The Cotton Club’s brightly lit facade stands out like a palm tree in Alaska on the desolate strip of South Michigan between 17th and 18th streets. People are here from all over the south and west sides to see a club favorite, Terrence Cain. He’s been playing the club’s Monday open-mike nights almost every week for the past couple of years. And he’s done so well that he’s headlining this Wednesday- night “best of the open mike” show. Cain is taking a break while one of the many guest performers he’s invited to join him does a short set. But though he’s trying to rest, Cain can’t relax.
By day, Cain works for the city as a garbage collector. “I sing in the alleys,” he says. “I’m dumping garbage and I’m humming, writing songs in my head. When people ask me what I do, I say ‘I’m a garbageman and a singer.’”
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
At the Cotton Club, Cain’s set ranges from “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to PM Dawn’s “I’d Die Without You.” During “Yesterday” Cain challenges the audience to a sing-along and passes the microphone into the crowd. I’m sitting next to his older brother Cedric, who nearly flattens me in his enthusiasm. Cedric is standing up waving his arms and harmonizing along with Terrence to Babyface’s “Whip Appeal.” The whole crowd has reached a frenzy. Cain never breaks concentration even with the chaos in front of him.
“It’s not a matter of supporting Terrence, he has our support,” Jesse says. “We don’t have to be there to support him. I know he can sing, and he will be successful. I love Terrence for who he is, not for what he has or might have. If he were making a million dollars and he was a wreck, I wouldn’t want to be around him.”
