really fun having him in the show, because he’s a really nice, well adjusted kid. I think people come to the show and they see, not only do I have this colorful, interesting and sometimes controversial past,… but that I’ve also been a good mom and I’ve got a nice kid and he’s playing with me. I think it sort of comes full circle.”

As a testament to her maternal side, Kane whipped up homemade apple pies to serve at a recent release party for Whole Lotta Love.

“I have a vintage apron collection, so I wore an apron and … just served everybody apple pie,” says Kane. “It was campy and fun and a nice bonus for people that came to the party…. Everybody ate it…. People had some fun with the whipped cream, licking it off each other every now and then.”

Whole Lotta Love is Kane’s first CD for German label Ruf records. Though Kane says she had a good relationship with her prior label, Rounder, it had been three years since her last release, The Toughest Girl Alive, and she was beginning to feel a layer of dust forming on her career. “In this business, especially at my level, you really need to keep new releases out there every couple years,” she explains. “It’s keeps you working. It keeps festivals hiring you.”

Ruf also put up enough money for Kane to include special guest artists on the CD, such as legendary blues harmonica player Charlie Mussclewhite and vocalist/political satirist Reverend Billy C. Wirtz.

As for choosing to cover the song, “Whole Lotta Love,” Kane says, “I like to say on stage, ‘Back when I was a white trash stoner in East L.A., I’d sit in my boyfriend’s Datsun pickup truck, drink 40s of Old English, smoke reefer and listen to this song on the 8-track.’

“The reason that I decided to record it is that I found out it was recorded by Willie Dickson, a classic blues bass player…. I’m a big fan of his and a fan of his songwriting, … so I wasn’t surprised that he’d written it, but his version is so … different from the Led Zeppelin version, like a lowdown blues version.

“I think people have been surprised to see me tackle such a hard rock song,” Kane adds, “But for me the song takes on a whole new meaning, as sort of a large-sized anthem. I mean, I am a ‘whole lotta love’ and that’s what I try to spread through my shows, both lyrically and though silly things like making apple pies. I mean, it’s a whole love message and a whole love vibe that I’m trying to perpetuate….”

Like Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant, Kane admits that she gets a little sexually suggestive with her body language while performing the tune. However, she remains surprised by the puritanical censorship she often arouses.

“There was an ad taken out in Blues Review Magazine [for Whole Lotta Love] and the editor of Blues Review said, ‘Well, you know, we’re printing a big ad for your record, I wasn’t sure we could print it, because that record cover is pretty provocative,’ and I’m going, okay, I’m showing some cleavage on the cover of my record, but Britney Spears wears dresses like that — it’s just that I’m showing a hundred pounds more flesh than she does. Nobody questions it when Britney Spears or Cher wears a dress cut all the way down to their navel. No one says that it’s indecent or shouldn’t be on the page of a magazine, but if a fat girl does it, it suddenly becomes this big obscenity thing…. I always say I’m a black drag queen trapped in a white woman’s body. I borrow a lot of fashion styling from my drag queen friends and it doesn’t seem obscene when they do it. Why is it obscene when I do it?”

On the rare occasion Kane has been known to remove her top and tickle the ivories with her bare breasts. “I like to do it because it’s fun and I also want them to have a show that’s memorable and I want them never to forget seeing me,” Kane explains. “That’s part of why I do it. I realize that in some ways it marginalizes me as an artist and may make me feel like a novelty act,… [but] I only do it when I feel like it’s the right crowd and the people are having fun and they seem to have a great sense of humor. I do it usually when they’re responding well to my jokes, you know, or … let’s say there’s a lot of big women in the crowd…. The gay community is pretty safe with their bodies and with sexuality, so they’re not going to freak out about it. But, you know, I feel disappointed in myself, because I feel like I don’t have the best judgment about these things…. I’m my own worst enemy in that respect.”

Asked if her message has changed over the years, Kane says, “I think my message has always been about surviving. I mean, my weight goes up and down, so it’s not the main crux of my message…. I want to make people laugh, because I think laughter’s great medicine, but I also really am grateful for what I have got…. In spite of all of the really gnarly things I’ve been through and really incredible things I’ve seen in my lifetime, I still have a sort of wide-eyed innocence about the world. And I still am excited to meet each person and sign their CD after the show.”

Kane is also a deeply spiritual person, having converted to Judaism a few years back. “One of the reasons I [converted to Judaism] was because in my strain of Judaism, which is reform, they have a lot of tolerance and open minded attitudes about sexuality [and] women — you know, there are female rabbis — and about gay people and just life in general. The rabbi said, ‘You know, God could be male, female or not trapped by gender.’ You know, I’ve never had a religious man even understand that … someone could be trapped by gender. That was such an evolved thing for someone to say.

“I actually have always been a super-spiritual person,” Kane concludes. “I’ve always felt that there was a god or a goddess, a genderless power that has given me comfort during really down times. I mean, people probably would be surprised to know that … I pray all the time…. I don’t think God is there like a short order cook answering my prayers, but I do think that when I pray for strength or I pray to be able to affect an audience and have things go well, it’s sort of like a positive affirmation.”

Whole Lotta Love is available at Tower Records, Warehouse Music or via Kane’s web site, a link to which can be found in the online version of this interview at www.gaylesbiantimes.com.