Music: Cage Willis

CAGE WILLIS

Mount Carmel rocker records debut album with help from musical hero, drops new single

When arena rock tribute act Hairball made its way back to the Victory Theatre for another raucous sold-out show this past December, the coveted opening slot fell right into the lap of Mount Carmel rocker Cage Willis. Well, the stars aligned, as they say. He was originally booked to play a gig up north in Vincennes the same night, but a scheduling confl ict with the venue unexpectedly freed up his evening. Good thing, too, because Willis soon received a very important phone call from the Victory - they needed someone to get the Hairball crowd fi red up with a rocking 30-minute introductory set and fi gured he was the man for the job. "It was wild how it worked out," Willis says. Grateful for the opportunity, he treated fans to cuts off his upcoming album, including recent single "Who I Am," plus two covers - Gary Clark Jr.'s "When My Train Pulls In" and The Beatles' "Come Together" (the Gary Clark Jr. version).

If you haven't caught on yet, Willis really admires Gary Clark Jr. His bluesy, soulful infl uence is clear on the aforementioned "Who I Am" and especially "She Walked Away," a previously-released single that was re-recorded for Willis' upcoming album and re-issued at the end of April. Featuring a slow-burning groove over which Willis plays a repeating, descending chord

I'm a roofer and Black Stone Cherry is what I would listen to up there - hooking up with him was unimaginable.

progression drenched in distortion, the song tells the heartbreaking tale of a man betrayed by love - of a man who put it all on the line only to see his dream slip away. The hurt evident in Willis' engaging vocal delivery really sells the story - so much so that it piqued the interest of Chris Robertson, guitarist for Black Stone Cherry. Once again, the stars aligned, as Willis, who counts the "White Trash Millionaire" singer as another musical hero, was able to connect with Robertson and set up recording sessions at Monocle Studios in Evanston, Kentucky. There the pair - joined by musicians Andrew Logan, Cameron Allen, Austin Sprinkle and engineer Jordan Westfall - set about creating a greatest hits project, in effect, culling and reshaping tracks from Willis' earlier Bones (Our Town) EP and constructing defi nitive versions of newer songs using all the modern technology available.

For Willis, the experience of working so closely with Robertson in the studio almost didn't seem real. "I'm a roofer and Black Stone Cherry is what I would listen to up there - hooking up with him was unimaginable," he says, still amazed by his good fortune. As noted, two teasers for the album have dropped to date and been met with much enthusiasm - or plenty of streams, more accurately. The goal, according to Willis, is for each subsequent single release to outperform the last on Spotify. "80% of the industry is streaming right now," he says. "People don't put out a whole record anymore - so I'll put out fi ve or six songs and then the rest with the full release in the summer at some point."

Seems to be a solid strategy so far. Still, Willis admits that waiting to share all the fruits of his labor is tough; he's clearly proud of his work and how he's progressed as an artist. The good news is that you don't have to wait long to see Willis perform. In addition to upcoming shows in Mount Carmel and Vincennes, locally you can catch him at Bokeh Lounge in June where he'll no doubt play most everything off the new album. Don't miss out!

UPCOMING SHOWS: 5/14 Mount Carmel Merchants Park (Illinois) 6/10 Bokeh Lounge (Evansville) 6/11 Electric River Jam (Vincennes)

For more info, follow Cage Willis on Facebook. "Who I Am" and "She Walked Away" are available on Spotify.