“My Mizzou” Story
Candy Coburn
Country Music’s Tiger Performs in Mid-Missouri
Country singer Candy Coburn, a 1998 University of Missouri graduate (BA, Theatre), will bring her energetic and boisterous show to Mid-Missouri this summer. Concerts are scheduled for July 17 at Mojo’s in Columbia; July 18 at Aquapalooza, the Lake of the Ozarks; July 29 at the Cole County Fair; and August 18 at the Missouri State Fair.
Candy Coburn’s music is similar to the famous Donny and Marie song, “A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll,” except she is also a little bit gospel and a little bit pop. In fact, this up-and-coming country star calls herself a “melting pot for music.”
“I put everything in my music,” says Coburn, “and it just comes out me.”
She boasts 150 shows a year, performs to large arenas, and has shared the stage with country greats such as George McCorkle, Charlie Daniels, and Montgomery Gentry. She recorded her first CD herself in a basement in St. Louis. Enjoy the Ride was cut quickly, and Coburn handled the distribution. She convinced Wal-Mart to sell it at their stores, which was an accomplishment, but Coburn admits she learned a lot during that experience.
“I really had to feel my way; there are not a lot of females who do what I do, so I didn’t have anyone to look up to,” says Coburn.
Her second CD, Rev It Up, was produced in Nashville and has been described by critics as a high-energy, southern-rock album that will get you on your feet.
Her third record, coming out this fall, is the one she is really excited about. It was produced by Joe Scaife, a major producer in Nashville, who also has produced records for Gretchen Wilson and Montgomery Gentry.
“This is the type of record I wanted,” says Coburn. “It is on a different level than the previous two. It took a long time to get here.”
One of the songs on the upcoming album, “Pink Warrior,” is the theme song for the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure from 2009 through 2011. The Susan G. Komen Foundation has always been important to Coburn because she has lost several family members to cancer. In particular, Coburn’s grandmother, Marie Tucker, battled the disease and taught Coburn to be a fighter.
Coburn co-wrote “Pink Warrior” with three friends, and it has become an anthem for all women battling breast cancer. She had the chance to play her song to 50,000 people at the Mall in Washington, D.C., to kick off the Susan G. Komen Global Race for the Cure in June.
Proceeds received by Coburn from the sales of “Pink Warrior” will benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. The song can be downloaded on iTunes.
Wherever her career takes her, she won’t forget where she came from. She admits she is a die-hard fan of the MU football team and had been known to start the M-I-Z-Z-O-U chant in enemy territories: Oklahoma and Texas.
For more information and tickets for her show, visit her Web site: www.candycoburn.com.
by Laura Lindsey
College of Arts and SciencePosted July 2009
