Chris Cain, who plays Safety Harbor Art and Music Center in Safety Harbor, Florida on April 5, 2025. Credit: Photo by Jim Mills

Chris Cain—who turns 70 this November—must wholeheartedly believe that his latest album Good Intentions Gone Bad is his greatest work, because the underground blues virtuoso seldom performs away from the West coast and is bringing it to Florida for what appears to be his second-ever show in Tampa Bay.

The Alligator Records artist—who has been praised by fellow bluesmen Joe Bonamassa and B.B. King—cites the production skills of Kid Andersen of Little Charlie & the Nightcats as the reason he’s so in love with the album. Along with his six-strings, Cain makes a point to tap into an array of keyboards as well, so expect to see a pretty crowded stage in Safety Harbor this weekend.

As someone who grew up going to gigs that some of us could only dream of (Jimi Hendrix, for example), Cain recently told Creative Loafing Tampa Bay about the best one he ever saw. Read his full quote below.

It was 1965, Christmas Day. As evening came, my dad told me to put my suit on. I asked him where we were going and he just said, “Put your suit on.” He took me to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds. James Brown’s whole band was at the fairgrounds. It was right when “Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag” came out. James Brown came out and did this whole thing with knee drops, the splits, the mashed potato. He had a complete road crew and they all had these coveralls that said “James Brown Enterprise.” James Brown and his band played all his hits at that time. It was a long, incredible show. When it came to the end of the show, the band was still vamping the end of of the last song and he came out holding a little suitcase, dancing on one foot across the stage with his other leg up and he went across the whole stage with his thumb up like he was hitchhiking to the next show. It was something to see. The walls were sweating. The people were packed in there really tight and the walls were dripping with condensation from people sweating. I was in the fifth grade and I had never seen a show like that before or since. It was incredible. Great memory.—Chris Cain

Tickets to see Chris Cain play Safety Harbor Art and Music Center on Saturday, April 5 are still available and cost $25.