"...You need a great big woman. No diet plate woman. No slim fast woman. You need a great big woman to show you how to love..." Lyrics by Candye Kane: singer, songwriter and political activist whose career has spanned more than two decades! She has appeared on television shows like Queen Latifah, Roseanne and HBO Real Sex. She has released eight CDs and is featured in Rolling Stone Magazines Guide to Jazz and Blues. And she is one of my all-time favorite champions of size acceptance!

I have been listening to Candye Kane's music for many years now-originally drawn to her songs because they radiated a self-confidence and unabashed sexuality that I had never heard before from a woman over a size two in this country! She instantly became a hero of mine so you can imagine how excited I was to meet her a few years back in San Diego.

Each year, Candye travels the globe spreading her message of self-acceptance and dare I say it: love. Her music is as big, as sexy and as powerful as she is and if you haven't heard one of her CDs I suggest you hit her website right now and listen to some of her tunes!

JJ: When did you start singing? What makes you continue to perform?

CK: I have always been a singer since I was a five-year old girl. I discovered early that strangers would give me positive attention if I sang. I had a troubled home life and so singing brought me the praise and instant affection I needed. I performed in church, amateur shows like the gong show and the Ted Mack Amateur Hour. Now eight nationally released CDs and twenty years have gone by. I still perform because I love singing and its part of how I communicate with the world. I also have to support myself and am lucky to support myself doing what I love - singing and writing positive affirmation songs and still performing them for anyone who will listen.

JJ: Who are some of your influences as both an artist and a woman?

CK: As a female, my biggest idol is Victoria Woodhull who was the first female stockbroker on Wall Street. She was disowned by her long time friends, Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, when she started advocating a woman's right to be orgasmic and divorce their husbands. Women were still considered their husbands property back then and it was indecent for a woman to enjoy sex in the Victorian age. She ran for president on a ticket with former slave Frederick Douglass before women or African Americans had the right to vote. It was a symbolic ticket but an historic one. As an artist, I am influenced by so many great women before me. Etta James, Bessie Smith Big Maybelle and Big Mama Thornton were all large sized women who sang about sexuality and celebrated their lives as big women vocalists. They are especially inspirational for me.

JJ: What do you think of the term plus size? How do you like to describe yourself?

CK: Plus size is okay but I guess it implies that we are not normal size and I don't think that's true. I usually describe myself as generously proportioned or well rounded. Of course I love terms like zaftig, voluptuous, curvalicious, big boned and soft all over. But at the end of the day, you can call me fat and that's okay with me. FAT is not a four-letter word.

JJ: What are some of the highlights of your career?

CK: Well, I am currently nominated for a National Blues Foundation Award for Best contemporary blues female. The awards ceremony is in Tunica Mississippi on May 7th.

JJ: Congratulations! It is a real honor to be nominated for this award, which is on par with the Grammys in the blues world.

CK: If I win a Handy award, it will definitely mean that I have arrived as a blues singer.

JJ: No one deserves it more than you! You have definitely lived the life of a blues singer!

CK: Other highlights include my wonderful project www.Unitedbymusic.eu. It is like an American Idol show for special needs young adults where they audition and the winners get to perform with an American Blues band all over the Netherlands. This year we will take the project to South Africa, which is also exciting. Other highlights Include opening for Ray Charles in Cognac France. Playing at the Cannes film festival for director Pedro Almodovar, and playing at the French embassy in Rome for the then President of Italy.

JJ: Wow! That is very exciting indeed!

CK: I still feel as excited and optimistic about music as I used to as a girl singing hillbilly music as loud as I could on the boardwalk in Venice Beach for spare change.

JJ: Has your size hurt and/or helped your career?

CK: Both. Being a big woman has enabled me to write songs like "200 pounds of fun", You need a great big woman to show you how to love, and Fit, fat and fine.

JJ: I think 200 pounds of fun may be my favorite!

CK: These songs and my outspoken opinions about sizism have gained me large sized fans and admirers all over the world. Yet, Size discrimination does exist and that's why a woman over 200 lbs can be denied health insurance even if she has low blood pressure, no diabetes, and love cholesterol but a 99 lb woman will get insurance, no questions asked. This is blatant size discrimination and of course it exists in the record business too. I have been told repeatedly that if I lost weight, I could be a big star. I have refused to give into that pressure and chosen instead to make the body I am in healthy. Being fat is an asset in the blues world. There is a long line of big bold blues women who came before me so I fit in very well here.

JJ: Indeed! Your life itself could be a blues song. What would you tell a young girl struggling with body image?

CK: Be like a horse with blinders on. Be a human bullshit filter. Block out all the negative voices and comments of the rest of the world and tell yourself daily that you love yourself and are just right, just the way you are. Realize that beauty is inside you and glows from within. This also means that the foods we take into our body can make us glow from within too. Just because you're fat doesn't mean you have an excuse to be sedentary or eat poorly. Learn about nutrition, make good food choices but splurge when you feel like it and don't starve yourself. Ride a bike, swim laps, and go for a walk. Play a game you like, like tetherball or bowling. Being big isn't a death sentence. Not moving is a death sentence. Move your big generous booty, feed your mind as well as your body and laugh, laugh, laugh at anyone who says you cant do it.

JJ: Where can we find your music?

CK: My latest release, Guitard and Feathered, is available at Borders and Books and Amazon.com. www.candyekane.com; www.myspace.com/candyekaneband.

Post Script: I am so very sad to say that since this interview Ms. Kane has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. However, she is incredibly up-beat and optimistic and has really earned herself the title of "Toughest Girl Alive" (one of her popular songs.) For her uplifting news and songs about her cancer journey and to make donations, please visit her website at www.candyekane.com.