Kellie Cain

KELLIE CAIN, the girl with a suitcase.Some singers sing songs while others bring them out of the dark recesses of their souls to share their pain and pleasure with an audience. Kellie Cain is most definitely the latter. The ebullient singer, songwriter and musician has been gifting those lucky enough to hear her heartfelt and often breath-taking interpretations of classics since she was 15, after her Auntie showed her three basic guitar chords. Since then, she’s done the hard yards, making her way around the often cruel pub circuit in Australia and New Zealand, giving 100 per cent even if the crowd gave her only a small fraction of their attention. “I’ve had 20 odd years of lugging in and lugging out, playing to all sorts of crowds, putting up with dickheads, writing my own songs, trying to figure things out my own way,” the sun-kissed, laid-back blonde explains. The way things worked out has seen Cain emerge as a throaty Bonnie Rait crossed with Lucinda Williams, who doesn’t mind letting her inner rock goddess emerge should the song and feeling be right. And now, Cain has taken the step her contemporaries have long been urging her to do and released an album featuring her own compositions. The resulting 11-tracks on "Girl With A Suitcase" have already garnered rave reviews from both music critics and the cream of the country/roots crop of musicians who rushed to back her on her debut including Glen Hannah (guitarist for Kasey Chambers), Bill Chambers (Kasey’s dad) and Herm Kovac (Ted Mulry Gang). Humbled by the talent who came forward to accompany her, Cain says: “They’re the best musicians in Australia, in my opinion.” “Even though I have been playing for more than 20 years, I never wanted to put something out I didn’t feel totally right about. It was time to get honest” the 38 year-old songwriter explains. “Timing is everything.” Kellie Cain’s time is now.