Page 27 - ION Indie Magazine MarchApril 2024

From Sturgis, South Dakota, to Nashville, Tennessee, Jasmine Cain has been
making a name for herself for over 20 years. Her debut album, “White Noise,”
was released in 2004, and since that time, she has released six more albums
and has won numerous indie awards. Jasmine is no stranger to the road, as she
tours almost non-stop. Her single “Victory” has been used by The Nashville
Predators, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Ohio State University football and
basketball games. How does she maintain her sanity on the road and what is
the story behind her latest single “Evil Disco?” She shares the answers to these
and much more during this interview we did via email.

Tim Board: How did you get started in music?

Jasmine Cain: I grew up on a cattle ranch in rural South Dakota, so during the
winter months, we found hobbies to keep us occupied when being outside
wasn’t optimal. My older brother had gotten himself an electric guitar and amp,
and of course, I wanted to be just like him. So, I asked my parents for a guitar,
too. My dad had an old acoustic guitar that he bought from another rancher
friend of his for $50, and I got to play that. My brother taught me some things
and after I got a chord chart for $1.95, I was unstoppable. I wanted to learn a
new instrument every winter. I had an upright piano that my grandmother had
handed down to my mother that sat in a storage building that wasn’t heated, but
I cut the fingers out of my gloves and sat out there until I couldn’t feel my face
or my fingertips anymore. I was always obsessed with music. I think I knew by
the time I was 4 years old that this was what I would do with my life.

TB: Growing up, who were your musical inferences? Who are your
influences today?

JC: Obviously, my older brother was my first musical influence. We were raised
on country music and so I gravitated to strong female vocalists like Wynonna
Judd when I was first getting started. I discovered the classic female rock
singers early in my high school years and became intrigued with singers like Pat
Benatar and Ann Wilson. But also, during that time, artists like Mariah Carey
and Whitney Houston were on top of their game and I was really curious to see
if I could make my voice do what theirs did with flexibility and even started to
get the hang of whistle tones. My choir teacher in High School was impressed
with my ability to mimic sounds and he started me in honors choirs. I never
learned to read music, so I wasn’t really eligible for scholarships for music. Now
I’m more interested in things musically as a whole, so I study more prog artists
and bands like Opeth, Porcupine Tree, Karnivool, 12 Foot Ninja, and Tesseract.
I’m really all over the map with influences.

TB: Best advice any one has given you about music or the music
business?

JC: I bought a book before I left home to start my journey in the music business,
and it was a really basic book called 'All You Need to Know about the Music
Business’ by Donald S. Passman. I read that front to back and came to Nashville
with a plan and a determination to retain ownership of everything I created and
my brand. In hindsight, that has somewhat hindered me, but in the long run, I
think it was the smartest thing I could’ve done.

TB: You mention that you ‘came to Nashville with a plan and a
determination to retain ownership of everything I created and my brand.
In hindsight, that has somewhat hindered me.’ How has it hindered you
and what can you share from that to another musician thinking of doing
the same thing?