Little Lonely

Little Lonely is the brainchild of Missouri-born, West Coast-based, indie folk artist, Julie Cain. Known for her emotive style, her music evokes Dust Bowl salvation, roadside general stores and towns submerged in lakes for the sake of progress. Bittersweet, confessional and otherworldly themes imbue her writing. With a highly regarded full length under her belt, a new project, helmed by Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound in Los Angeles, is underway and expected in early 2024.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Lonely is the brainchild of Missouri-born, West Coast-based, indie folk artist, Julie Cain. Known for her emotive style, her music evokes Dust Bowl salvation, roadside general stores and towns submerged in lakes for the sake of progress. Bittersweet, confessional and otherworldly themes imbue her writing. With a highly regarded full length under her belt, a new project, helmed by Aaron Stern at Verdugo Sound in Los Angeles, is underway and expected in early 2024.

Little Lonely’s 2013 full-length record, produced by multi-instrumentalist, Sean Hoffman (American Music Club, Loch&Key, Linda Perhacs) features accomplished Indie-Rock, Folk and Americana musicians in Los Angeles: Darice Bailey (The Broken West, The Coals), Nic Chaffee (Eels, George Clinton) Greg Eklund (Everclear, The Oohlas), Joey Galvan (Pete Anderson), Eric Heywood (The Pretenders, Son Volt), Baskerville Jones (The Rebirth), Robby Marshall (Cassandra Wilson, Tom Jones) Heather McIntosh (Norah Jones, Gnarls Barkley) and George Sluppick (The Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Mofro). The result combines hushed steel string horizons and echo drenched guitars with vocals that recall the plaintive wail made up of equal parts Maria McKee, Hope Sandoval and Julee Cruise. 

Top Ten lists, radio airplay and performances include:  Just Off the Radar, WUGA 97.9FM Athens, GA, international regular airplay on KOPN 89.5FM, Columbia, MO, Kim Grant’s Town & Country Underground Radio, Roots Revival (Belgium), The Alternate Root Top Ten, 89.1FM Independent’s Day, KCRW DJ Valida’s Desert Nights at the Standard, Hollywood, a sold-out performance at Echo Country Outpost (Best Of List – Time Out LA) Camp Outpost and a regular spot on the main stage at The Grand Ole Echo, the premiere Americana/Country music showcase in Los Angeles, co-founded by PR maven Kim Grant.

 

Cain invites collaborations with other musicians and artists and often features the work of her brother, Kansas City-based fine artist, Marcus Cain in her album art. Working with Portland based photographer/artist Wonder Bright on a handful of guerrilla style videos shot on an iphone, she showcases her favorite neighborhoods around LA and some of her favorite bands, including dreamy LA pop duo Loch&Key, seen in “Top Stair” on ezine Real Roots Café and Band of the Day. Buzz Bands and Indie Musicology gave “Penny’s First Available” a feature, while Turnstyled Junkpiled premiered “Interstate Hum” (compiled from footage from Cain’s home town in Missouri) and “Furniture Land”, a summer single and video, released in 2014. 

 

Before setting out for the West Coast at eighteen, Cain played the organ at the funeral home in her hometown, a small suburb of Kansas City. Once in L.A., a performance art college project inspired by her ancestors who roamed the Midwest playing in honky-tonks led to her first performance with a band, as Bitsy Lee. These shows caught the attention of producers, Greg Eklund (Everclear, The Oohlas) and Geoff Walcha (Everclear, Ben Harper) who went on to co-produce her first ep, Interstate Hum, characterized as "moody, subtle, intelligent and, just occasionally, a little bit Patsy Cline" by Americana UK. Her second recording, a demo she called Picture Show, featured guest performers Dead Kennedys’ East Bay Ray & Chuck Lindo (Actionslacks, American Professionals). Both recordings led to film placements for writer/director Barbara Stepansky's (Outlander) Broken Hill, starring Timothy Hutton, Hurt, starring Melora Walters and a short, My Own Private Demon. And, the demo became the source material for the Little Lonely full length record with Hoffman. 

 

Little Lonely has performed in venues and festivals on the Los Angeles circuit and up and down the West Coast, sharing bills with notable artists like Charley Crockett, Lauren Ruth Ward and Sarah Shook & the Disarmers, to name a few. She spends time in Southern California and the Pacific Northwest and feels most at home anywhere near the I-5. Her music is widely available on all platforms.