As a young girl in the 1960s, Linda Rodney spent much of her time with her grandmother, who was working as a cotton picker in South Carolina. Now a singer known as Chocolate Thunder, she infuses her music with that childhood experience every time she sets foot on stage. Having appeared in several musicals-including an award-winning turn as Tina Turner-Chocolate Thunder delivers powerful, deep felt performances on her debut album Barkin' Up the Wrong Tree. Ear Candy followed in 2009. As she herself once said: "You see, I not only can sing the blues, but I also know why we sing it."