Raising Cain at Carrillo

Blues guitarist/singer-songwriter Chris Cain was already 30 before he formed his first band in 1986 in his hometown of San Jose, far from the blues meccas of the Mississippi Delta, Memphis, or Chicago. In fact, even to this day, Cain has never lived anywhere else but northern California. 

But he’d grown up listening to his dad’s eclectic record collection that heavily featured blues greats, never missed a B.B. King concert when the icon came to town, and got his first guitar at the same time he learned how to tie his shoes. 

Still, when Cain released his debut album Late Night City Blues in 1987, the positive reaction and attention was far more than he expected. The album received four W.C Handy Award nominations (now the Blues Music Awards) and offers to perform internationally suddenly came his way.

“I was just trying to get some gigs around San Jose and the next thing you know we’re touring in Belgium,” Cain said over the phone earlier this week. 

Over the ensuing years, Cain’s chops have drawn praise from such idols as King (“That boy can PLAY the guitar!”) and contemporaries like Joe Bonamassa, who called Cain, “hands down my favorite blues player on the scene today … an absolute blinder of a guitarist.” 

Almost four decades and 14 albums later, Cain is still playing the blues circuit, having earned a reputation as not only a hotshot guitarist but also a singer and songwriter with substance and depth, all of which adds up to a decidedly dynamic live show that has taken him around the world. His latest album was released a couple of years ago on Alligator, his first for the most respected current blues label. Raisin’ Cain befits the double meaning of its title, as it represents both a continuation of his boisterous boogying and a maturity in his approach. 

“My early albums were very ambitious, but then I started doing a sort of Dear Diary thing, chronicling everything that happened to me in the years since the last record,” Cain said. “But my writing has become much more universal, and when I wrote these tunes, I wasn’t even planning on making a record. They were just something to keep my mind occupied, ideas of things that sounded interesting to me, things that had maybe different beats and stuff that’s maybe not the blues, just for fun.” 

Cain will headline the Santa Barbara Blues Society’s 47th Birthday Show at the Carrillo Recreation Center on March 23, his first visit to town in several years, and first since SBBS moved to the spring-loaded dance floor venue. It’s an honor to perform for the oldest such continuously operating organization in the country, he said. 

“When you’re performing for a blues society, you’re kind of in your mother’s arms. When I’m out on the road, blues societies have always been a beacon of light,” he said. “If people just want to listen rather than boogie, it’s OK. But I just feed off of that energy when people are dancing, and the band does too. I am really looking forward to the show.” 

Visit www.sbblues.org for information and tickets