Riveting Riffs Magazine had the opportunity to sit in on a Laura Rain and the Caesars gig, when we visited the Detroit area during the last week of June and it was on the recommendation of Mary McGuire of the stellar band The Blood Sisters that we checked out the dynamic singer-songwriter. Rain is a powerful vocalist who is reminiscent of some of the best R&B / Soul / Funk singers to grace the airwaves and a stage. Her soulful vocals remind one of Aretha Franklin, her Bluesy inflections bring to mind Etta James, she has some of Chaka Khan’s funk and she owns the stage like Millie Jackson only minus the coarse language.

Sitting outside in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, on a sunny Sunday afternoon and talking to Laura Rain, she has a quiet demeanor and ponders this writer’s questions thoughtfully before answering. She laughs easily and often, a warm laughter that is genuine and comes from deep within. In some ways she is the antithesis of the wailing, yelping and at times foot stomping dynamo we had witnessed twelve hours earlier and on stage a few blocks away.

She laughs lightly and says, “I don’t know, I don’t know where that comes from (her stage persona). It’s that part of me that creative force. It is an artistic display. It is a powerful force and connection that just occurs and the better that the band gets and the more that I work with certain people the better that I become it is just more connected and stronger.”

Although, Laura Rain’s band is comprised of keyboardist Phil Hale, drummer Ron Pangborn, both excellent musicians, it is the chemistry between guitarist George Friend and Rain that defines the onstage performance and the music’s groove. While performing they appear to energize one another. (Editor’s note: for the gig we sat in on Darryl Pierce was the drummer)