SPOTLIGHT on singer Kandace Springs

Singer Kandace Springs’s smoky-voiced soul is the sound of summer.

WHO? The 27-year-old soul singer from Nashville, Tennessee, counts Rihanna’s people among her fans and even caught the attention of the late Prince. BIG BREAK Kandace was spotted aged 17 by Evan Rogers, the music producer who discovered Rihanna. But her father, a session musician, believed it wasn’t the right time for her to launch a music career and the idea of an album was dropped. Kandace moved out of her home and became a parking valet (she does like cars). Four years later, she called Rogers directly (having stolen the number from her dad’s phone), recorded a demo and signed a deal on her own terms. STAR APPEAL In 2014, Prince heard Kandace’s cover of Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me’ and flew her out to his Paisley Park headquarters in Minnesota. ‘Some people were scared of Prince [because of his fame]. I just treated him like a person,’ she said. They soon became friends. Prince performed a 20-minute private show for her, took her for a drive in his black Cadillac and gave her his custom-made leather jacket. His advice to Kandace? ‘Be who you are.’ INFLUENCES Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Norah Jones. STYLE The 1970s. Think designer dresses, gold chains and Converse All Stars. TYPICAL TWEET @KandaceSprings: ‘I love Jeeps! And love off-roading my Jeep on my time off! Check it out!! #jeeplife #jeeps #4x4 #muddingnmusic’ TYPICAL INSTAGRAM POST @kandacesprings: ‘Here are two drawings I did of two of the greatest musicians of all time! #jimihendrix #louisarmstrong’

Kandace’s debut album Soul Eyes is out now on Blue Note Records