The Cactus Blossoms at the Loft at City Winery

The Cactus Blossoms are two brothers from Minneapolis, Minnesota, vocalists/guitarists Page Burkum and Jack Torrey (Torrey adopted a stage name when he first stepped out as a singer/songwriter at age 19). Initially Torrey wanted to be like Bob Dylan and Burkam played drums in a blues band. They became roommates in the late ’00s and started singing old folk and country tunes together off their record player. In 2010 they began performing publicly as the Cactus Blossoms, performing old harmony-based country songs and original songs that sounded like they were vintage. After releasing a debut album in 2011, the Cactus Blossoms were offered a residency at a club in St. Paul, Minnesota, so they assembled a band. Over the next year and a half, the repertoire featured more original songs along with the gut wrenching, tongue-in-cheek heartbreakers that were 30 years older than them. The Cactus Blossoms will release a third studio album, Easy Way, on March 1, 2019.

From the beginning, the Cactus Blossoms drew comparisons to the Louvin Brothers, the Everly Brothers and other sibling harmony duos from half a century ago. Indeed, the uncanny vocal work recalls a retro country music heritage, but apparently that is not destined to be the terminal point in this journey. The brothers brought a four-piece band to the Loft at City Winery that added a contemporary folk-pop curve to the otherwise timeless roots. The trajectory pointed forward as well as backward. The homegrown harmonies serenaded sweetly, tenderly and expressively, and the crisp dual crooning and swooning on the lilting ballads were the charm, but perhaps the more upbeat, fuller-sounding songs will appeal to a younger and broader audience. This is the Cactus Blossoms today, an ensemble that is growing into its definitive sound, and the future looks bright.