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World-renowned blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Chris Cain will perform as part of Rancho Murieta Country Club’s Sounds of Summer concert series in Rancho Murieta, 7000 Alameda Drive, on Saturday, July 30. Cain’s latest release is his Alligator Records debut CD, “Raisin’ Cain.” With more than three decades of worldwide touring and 14 acclaimed previous albums, Cain has earned his reputation as both a dynamic live performer and a musician’s musician. His jazzinformed blues guitar playing is fiery, emotional and always unpredictable. His vocals — gruff, lived-in and powerful — add fuel to the fire. His indelible original songs keep one foot in the blues tradition and both eyes on the future.

“Raisin’ Cain” features 12 originals, each showcasing Cain’s fiery musicianship and deft, memorable songwriting skills. Cain said, “My songs are funky and danceable and my writing is now less personal diary than in the past. I want my songs to tell universal stories.” From the rocking opener “Hush Money” to the instantly relatable “Too Many Problems” to the late-night jazzy blues of “I Don’t Know Exactly What’s Wrong With My Baby ” the universal appeal of Cain’s music is abundantly clear. His songs deliver uncommon, surprising hooks and riffs coming in rapid-fire succession. On four songs, Cain shows off his stellar keyboard skills, and on the far-out instrumental “Space Force,” he proves himself a funky and jazzy ARP soloist player. Along with Cain is his road-tested band of bassist Steve Evans and keyboardist/organist Greg Rahn, with Cain’s touring drummer Sky Garcia and veteran D’Mar Martin (Little Richard, Rick Estrin & The Nightcats) sharing the skins.

“Raisin’ Cain” was produced and recorded by Kid Andersen (Rick Estrin & The Nightcats) at Andersen’s Greaseland Studio in San Jose.

Cain formed his first band in 1986 in his hometown of San Jose and released his first record in 1987, “Late Night City Blues,” on the locally-based Blue Rock’It label. Almost immediately, booking agents came calling.

With “Raisin’ Cain,” Cain said he is at a new point in his career. “I’m playing and writing better than ever before. I can say more with less,” he said, referring to his dynamic guitar playing and superb songwriting.

For more information go to ranchomurietacc.com/ Social_Events_Concerts_(1).

Photo by Matilyn String

Chirs Cain is playing at the Rancho Murieta Country Club’s Sounds of Summer concert series on Saturday, July 30.

Jeff ‘Skunk’ Baxter brings his talents to Sutter Creek

Sutter Creek

Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, founding member of Steely Dan and Doobie Brothers guitarist, is performing at Sutter Creek Theatre, 44 Main St. in Sutter Creek, Saturday, July 30 at 7 p.m.

Baxter joined his first band at age 11. In junior high school in Mexico City, Baxter formed a surf band that hit the top 10 on radio in Mexico. While still a high school student, he worked at Jimmy’s Music Shop in Manhattan in 1965 and 1966. At Jimmy’s, Baxter met guitarist Jimi James (later to become Jimi Hendrix), who was just beginning his career as a frontman, and provided him with his first custom left-handed Fender Stratocaster. Baxter and Hendrix went on to become good friends.

In 1972 he became a founding member of the band Steely Dan, along with guitarist Denny Dias, bassist Walter Becker, keyboardist-vocalist Donald Fagen, drummer/vocalist Jim Hodder and vocalist David Palmer. Baxter appeared with Steely Dan on its first three albums, “Can’t Buy a Thrill” in 1972, “Countdown to Ecstasy” in 1973 and “Pretzel Logic” in 1974. He contributed the guitar fills and signature solo heard on the group’s highest charting hit ”Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.”

While finishing work on “Pretzel Logic,” Baxter became aware of Becker and Fagen’s intentions to retire Steely Dan from touring and work almost exclusively with session players. With that in mind, Baxter left the band in 1974 to join The Doobie Brothers, who at the time were touring in support of their fourth album “What Were Once Vices Are Now Habits.” As a session man, he had contributed pedal steel guitar on “Vices” as well as “South City Midnight Lady” on its predecessor, “The Captain and Me.” Baxter’s first album as a full member of the group was 1975’s “Stampede.” He contributed an acoustic interlude (“Precis”) and significant turns on slide and pedal steel guitar. Baxter suggested bringing in singer-keyboardist Michael McDonald, with whom Baxter had worked in Steely Dan. McDonald soon was invited to join the band full-time. McDonald’s vocal and songwriting contributions, as well as Baxter’s jazzier guitar style, marked a new direction for the band. They went on to continued success with the 1976 album “Takin’ It to the Streets,” 1977’s “Livin’ on the Fault Line,” and particularly 1978’s “Minute by Minute,” which spent five weeks as the No. 1 album in the U.S. and spawned several hit singles; Baxter’s work on the album includes a performance at the end of “How Do the Fools Survive?”.

Baxter has continued working as a session guitarist for a diverse group of artists, including Willy DeVille, Bryan Adams, Hoyt Axton, Eric Clapton, Sean O’Bryan Smith, Gene Clark, Sheryl Crow, Freddie Hubbard, Tim Weisberg, Joni Mitchell, Ricky Nelson, Dolly Parton, Carly Simon, Ringo Starr, Gene Simmons, Rod Stewart, Burton Cummings, Barbra Streisand and Donna Summer. Baxter continues to do studio work, most recently on tribute albums to Pink Floyd and Aerosmith.

Doors at 6:30 p.m. It is open seating with beer and wine available. For tickets call (916) 425-0077 or go to suttercreektheater.com.

Artists Continued from B1

portrait of the “Three Impressionists.” Peck goes even deeper into his artwork by implying emotional connections beyond the image itself. For example, his technical skill with simple forms and strong colors to express dignity is evident in his portrait of President Lincoln, but his title of the artwork, “Abe,” implies that Peck sees a man he might also call friend.

Peck uses brilliant, saturated colors over darker backgrounds with the judicious application of black varnish to create interesting intensity in many of his scenes. Some of his favorite cityscapes depict the leafy nature of trees juxtaposed with concrete forests of man-made structures. He takes us on a “Walk in the Park,” where the buildings in the background suggest the lofty peaks of some fantastical mountain range framing the brilliant fall colors of the trees.

Inspiration for many of his landscapes arises from his lifelong experiences as an avid backpacker and nature enthusiast. “Shelter Island” portrays lush green trees cradling a peaceful river, with the sky reflected most brilliantly on its surface. His seascape of “New Zealand’s Milford Sound” invites the viewer to explore the rich greens and blues of this tropical world with wonderfully balanced presentations of the elements of light and perspective that he enjoys employing in his work.

Peck’s favorite scenes seem to be of his home in the Sutter Creek area, his fondness radiating through his streetscapes of the town with the quaint church, quiet streets and rolling hills captured in “Start of the Day in Sutter Creek” and “Downtown Sutter Creek.”

His love for painting and selfexpression gave him the confidence to overcome his fear of joining a gallery to become an award-winning artist whose work not only graces the walls of several galleries, but are also found at numerous exhibitions, art shows and in private collections.

“The Sentinel” by Kirk Neiberger

Sharing the experience

Gray started her professional life as a science teacher, but if you were to walk into her classroom, instead of observing bulletin boards covered with posters of frog dissections and other biological depictions, you’d see prints of famous paintings, especially colorful impressionistic works. Her goal was to surround her students with beauty and help them to appreciate works of fine art.

As a photographer, she now has similar goals — to share the beauty of the natural world and to help the viewers of her fabulous images increase their appreciation of, and desire to protect, wild animals and open spaces.

After moving to Folsom in 2008, Gray’s scuba-diving friend talked her into replacing her point-and-shoot camera with a professional-quality Nikon and becoming a certified underwater photographer. From that point on, photography became a serious passion for her as she refined her craft through a series of local, online and field-based learning opportunities.

Gradually, Gray’s photography gained recognition and several of her underwater and macro photos won online contests on social media.

Between 2016 and 2018, a variety of her photos were published in the magazines and a book produced by the World’s Best Top Photographer Association. In 2021 her photo “Making the Turn” won first place in the association’s Terry & Hyon Bixler Image of the Year Award. Many of her photographs are displayed locally, as well in Washington state and an exhibition in the Netherlands. Her “Lifting Fog and Trees” presents the viewer with an almost surreal early morning landscape before the rising sun chases away the misty remnants of night. And who can resist the perfect photographic capture of a glistening hummingbird winging toward a vibrant hibiscus for a sweet sip of nectar in Gray’s “Violet Sabrewing and Hibiscus?”

Gray joked, “If it’s living, I’ll take pictures of it,” but some subjects, like wild horses, are more compelling for her to photograph. She discovered that herds of wild mustangs still exist and are found within driving distance of her home. Taking advantage, her favorite places to view and photograph them are near Mono Lake and by the Salt River near Mesa, Arizona. In her “Mono Lake Horses at Sunset” Gray captures the peace of a herd settling in at day’s end, surrounded by a tranquil landscape and the gathering of deepening evening clouds.

One thing Gray finds most rewarding about her photographic images is hearing people say, “Thank you for being my eyes! I will never go where you went, but I can now experience the beauty of those places through your photography!”

Gold Country Artists Gallery, 379 Main St. in Placerville, features the work of many award-winning regional artists working in fields as diverse as fine jewelry, photography, fused glass, wood turning, pastels, colored pencil, scratch board and watercolor, acrylic and oil painting. The gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on the third Saturday of each month until 8 p.m. For more information call (530) 642-2944 or visit goldcountryartistsgallery.com.

CHURCH OF CHRIST Rescue

4200 Green Valley Road, Rescue Sunday Bible classes, 9:30 a.m. Sunday morning worship, 10:30 a.m. Sunday evening worship, 5:30 p.m. Wednesday Bible study, 7 p.m . LIGHTHOUSE MISSIONARY BAPTIST CHURCH

5441 Pony Express Church Pollock Pines (Across from Valero, Exit 57) Pastor Aaron Bryan Sunday Service 11:00 a.m. Sunday School 10:00 a.m. Wednesday Evening Bible Study 7:00 p.m. Monthly Breakfast October 7th, 10:00 a.m. Church Fall Carnival October 27th, 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. 644-7036 or 621-4276

Worship D irectory

LIGHT OF THE HILLS LUTHERAN CHURCH, LCMS

3100 Rodeo Rd., Cameron Park Pastor Alan Sommer, Senior Pastor Pastor Kyle Weeks, Associate Pastor Sunday Worship 8:00 am and 10:45am Sunday School and Bible Study 9:30am 8am Service is live streamed. www.loth.org 530-677-9536

THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

Visitors Always Welcome! Sunday Meetings by Location: 3431 Hacienda Road, Cameron Park 8:30 10:00 11:30 1:00 3275 Cedar Ravine Road, Placerville 10:00. 1:00 4621 Pony Express Trail, Camino 9:00. 11:30 7280 Prospect Hill DR, Georgetown 10:00

THE EL DORADO COMMUNITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

4701 Church St. El Dorado 530-622-8868 message phone Pastor George Turnboo Sunday Service 11:00 AM

SOLID ROCK FAITH CENTER DIAMOND SPRINGS

Pastor Don B. Pritchard 6205 Enterprise Dr., Diamond Springs Church 642-2038 Sunday Services 10:00 a.m. “Ministering to every need and every life the power of Christ’’