Biography
Born on 19 November 1955 in the USA, Cain draws his wide-ranging musical inventiveness from a blended heritage that is partly Greek and partly African-American. His father, who spent his formative years on Beale St. in Memphis, passed on an early passion for the blues that prompted Cain to begin playing guitar at eight. While enrolled at San Jose City College he honed an advanced command of several instruments—piano, bass guitar, clarinet, alto saxophone and tenor saxophone—absorbing a broad range of techniques along the way. On guitar, however, he has forged a personal idiom that merges jazz and blues. His first recording, Late Night City Blues, appeared in 1987 and earned multiple W.C. Handy award nominations. Throughout the 1990s he refined this hybrid approach across a series of albums for Blind Pig Records, functioning not only as an uncommonly voiced guitarist but also as a productive songwriter and singer whose phrasing recalls one of his formative inspirations, B.B. King. The album Unscheduled Flight contains fourteen original pieces alongside a single cover.
Although his compositions had already appeared in film soundtracks, Cain ventured into new territory in 1997 by joining forces with Michael Butler to create the score for the stage production Thunder Knocking On The Door: A Bluesical Tale Of Rhythm And The Blues, whose book was written by Keith Glover. The work opened at the San Jose Repertory Theatre to strong reviews and later moved to A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, where it drew consistent full houses. Much of the show’s devoted following stemmed from Cain’s musical input. The live album documenting the run was assembled as an unvarnished capture of the performances, yet the strength of the material and the nuanced, responsive accompaniment remain fully intact in the unpolished presentation. Cain traces his achievements to a single habit: “If I keep my ears open and listen, magic stuff always happen”.
Although his compositions had already appeared in film soundtracks, Cain ventured into new territory in 1997 by joining forces with Michael Butler to create the score for the stage production Thunder Knocking On The Door: A Bluesical Tale Of Rhythm And The Blues, whose book was written by Keith Glover. The work opened at the San Jose Repertory Theatre to strong reviews and later moved to A Contemporary Theatre in Seattle, where it drew consistent full houses. Much of the show’s devoted following stemmed from Cain’s musical input. The live album documenting the run was assembled as an unvarnished capture of the performances, yet the strength of the material and the nuanced, responsive accompaniment remain fully intact in the unpolished presentation. Cain traces his achievements to a single habit: “If I keep my ears open and listen, magic stuff always happen”.
Albums