Listen in to Goldmine’s Q&A with Candice Night, singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for Blackmore’s Night, the Renaissance folk act fronted by legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

Secret Voyage is the group’s latest LP, out on SPV Records, and it has that magical blend of ancient melodies and traditional and modern instrumentation that has beguiled so many listeners in recent years.

In this unique Q&A format, we offer up the questions here, followed by a link to click on the podcasted answers from Candice Night. Just click on each link to hear Candice’s answers!

Question 1: Many of the tracks on Secret Voyage explore the folk traditions of countries such as Russia, France, Germany and England. Do you find the lines between the folk music of all those countries are blurred in some ways, or do they all have their own distinct identities?

Answer 1: Click here.

Question 2: Using that as your template, and using Renaissance instruments, it seems the possibilities are endless for Blackmore’s Night?

Answer 2: Click here

Question 3: Is there a particular folk tradition that you are especially fond of, and does Ritchie share that?

Answer 3: Click here

Question 4: "Gilded Cage" has its roots in French folk traditions. That song has a real romantic quality, that unrequited love theme.

Answer 4: Click here

Question 5: "Toast To Tomorrow" has that celebratory Russian drinking song vibe. Is that one based on folk songs from that country that you’ve heard before?

Answer 5: Click here

Question 6: You do two very interesting covers on this record. One is your version of Elvis’ "Can’t Help Falling In Love." Why did you choose to remake that one, and how did you want to approach it?

Answer 6: Click here

Question 7: And then there’s Rainbow’s "Rainbow Eyes," which is really ethereal and sweeping here. And Ritchie’s guitar playing is otherworldly. Were you cautious at all about doing a song that Ritchie had done with another band?

Answer 7: Click here

Question 8: Where did you gain your interest in Renaissance music?

Answer 8: Click here

Question 9: A lot of your lyrics are inspired by nature and fantasy. How much does ancient  literature influence you?

It’s been some week for the legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Candice Night.

The pair has been fronting the renaissance-flavored folk-rock stylings of Blackmore’s Night for over 10 years and just received word that their all-new studio CD, Secret Voyage (SPV), has remained #1 on the Billboard New Age chart for the fourth straight week.
  
“With Blackmore’s Night,” says Blackmore, “we have the creative freedom to play any style of music we want. We can play folk, rock, ballads, instrumentals or tavern songs. I couldn’t do that before.”
   
The ambiance on Secret Voyage is exacted with stunning clarity. Secret Voyage can be digested on many levels. Blackmore solos brilliantly throughout on a number of stringed instruments, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins and mandolas. Candice’s voice is ethereal, and she plays a variety of ancient instruments on madrigals, shanties and folk from France, Germany, Russia and England. (The new album also contains an Elvis cover and a Rainbow cover.)
 
Night also appears in the feature film "Pray For Light," slated for early 2009 release.

Another haunting journey through the ancient past, Secret Voyage takes this group of wandering minstrels to musical ports of call both familiar and foreign. Along the way, the collective, led by legendary rock guitarist Ritchie Blackmore and the ethereal chanteuse Candice Night, resurrects the folk music of Eastern Europe, France, Germany and, of course, England with a beguiling mix of modern and Renaissance-era instrumentation.

On the rollicking, toe-tapping drinking song “Toast To Tomorrow,” stringed instruments, including Gypsy Rose’s violin, wheel about the dance floor in an authentic mastery of Russian folk traditions, while “Gilded Cage,” featuring Blackmore’s intricate acoustic guitar patterns and borrowing from French folk styles, plays on romantic, old-world sensibilities.

But, Renaissance music is Blackmore’s Night’s forte, and the lushness of “The Circle” and the misty atmosphere of “Sister Gypsy” — both featuring Night’s alluring vocals and gripping lyrical tales — drive home the point.

Examples of Blackmore’s incredible dexterity as a guitarist abound in the acoustic instrumental “Prince Waldeck’s Galliiard,” an adaptation of German traditions, and the more English leaning “Peasant’s Promise.” Interestingly, the full, rich reworking of “Rainbow’s Eyes,” an old Rainbow tune, and Blackmore’s soaring guitar leads on the synth-powered remake of Elvis’ “Can’t Help Falling In Love” make you wonder if he’s, indeed, ready to give up the rock ghost.

If nothing else, Blackmore’s Night should be applauded for reintroducing the world to musical styles that would, otherwise, be in danger of being forgotten entirely. That they continue to find new avenues of expression through dead musical languages is nothing short of remarkable.