They are not only siblings but each other’s best friends as well. Taylor (24)Madison (23) and Logan (22) Cain make up The Cain’s Trio. Residing from Hartselle, Alabama, the two sisters and one brother called New England Country Music and talked to us about their relationship with each other, their goals for their music, and their debut album ‘Stay On Board,’ that was released on Tuesday October 28th. Home schooled until they went to high school, they were forced to spend a lot of time with each other. All the closeness could have backfired on the siblings but instead it forged for them a very special bond. Taylor was just four years old when she wrote her first song, a Christmas song, equipped with harmonies for Madison and Logan, and so their musical career began.
Taylor, Madison and Logan all attended Troy University in Alabama Together. Taylor was enrolled in junior college when Madison was getting ready to move to Troy. Taylor decided she wanted to go with her so she finished out her year at junior college and joined Madison there. Logan originally decided to attend Troy to play football, which didn’t end up working out, but having his sisters already there was a big deciding factor in Logan’s decision to attend the college. It was definitely a good thing they all decided to attend the same college because while they were at Troy University, The Cains Trio entered, and subsequently won, a video contest. One of the stipulations of the win was that they had to perform two original songs and one cover song. This was a bit of an obstacle because they hadn’t written any songs yet, (currently they have written 30 songs) so they just locked themselves away in their apartment at Troy and wrote a song together. The song, ‘Stay on Board,’ became the title track of their very first album. The Cains describe individually, what the song means them.
Taylor- “It basically describes how and where this music could even take us. We were all about to split and go different directions so it was really bitter sweet but we were just hopeful that maybe this would take us somewhere.”
Logan- “I couldn’t believe that this song that we wrote hoping we would just stay together as a family has now come to life and we’re in this band so, it was a great moment.”
Madison- “That Christmas of 2012, that’s when Taylor and I moved away from Logan and our parents printed out the lyrics of that song and framed it not even knowing that we would ever record the song. It was almost like a goodbye present to each of us and we all just sobbed.”
After that experience and with the help and support of their manager Mike O’Rear, who is also their grandfather, The Cains Trio set out to fully pursue their goal of becoming a musical group. The Trio has been compared to such bands as The Band Perry and The Carpenters and their sound has been compared to The Eagles and Kacey Musgraves. “It’s a very light sound great vocal blend and tight harmonies.” (Taylor) The siblings describe their sound as “fun.” They write songs that are upbeat and happy that they hope will help someone have a better day. In this new era of country music they “get a chance to be on the cutting edge of that” (Logan) and they are very excited to see where it goes next. They do however want their music to stay ‘organic’ as Taylor calls it. “In the production of the sound we try to keep it very organic sounding and we know that it’s kind of the bro country era we sort of have. I don’t know it’s kind of like country rock or country with an R&B beat behind it, we just try to keep it really organic.”
Their musical influences definitely explain their sound. They have drawn from such talents as James Taylor, for his “calm and clear words that carry the song rather than the song carrying the words.” (Logan) Jim Ed Brown from the 1950’s country musical group The Browns, the group Needtobreathe, an American Christian rock band, for “the passion and the things that they have got in their music” (Logan) and Johnny Cash. As far as character influences, Taylor, Madison and Logan all agree that, that would be the great Garth Brooks. “He’s the best performer of all time basically. The best stage presence.” (Taylor) The Trio hasn’t met Garth Brooks, yet, but they have adopted his respect and love for his fans. Like Garth, who would stay for hours after a show and sign autographs, they “never leave a fan not getting to meet us or shake hands (after a show or appearance) we always try to be real people.” (Taylor) And with their debut album just being released this week, I’m sure they will have many opportunities to meet and talk with their fans.
The Trio wrote all but one of the songs on the album and it wasn’t a quick process to write and record either. With Logan still in college and Taylor and Madison working, their schedules did not allow for much time to get together. It took over a year for the album to be completed. The Trio didn’t look at the delay as a negative but used the time to learn and grow. “We were being taught how to be artists and how to write songs and how to make an album.” (Logan)
The Cains are very proud of the completed project and have their favorite songs on the album. Madison’s favorite being ‘The Traveling Kind’ because of its “eerie vibe.” Taylors being ‘Beautiful Life’ because “It just talks about all the good things in life and just how some people will pass on and then there is a new birth. It says the hellos and goodbyes.” Logan struggled trying to decide which song he liked the best on the album and after some thought he said, ‘Someone Loves You,’ a ballad which is “a really raw song when it’s broken down to just the three of us singing. It’s just about how distance can’t really separate us and no matter if you feel alone or if you feel afraid someone loves you.”
The first time the Trio heard their first single from the album, ‘Be Yourself With Me’, on the radio they ‘about had a panic attack. “Even though we knew people were playing it to actually hear it we were really beside ourselves.” (Taylor) So what do The Cains Trio want to accomplish now that they have a single on the radio and a newly released album? When asked what their goals were for the bands future they said the usual “to get on the music charts to actually get some consistent airplay on radio and to be an opener for a major headliner;” (Taylor) but their ultimate goal is what will set The Cains Trio apart from others in country music? Logan sums it up perfectly as to where they are headed to in the future. I have no doubt they will get there faster than they had imagined.
“That’s what we want from a music career. The message that we have and things that we want to say they will not change so our goal is to get on the biggest platform that someone makes available to us and we can spread that. We want to meet people at the shows; we want to impact people’s lives. We didn’t even do it alone. But to be able to say hey anyone out there listening someone loves you and it’s us and thank you for loving us back and if they never hear a song that we play if we get to meet them and impact them in small ways then that’s a goal reached for us.”
On a personal note, it was an honor and a tremendous pleasure to have had the opportunity to speak with Taylor, Madison and Logan. Their honesty and respect for their family, for their opportunities now and in the future and their general love for each other, was very apparent during the interview. It will be exciting to watch what the future has in store for them and to observe the impact their positive influence will have on this continuing cycle of country music. Thank you all for sharing your story, your journey so far and for the pleasure of having a peek into the lives of a country band on the rise. And don’t forget to always stay humble.
You can preorder/purchase their album, ‘Stay On Board’ on iTunes here.
You can follow The Cains Trio on Twitter, Facebook, and on their official website.
Written by Lorraine Frigoletto contributing writer for New England Country Music. You can follow me on Twitter.