KatieCat & Cain

Cain's music and book "Life's A Good Gig" was featured on a special which will be aired in Jan. 2008 by the Groovin U radio network. The station is associated with the University of Phoenix, Las Vegas, Nev. and is heard all over the world with millions of listeners. The special will be archived as part of the networks "Roots of Music" series and can be listened to from their website. www.groovinu.com - www.groovinu.com

Cain's tunes have been selected to be aired on Kanaljazz.

Kanaljazz is an online radio station Based in Paris, France and broadcasts from the Shoutcast server based in the United States. The station specializes in contemporary and indie jazz music along with other genres of the like. The station has a special interest in the sounds of French, British, Australian and European jazz. Kanaljazz streams 24 hours a day, 7 days a week of continuous airplay.

Today, the station is mostly listened to in the USA, France, UK, Germany, Canada, Australia, Eastern Europe and South America.

- Sonicbids

By Mary Montgomery

Singer/songwriter John Cain, along with a troop of guest musicians and a mass of instruments mixes Latin with mainstream rock and pop, navigating smoothly through the melodies, creating something that sounds as if it were made effortlessly. Latinate overtones set the mood as Cain performs songs in English, Spanish and Portuguese.

The song “From TJ to L.A.” includes a bi-lingual female vocal accompaniment. His website calls his music “gringo salsa” and describes “From TJ to L.A.” as “sardonic.”

“From TJ to L.A.
it’s the land where the grown up children play,
we dream and we die as the palm tress sway from L.A. to TJ.
See ‘em running up the middle of freeway,
It’s not very far but it’s sure a long way from TJ to L.A.
Look at this magic mess,
I’ll fake a lot for less,
TJ to L.A.”

A rolling rhythm and perky guitars make this track the most memorable on the album, but the ending lacks a certain fullness when it switches gears with and closes with an out-of-place piano solo. However, by album’s end, Cain’s talents leave an impression with his insistent beat and flagrant guitar licks.


- San Diego Reader

John Cain has been interviewed on KUSI TV San Diego, Ca
Groovin U Broadcast Network Las Vegas, Nev
AM 1030 El Tremendo Radio Tijuana, Mexico
KSWT-TV CBS affiliate, Yuma, Arizona
Am 1410 Radio Aquamarina-Zihuatanejo, Mexico - All World Music

San Diegan KatieCat (nee Catinella) has been a performer for some time in various bay area and local jazz clubs, singing jazz and blues standards. Her debut disc, Blue Cat Diamonds, is a collaboration with local jazz composer/performer/one-man-band John Cain. Cain co-produced with Cat and wrote two of the songs and the result is a delightful mixture of styles and sounds.

Cain plays all the instruments, adds touches of orchestrations, and frames Cat’s clear, expressive vocals in a way that makes the most of her singing talents. Cat, for her part, avoids the temptation to over-sing the vocals, giving just the right inflection to the songs. She knows other singers have done these songs before, like Karen carpenter, Judy Collins, Dionne Warwick, and some of the best big band singers; she is content to interpret rather than try to reinvent.

The selection of songs on the disc is inspired. Cain and Cat have mined the American Songbook, Broadway Musicals, country-rock, and the 1960’s pop charts to find the covers here and the songs are instantly memorable.
The disc opens with a Cain original, “I Almost Felt Alive,” which has some great word play. This clever mid-tempo jazz tune sets the tone as shimmering keyboards and acoustic guitar figures floats behind Cat’s easy harmonies and scat singing. Then a keyboard—guitar jazzy version of “Both Sides Now,” the country-rock feel is sustained as Cat’s phrasing gives the song a jazz edge. Cain’s piano and bass lines anchor the highlight next cut, “I Thought About You.” This song has Cat giving herself some good background harmony support, and with Cain’s playing the effect sounds like a record from a 1940s vocal combo. “Like a Lover” and “I Won’t Last A Day Without You” are both exquisitely realized. “Love” gives Cat a chance to stretch out on a jazzy shuffle, and “Day” is a bright reading of the familiar Carpenter’s song minus the heavy strings and overdone vibrato of the original.

“It Might as Well Be Spring,” a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical classic is another high point. Burt Bacharach’s “The Look Of Love” is performed very well and this version of the often-covered song measures up well to the Dusty Springfield original. Things conclude with another Cain original, “Back To Being Myself.” This tune has also a Bacharach –style flavor with catchy pop hooks, and Cat pulls it off with flair.

Blue Cat Diamonds is a very enjoyable collection of good music by a singer with a great feel for the songs. She sounds right at home and helps the listener feel the same way.




- San Diego Troubadour - Sept. 2009 By Frank Kocher

A Good Gig If You Can Get
Reviewed by: I am a Music Lover

This is a many-faceted memoir spanning several decades in the life of a multi-talented individual. It jumps around a bit from entertaining stories about the lives of working musicians, which every working stiff can relate to, to discourses on art, music history, and travel in Latin America, which would appeal to music teachers, students, and travel buffs. Some of the stories have nothing to do with music but are interesting in their own right. Cain recounts some of the strange characters he has encountered during his lifetime. Some of the stories are funny, like the “gig from hell;” some spooky, like a ghost encounter in Spain; some poignant, like Tijuana street musicians; and some downright dubious, like a singing dog. His brushes with greatness, where he name-drops all the famous people he has met, are juicy gossip: illuminating and at times shocking. Like every profession, musicians have their own lexicon and jokes, and Cain has gathered them here, some with explanations for those the not familiar with the jargon.
He also acknowledges the great musicians who have taught him and gigged with him.
The companion CD is relevant, because you can hear the voice of the real guy who is spilling his guts to you in the book. He sings great, by the way!

- San Diego Reader

Another petite spot for 'touch' dancing is the Avanti Restaurant in La Jolla, where the excellent northern Italian cuisine competes with the dance floor for the attention of the patrons. But, John Cain who leads a three piece combo doesn't worry about that. Performing from 6:30 to 11 p.m., he knows the dancers will eventually find their way to the adequatly sized 900 square-foot floor. The emphasis is on leisurely paced romantic Latin music. And the 30-odd couples seemed quite content to sway for more than six minutes to Cain's soft bossa nova arrangement of "Girl From Ipenema," which concluded his fifth set of the evening.
- Westways Magazine (Auto Club of Southern Ca.) Julio Martinez

LIFE’S A GOOD GIG DOT COM

John Cain’s enjoyable book about making it - or not - in music might be called the
“anti-Ron Woods” story. That is, it’s drugless. Cain’s story, and info for his cd’s
and book is on his website. The unofficial John Cain - is right here:

LW: For any hip-less reader living under a rock, tell us: what’s a “gig” - ?

JC: A gig is a musician’s paid performance. Many younger cats trying to make it
are too ready to perform for free. They’re hobbyists. A professional plays for
free only for charitable causes - and knows: if you don’t value your talent, no
one else will.

The “music business” is the bar/hotel/restaurant business! Live music is the
incentive to make sales. That’s what the gig is all about.

LW: And ... what makes a “good one” -?

JC: At a good gig, you get to do what you want! The venue’s good, the audience
appreciative; you play music you like, and of course, you get paid. (Gee, here’s
where artist-turns-mercenary!) And, you’re respected for what you do.

LW: OK. Do you get any?

JC: (Once in a while, but ………oh, you mean gigs!) I was at the Hotel Del for seven
years, Elario’s (now Clay’s) for two, at Avanti (now Rippongi) for eight.

I’ve gigged steadily at Humphrey’s, the Town and Country Hotel and more.

But you rarely get it all. The pay might be good, but ... you could be stuck in a
corner by the kitchen where waiters parade in front of you all night. You have to
wear a uniform - or play music - that you don’t like? But - that’s the deal. To
work steady, you accept the circumstances! A jazz musician in a country western
bar just sucks it up without whining. For bad gigs the pro’s attitude is,” ...close
your eyes until it’s over and collect the cash.”

LW: You’re at the Sheraton (off La Jolla Village Drive), Tuesday nights. A good
gig?

JC: The Sheraton is a good gig. It’s run by the same folks who own Humphrey’s. They
have decades of experience; it’s a joy to work for them. I’m at the Bahia Resort
Hotel on Wednesdays - another good one. Besides locals, hotel guests and tourists
from all over the world drop in.

LW: You’re a musician, singer, song- and- book- writer, and maybe you have other
talents we don’t know about. Order them up for us:

JC: I just published a children’s book and CD that I illustrated. So maybe I’m
also a cartoonist of
sorts.

Performing live music: instant rewards! The performance and the audience are
present in the moment. (And, you can also bomb in the moment!) Writing is more of a
vicarious marathon. (Hmm… good name for a band…? “Vicarious Marathon.”) You hope
people like it, but it takes a while before you know.

I didn’t think of getting rich or famous in the music biz. (And that’s exactly how
it’s worked out!) But, I kid. I love performing and entertaining. I’m a big ham, so
being a musician/entertainer is a good profession for me.

Being an author seems to give one status that a “mere” musician doesn’t have. As an
author, I get treated with more deference. Yet I express my ideas and feelings in
the language of music more easily, so writing a book is hard work. Writing lets
you get your say, tho, without being interrupted - even if it’s a challenge to put
down your ideas and opinions in words and have them clearly understood.

Now I’m creating a new career as an “author/musician.” From Seattle to San Diego, I
perform in art centers, college campuses, libraries, book stores and sometimes music
stores.

LW. Your book cheerfully resonates with anyone in music, around musicians, and
around town.

JC: Since I was 15. I’ve watched the world go by from a bandstand. I wanted to share
this unique view, and dispel myths and stereotypes about musicians. History books
are always about famous leaders, but never about the grunts on the front lines.
Same with books about musicians - little about the everyday, non-famous, working
pros. Many musicians have helped and inspired me - older cats who shared their
gifts and renewed my spirit, but they never made the “big time.” I’m telling their
stories.

LW. It takes a weird and wild imagination to create a rap version of “Beowulf” (in
your book.) What got INTO you?

JC: In my seminars in schools, I shock kids when I say that rap is not new. In fact
it’s one of the oldest forms of music. Beowulf is probably the earliest rap song in
the English language that is still extant. When it was written, before the advent
of modern musical instruments (even before Hanna Montana), what we call rap was a
popular form of musical entertainment. It goes way back before then, even to ancient
Africa. It’s simply telling a story in rhythm and rhyme- with minimal musical
accompaniment.

LW: You’ve been gigging ‘round for ... umm, several decades - and still going
strong. Want to change anything?

JC: I’ve been a musician so long I realize that my entire life is the gig - and I
want it to continue. Any time someone wants to pay me to play the piano and sing,
I’m grateful for letting me be who I am.

LW. You’re a very tolerant guy - you let me & my flute sit in with you at the
Sheraton, before you even KNEW I could provide this amazing column. Tell me the
truth, tho ... should I hang it up?

JC: It’s your life - so make it a good gig. Never, ever, ever, give up! You may not
have the fame and wealth of your dreams but at least you’ll go down swinging.

(LW: hmm. WHAT is he trying to tell me?) ###
Visit: lifesagoodgig.com


- Laura Walcher