Check Out Daniel Cain’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Daniel Cain.

Hi Daniel, can you introduce yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.

Hey there. My name is Daniel Cain and I am a singer/songwriter artist from Stanford, Kentucky. Well, I’m trying my best to be brief, haha. I was born around music in my family. My mom sang in the choir, and my dad was a music man. Honky Tonker, blues cat, and bluegrass. He was a multi-instrumentalist who taught and ran a guitar shop in our hometown on Main Street (Main Street Music). I started playing as a kid and loved it but ultimately played as a hobby. I didn’t see a path possible in performing my art. But I never stopped dreamin’. In 2020, my dad was diagnosed with what would be terminal cancer.

As a result, I left Nashville (where I was doin’ some young rambling around and growing up) for Lexington to be closer to my family. When I got home, dad and I would talk music and play guitar together as a way of reconnecting, and it was then I got inspired to take the stage as an artist. One open mic led to another, which led to my first gig opening, which led to another, which led to my first headline, and it’s taken a life of its own ever since. We are heading to Nashville this morning for the first weekend of serious recording sessions to get these first releases produced and put out for everyone’s earbuds. I dreamt for sure, but I never “dreamt” in a million years that stepping on stage those first few times towards the end of 2020 would become what it has. I was doing it to pay tribute and honor my father, just an unspoken message between him and him at the time. This career has been one of God’s providence, and one of his blessings made most visible to me. I used to feel selfish about putting my name out there to have people enjoy the music. I wonder if it’s a result of how I interpreted what it is to be humble and modest in my raising (which I see as a good thing) or what. Still, somewhere down the line, I heard that your talents are gifts from God and that God gives us our talents to share with others; if anything, it is selfish when we do not. Life’s challenges ultimately shaped my decision to get me here and take these chances. There’s so much more to the story, but briefly, these are the most defining moments if you ask me right now. Hahaha. We could write a book on where I’ve been and where I’m at, but I’ll keep puttin’ it in my songs.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been smooth?
It’s a rocky road, but I am blessed in my struggles. The struggle is a full spectrum. Money to mental, you name it. It’s a chance to overcome. As I know it, my immediate family has taken huge losses and changes in the past 5-6 years. My mom was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson’s disease; my dad has now passed from cancer. And in between, my family has also laid to rest my grandmothers and one of my grandfathers. These are the most defining obstacles that press against me on what to do and why as I’ve grown from 20-27 years old through all this. Before the loss, I was just an unrecognizable human to who I am now. Call me crazy, but there’s beauty within all of it. These are the facts of life. They’re all just happening before my eyes at an earlier age, to some sure, but so many others didn’t even get to experience these figures in their life and have good role models like I have to boot. I will not let my obstacles and challenges accept that my life is worse. It isn’t. My perspective has changed. My Papaw told my dad, and my dad told me, “You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt.” I live by that.

Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us a bit more about your work.
I make music! Right now, I’m deep in my roots and heritage in identity and expression as a travelin’ troubadour. I’m just trying to make my daddy proud in heaven and tryin’ my best to live up to justice on my family’s name. I’m most proud of my family and my home. The only thing that sets me apart from others is being myself. Nobody can be me. They have to be them!

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
That’s a good question. Probably family Christmas time with all my folks.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @danieltoddcain
• Facebook: Daniel Cain

Image Credits
Off the Trail (Jim Cundiff), CMW Photography (Carrie Wilson), Beyond Sight Studios, Big Hill Media