{"id":27899,"date":"2024-08-06T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T09:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=27899"},"modified":"2024-08-05T14:16:16","modified_gmt":"2024-08-05T18:16:16","slug":"chris-cains-life-in-the-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/06\/chris-cains-life-in-the-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Cain\u2019s Life in the Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bay Area bluesman has the best Intentions<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

Chris Cain is a star in the blues world. The electric guitarist, singer and songwriter has just released Good Intentions Gone Bad<\/i>, his 17th<\/sup> album and second for prestigious blues label Alligator Records. Cain\u2019s expressive style communicates a deep love and understanding of the classic blues form, while his lyrics and delivery imbue the original music with a here-and-now character.<\/p>\n

Cain\u2019s family roots extend to Memphis, Tennessee, but he grew up \u2013 and paid his musical dues \u2013 in and around San Jose. He saw, heard and rubbed shoulders with guitar legends whose work would inform his own music. \u201cI was lucky,\u201d he says. \u201cBack then, San Jose had a lot of clubs where those guys you\u2019d dig on records would play.\u201d Cain was able to catch live sets by blues and rock legends like Mike Bloomfield. \u201cOn any given weekend,\u201d he says, \u201cyou could go see somebody like Elvin Bishop\u2026 for 50\u00a2!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As a teen, Cain yearned to visit The Bodega, situated at the site now occupied by the Water Tower II Plaza. \u201cAlbert King would play for three nights in a row,\u201d he recalls. Unfortunately, Cain wasn\u2019t old enough to gain admittance to the club. \u201cSo I would just stand near the biggest door and listen,\u201d he says. \u201cBut there were guys there who I knew; [sometimes] they would open up the side door and just pull me in!\u201d<\/p>\n

And that local scene had room for young local players, too. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t like being in New York or somewhere,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere was a scene: we had places where even if you didn\u2019t have a band, you could play with other guys, get your own thing together.\u201d<\/p>\n

At that point, Cain\u2019s musical worldview was completely centered on blues. \u201cI had no idea about song form beyond the twelve-bar format,\u201d he admits. \u201cI wasn\u2019t familiar with r&b; I was too busy \u2013 locked in my room with my B.B. King records. That\u2019s why I didn\u2019t have a date until I was 30!\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon enough, Cain earned an early opportunity that broadened his horizons and set him on his musical path. Keyboardist Clifford Coulter was Bill Withers\u2019 musical director, and between tours he played gigs of his own. Long before the advent of MIDI technology, Coulter made use of backing tracks to create a full band sound without a stage full of musicians. But he hired Cain as a guitarist for his multi-genre set. \u201cThere was nothing he couldn\u2019t play,\u201d Cain says. \u201cHe\u2019d say, \u2018Get your jazz tone ready.\u2019 And next, there\u2019d be some funk thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tape-backing format meant that when it came time to solo, Cain had tightly-regimented sonic spaces in which to peel off a lead break. \u201cYou had to be ready,\u201d he says. \u201cWorking with Clifford, I think I learned more about playing the guitar than anywhere else,\u201d he says. Coulter passed away in 2021. \u201cI miss him so much,\u201d Cain says<\/p>\n

Back in the San Jose of those days, \u201cthere were gentlemen [players] who would take the time to show my poor little patootie something,\u201d Cain says. \u201cToday, there aren\u2019t as many clubs where you can go play the blues. You go to a jam night, and that guy\u2019s got an agenda; he doesn\u2019t want you to really shine.\u201d So Cain tries to carry on that tradition of encouraging younger players today.<\/p>\n

Cain is developing another tradition: Good Intentions Gone Bad<\/i> marks at least the fourth time he has worked with Christoffer \u201cKid\u201d Andersen of Greaseland Studio. The multiple Blues Music Award nominee has built a well-earned reputation as the go-to producer for many of today\u2019s hottest blues artists. \u201cKid has a gift,\u201d Cain says. \u201cHe makes it possible for me to see what I hear in my head.\u201d He says that Andersen is the sort of producer who \u201cwants you to get what you want, and he knows when you\u2019re getting it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andersen works quickly, a sought-after quality for budget-minded recording artists. \u201cThere\u2019s some guys who take two days to get a drum sound,\u201d Cain says. \u201cBut him? Bing! Immediately. And you\u2019re ready to go. He really is a gift to this particular music, and to the planet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cain considers himself lucky to have made his string of highly-regarded albums. And among the many things he has learned along the way, one stands above the rest. \u201cI\u2019ve learned a lot about playing with other guys,\u201d he says. \u201cBecause if I was gonna have my own band, I had to learn how to get my vision without making anybody mad.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bay Area bluesman has the best Intentions Chris Cain is a star in the blues world. The electric guitarist, singer and songwriter has just released Good Intentions Gone Bad, his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,41],"tags":[3310],"class_list":["post-27899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-interview","tag-chris-cain","cat-9-id","cat-41-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27899","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27899"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27899\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27901,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27899\/revisions\/27901"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}