Tucson Citizen
By A.J. Flick – June, 27 2002

Christian Kane merged his two loves - country music and acting - while making the film "Life or Something Like It," but you have to listen closely to catch the moment. In one quick scene, he walks down a hallway singing softly. The snippet from "Sweet Carolina Rain," which he co-wrote and sang on his group KANE's self-titled album, wasn't the idea of director Stephen Herek ("Rock Star," "Mr. Holland's Opus").

"We did three takes without me singing it," Kane says, calling from his Los Angeles home. "Then one where I was really wailin' it was pretty lame, so he said, 'Let's do one more take with you singing, but you know it'll never make the film.'

"So when they were editing the film," Kane says, laughing, "he called me back and said, 'Man, you won't believe this, but the one with you singing was the best take, and now I have to use it!' "Kane won't get any royalties from his escapade, however. "I was just lucky to get it in there," he says.

Kane's acting career is definitely upward bound. In 1997, he was cast as the male lead character in the short-lived TV show "Fame L.A." In 1999, he had a small role in Ron Howard's "Edtv." From 1999-2001, he landed a recurring role on the WB series "Angel" as a villainous lawyer. In late 2000, he starred opposite singer/actress Monica in the MTV movie "Love Song," which featured a duet. Last year, he appeared in a TV movie starring Tom Selleck, "Crossfire Trail," and the Freddie Prinze Jr. movie "Summer Catch." In "Life or Something Like It," he played Angelina Jolie's materialistic jock boyfriend. Next, he'll star as a potential home wrecker in the film "Just Married," set for release next year.

Years of playing Los Angeles honky-tonks are beginning to pay off big time as well. Kane and rhythm guitarist Steve Carlson formed KANE in 1998. Music Connection magazine, which covers the L.A. music scene in depth, called KANE one of L.A. hottest unsigned acts. KANE recently performed at Sizzlin' Country, a benefit for cystic fibrosis held before the Academy of Country Music Awards, along with Cyndi Thompson, Trick Pony, Tommy Shane Steiner and Jeffrey Steele. The band is a regular at the trendy Hollywood clubs Viper Room and The Mint. Just don't ask Kane, 27, to choose between acting and singing. "People are always asking me, 'Which do you want to do?' and I always say, 'I want to do them both!' "Nashville isn't exactly enamored of actors-turned-country artists, which Kane is well aware of. "It has screwed me up in the past!" he says, laughing. "Yeah, some people in Nashville are a little wary of me being an actor. But it's not just that I've sold a couple of records here and I played in nightclubs in Norman, Oklahoma. We're sellin' albums all over the world - in Iceland and places like India. And we've been able to sell CDs there because of the acting thing. And once people hear the music, they pass it on to their friends." A handsome, blue-eyed 27-year-old fond of backyard barbecues, Kane's love of country is rooted in the Midwestern suburbia of a college town.

"I've always been a fan of country music. My parents both used to ride in the rodeo, and I grew up with country music in the house," says Kane, a Dallas native who spent most of his youth in Norman. And along with the steady country music diet that included Glen Campbell and Willie Nelson, Kane also was nourished by good ol' rock and roll, which shows in the edgy country/rock sound of KANE.

"I really have fun puttin' a bit of rock and roll into my country music," he says. "It's something I enjoy doing, and the way I look at it is, if I'm not having a good time, no one else is, either." Southern California native Carlson has a strong background in classic rock.

"His influences are the Allman Brothers, the Eagles - and we both grew up on Lynyrd Skynyrd. So when we started playin' and writing songs together, we came up with this sound and stuck with it. I get a lot of people walkin' up to me in L.A. and say they don't even like country music, but they love this. That's the best compliment I could ever get."Last year, KANE made a demo CD in hopes of getting a record deal.

"It was fun, but the quality is not exactly what we would want it to be," Kane says. "But then there was so much demand for a CD that we put it out, and people really seem to like it. And now, I just can't wait to get into a studio with someone and make a CD."To that end, Kane and Carlson have been making regular trips to Nashville to write songs and pound the pavement on Music Row, looking for the deal that many believe will come in a matter of time. Kane and Carlson wrote all eight tracks and the bonus song on "KANE." and at first, teaming up with outside songwriters was awkward, Kane admits.

"Sometimes what comes out of Nashville is too cookie-cutter, and sometimes what we do strays a little bit too far. So it's good that we have people who can say that we've got way too far outside the fence. Because ultimately we want to appeal to the masses. But we still want to be KANE. People have told us that when they hear one of our songs, they immediately say, 'That's KANE.'