Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Cain.
Alright, thank you for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, how did you get started?
I’ve loved music for as long as I can remember – my mom played the piano beautifully and started teaching me how to play it early on. She also had an old classical nylon-string acoustic guitar that I eventually started picking up and playing around with and just taught myself how to play. I took some lessons in my early teens, but for the most part, I just picked out things by ear. I eventually went to college in Toronto (I’m Canadian) for a guitar for a couple of years and started playing clubs. I then got hired to play in a band in Dubai – we played 6 nights a week at a big nightclub called The Lodge. Going in it was like a dream gig – exotic locale, decent money, big venue. But it was a top 40 cover band, and after about 3-4 months of that, it sapped my passion for playing. I decided to come back to Canada, and after a bit of a break from playing, I picked up the guitar just for the love of playing again, and I’ve been very intentional about following my heart rather than what pays or looks like success in the short term. I gradually got back into gigging and developing my style and eventually had some success as a semi-finalist at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis. Getting picked as George Thorogood’s opening act and being named the #4 Independent blues Guitarist in the world by Lee Ritenour’s Six String Theory contest. I started getting good festival gigs and have toured a fair bit in the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe. A few years ago, my wife got a job offer in Austin, and we decided to move down, and I started over here. So I’m still touring internationally, but down here in Austin, a little less well-known – ha!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s incredibly tough being a musician – you face rejection (or just being ignored) from so many booking agents and club owners. Financially, making ends meet is very tough, and there is a huge amount of logistical work and expense to tour. Long drives, late hours, drunk people, lol – there are a lot of crazy things that happen on the road – but the upside to that is some great stories if you make it out unscathed! The other thing that’s tough if you’re considered part of the “blues” world is that so many people in the blues media want you to stay within the narrow lines they draw around the blues as a style. There is a ton of gatekeeping going on, but all you can do is stay true to yourself and keep making the best music you can. The shift to streaming has taken the money out of selling your music, as physical sales are way down, and platforms like Spotify pay next to nothing. You’ve got to have merch and electronic payment systems – often different for every country. Right now, the biggest struggle is just getting seen and heard without a big budget for promotion.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a guitar player, singer, and songwriter, and I play in a power trio format. I fell in love with the guitar at a pretty early age and spent a ton of time playing and practicing. I remember practicing all day in the basement, only taking breaks when my Mom called me upstairs for lunch and dinner. It was just this amazing escape, meditative, and an infinite rabbit hole of things to learn. So what people usually like about my playing is they can see how much time I’ve put into it and how much I love it. Also, I play in a way that people often say they haven’t seen before. My style is generally slotted as “blues,” but I incorporate various influences, including blues, funk, rock, twang, and jazz. I’ve had many people over the years tell me I’m too this or not enough that – but I’m proud that I’ve gone my own way stylistically and not given in to the pressure to stay inside the blues lines. It does cut me off from access to some press, blogs, radio stations, etc., but I’m always going to do what I love musically, whether or not it fits neatly into someone else’s box. I’m proud of some of the things I’ve achieved as far as awards, tours, press reviews, etc., but I think just like taking the bad things too much to heart, taking the good things too seriously is also a distraction from the path you want to be on as a musician. What does it for me is the feeling when I’m clicking with my band, and the audience is giving us back as much energy as we’re giving them – there’s nothing else like it. I keep working every day to get better and learn more.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?The most important lesson I’ve learned is to follow your creative direction and not be swayed or pressured into doing things for the wrong reasons. That means giving up some opportunities along the way, but it’s for the best in the long run. Work your tail off, be cool to other people, and let the successes come from that.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.garycainband.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/garycain
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/garycainband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCC_IBKf1ebH1iaaroGmQzZQ
- Other: https://garycain.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
album cover photo by Matthew Magruder personal photo by Candice Dosman
