1998 The Awakening

      It all started for me after hearing for a few years about a particular performer who has appeared at Skips for years. His name is Chris Cain. Based out of San José California, he makes a swing out east a couple times a year. My curiosity got the best of me and I went to the show. It’s a great bar, with a ton of atmosphere. I sat down, eying the cool looking equipment on stage and order a beer. I await, what will turn out to be a musical life altering experience.
  In walk four musicians one of which is carying a Gibson guitar case. (This must be the lead player I have heard so much about). Quite an interesting looking fellow, not tall, dark curly hair, wearing bib overalls and black high top gym shoes. Not at all what I expected a bluesman to look like, but looks would prove to be very deceiving.
  He walks on stage and plugs in a Gibson ES-335, it looks amazing. He steps to the mic and smiles (with this contagious smile).
He introduces himself and proceeds (with the first twelve bars of his song), to blow me completely off my chair. I have never heard such a fantastic tone or such a display of guitar playing ever in my life. 
    What I witnessed was a sound that I have always heard in my head and a style of music that I always liked when I heard it. This unbelievable blues/ fusion sound had me mesmerized.
    The night went by so fast. I could have sat all night and listened to this fantastic musician playing one of hundreds of gigs he does each year, but making us all believe it was the first time he performed them. Chris is a natural entertainer. He looks like he is having more fun on stage than anyone else in the bar. From that night on my musical future would take some interesting turns.

    I have seen Chris many times since and have had many nice conversations with him about music. He even let me play his guitar and showed me some of his licks. He is the most humble and approachable performer you will ever meet. If you ever see him, you will know just what I mean. I am convinced to this day that although he has performed on stage with most of the greatest blues performers, and played all over the world. He still does not realize how great he is. My thanks go out to Chris for his inspiration.