Meet Candi! She may have a custom closet filled with button downs and cashmere, and she can identify Old or New World wine by taste alone, but once upon a time she was a ninth grader in 1993. Any 14 year old is a brooding cloud of angst and sebum, but never more than in the 90’s when grunge was king. Candi was awash in the dirty, morose splendor of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and Alice In Chains and was learning the sex appeal of unwashed heroin addicts screaming into microphones. So she decided that guitar lessons were the way to go. Through a mouthful of braces and an unforgiving curtain of half-grown out bangs, she would croon the hypnotic melodies of her time: “Runaway Train”, “Fade Into You”, “Evenflo”...”Loser”. She developed calluses on the tips of her fingers as the months progressed, and mastered 6 whole chords thanks to her Harley-riding lesbian guitar teacher, Angela, who was the epitome of cool. Candi wore a uniform of black jeans, a black bodysuit and a flannel most days. Here we gaze upon her in her habitat with the camera set up on her book shelf - timer set- and Candi frozen in mid-song to capture what is supposed to look like a candid photo. Oh the authenticity! She’s so edgy in her grunge attire and her guitar set against a backdrop of mauve walls and hunter green floral bedspread with matching valance. She’s grown into her own in the years since, but she can still sing all the words to that one Candlebox song...
