g This solo guitar slinger has earned a Boston Music Award nomination, a big showing at Kerrville, and a growing NH following.

A mere lad of 17, Joel Cage left his Arlington, Mass. home to audition for an open position as guitarist for Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes. He clearly remembers hearing about the opportunity.

"I asked my older brother, 'Do you think I'm good enough?,' and he said 'That's up to you' -- a truly inspirational moment that came and went so fast."

The story gets better.

"I had to dust off a Jukes record we had in the house and learn tracks in a week and a half. I was playing guitar in a trio at the time, had never played electric much, and had never played standing up. So there I am on the New York Thruway in my dad's BMW -- the BMW he finally let me drive after nine months of refusals. I get rear-ended. But I do get to the audition." "

The place is full of New Yorkers, all tall with long hair ... and there I am in the corner, hugging my knees. When it was my turn I was nervous but played on. They keyed in on my voice and then Southside gets up to play with me. What a great moment."

The moment was great enough to earn the young Cage a spot in the infamous band, three years of touring and a part on three records. During that time, he learned much from bandanna-wearing guitarist Steve Van Zandt and jammed with Bruce Springsteen, with whom Cage shares a passion for balladry and lingering lyrics.

Fleeting yet spectacular moments at Passim in Cambridge, Horsefeathers in North Conway, Wade & Molloy's in Gilford, or the Press Room in

Portsmouth are what audiences notice about him today. A large, strong voice and guitar skills on par with the best Chris Smither rootsy-folk-blues riffs are what separated Cage from all the others those many years ago and what keeps listeners engaged now. In the flood of singer-songwriters inundating the music scene, this former-rocker-turned-solo-performer brings considerable skills and a knack for vivid stories wrapped in sophisticated music.

Two self-recorded and self-produced CDs -- "Last Hard Road"(1995) and "Nobody" (1998), released on his Big Sixteen Record label -- have jettisoned Cage to the top of the New Folk heap and onto preeminent folk stages as a New Folk Finalist at the Kerrville Folk Festival in texas, at the Free Times Cafe presented by the North by Northeast Music Conference in Toronto, and an invitation back to the elite Songwriters Showcase at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville.

"You'd be surprised at the momentum you can build in three songs," Cage says of the short but intense sets at Kerrville and the Bluebird. "I got a nice review in Country Songwriter Magazine for the few songs I performed at the Bluebird. And the two songs I play at Kerrville this coming weekend will probably exceed the force of a three-hour Boston show."

Though he travels far and wide to perform, Cage first explored New Hampshire as a solo act. "I went north to woo a diverse contingency of fans. Excess and ego make you less human, and I hope to always be close to audiences, so I go to where I find the most friends. I play night after night in New Hampshire. The come back to listen and learn the words to my songs. This is not true in Boston where, if you play three shows a month, labeled as 'too accessible'." This minstrel with the killer schedule looks forward to making a home in the Lakes Region soon, while keeping his Boston apartment as a secondary residence.

Joel Cage plays regularly at Patrick's in Gilford, Horsefeathers in No. Conway, The Weirs Beach Smokehouse in Laconia, Tuckerman's Tavern in Intervale, the Central Ave. Saloon in Dover, and the Press Room in Portsmouth.