KIWR PSB - Album Review Chris Cain's Hall of Shame

[BluesNews]

Chris CainFriday, August 19, 2005

Artist: Chris Cain
Title: Hall of Shame
Rating: Excellent

Within the broader genre of blues there are sub-categories among them the ‘Robert Johnson school’ which profoundly effected early Rock bands such as the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, and the Allman Brothers. Another school are guitarists influenced by B.B King such as Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana and Chris Cain. When I heard that Cain was coming to perform in Omaha I grabbed a couple of CD’s I received over the years at Pacific Street Blues.Cain is a tasty guitar player with a strong tenor voice and an excellent vocabulary of licks and songs. His sound brings together classic Joe Williams vocals fronting B.B. King’s band.

It is fresh, remarkable, and void of trite cliches and gushing tributes.His sixth album, released in 2003, Hall of Shame, is an exceptionally well crafter blues album that uses texture & taste. Hall of Shame is a mellow affair with soaring solos and heartfelt vocals in a classic post 50’s electric blues sound. This is as perfect a “blues” album as you will ever find. Cain’s solos are jazzy crisp runs ala’ early Steely Dan that contribute to the melody line rather than simply fill up space with clutter. Cain will be performing in Omaha on Sunday, August 28th at the Blues Society ofOmaha’s FREE family day at the Anchor Inn. For more details go towww.OmahaBlues.com.

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