The Cactus Blossoms and The Still Tide

107 Manitou Avenue,Manitou Springs CO 80829

18 February, 2022

Description

The Cactus Blossoms and The Still Tide Lulu's Downstairs Presents ALL AGES The Cactus Blossoms The Still Tide The Cactus Blossoms and The Still Tide Doors 7pm Show 8pm BIOGRAPHY Blood Harmony. Whether it’s The Beach Boys, Bee Gees or First Aid Kit, that sibling vocal blend is the secret sauce in some of the most spine-tingling moments in popular music. The Cactus Blossoms – Minneapolis-based brothers Page Burkum and Jack Torrey – offer compelling evidence that this tradition is alive and well, with a deceptively unadorned musical approach that offers “creative turns of phrase, gorgeous harmonies, and an ageless sound” (NPR All Things Considered), not to mention spine tingles aplenty. Their 2016 debut You’re Dreaming, a stunning and transporting collection of original songs, earned high praise from Rolling Stone and Vice Noisey, tour stints with Kacey Musgraves and Lucius, and a perfectly cast performance on the third season of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Now their unlikely rise continues with new album Easy Way, to be released on their own label Walkie Talkie Records. While many bands would have been content to stick with the winning formula of their debut, the Blossoms refused to repeat themselves. If You’re Dreaming celebrated their vintage country and rock influences, Easy Way reveals a songwriting style that has changed, evolved, and gotten more modern. Dan Auerbach, another artist who knows from bedrock influences, co-wrote two songs on the album. “Dan’s love for songwriting was inspiring, just the kick in the pants we needed to start writing again after being on the road,” says Page. The brothers’ decision to produce the new album themselves no doubt led to the new sound. “We wanted the freedom to experiment with our own weird ideas,” says Jack, “We used to joke that the working title album should be Expensive Demos.” As they crisscrossed the nation on tour, the brothers would stop through Alex Hall’s Reliable Recorders studio in Chicago to chase the new sound they were after. The result joins together what would otherwise be distant corners of the American songbook. Both the traditional twang of Chicago pedal steel guitarist Joel Paterson (Devil in a Woodpile, The Western Elstons) and the primal wail of free jazz saxophonist Michael Lewis (Bon Iver, Andrew Bird) are at home on the album. Just as they did with their debut, the brothers found a voice all their own. The Still Tide Anna Morsett has never been in one place for too long. Whether traveling in her mind or in actual transit, she has always been searching for the steadiness that her band name implies: The Still Tide. While Morsett’s project has gone through several iterations, hometowns and releases, the one constant has always been her honest, intentional and luminous brand of indie rock. Influenced as much by growing up in the Pacific Northwest as by her experiences traveling the globe as a guitar tech for artists such as The Tallest Man on Earth and Kaki King, The Still Tide is Morsett’s true and heartfelt landing place for her confessional lyrics and intricate guitar work. With the use of alternate tunings, uncommon capos and a sea of reverb as the signature underpinning for her dynamic voice, Morsett has carved out a space that seems as much for herself as it is for us. “Writing and playing music has always made me feel like I belonged to something other, something beyond myself. It always had the answer before I could think of the question and settled me in the world, made sense of it, of myself. I feel like I’m still making music for my own heart just as much as I am for the hearts of others, hoping they might be carried by it as much as I’ve been”. From her early days of playing deserted open mics in Portland to years spent singing along with the echoes of stairwells and bathrooms of converted factory buildings in Brooklyn, Morsett has indeed been carried by music, much of it her own. Having sung her songs from west to east, over to Europe and back again, she has come a long way from those youthful beginnings. Whether playing out now with the full band or soulfully on her own, Morsett’s engaging live performances are evidence of miles traveled and of the seasoned musician she’s become along the way. The Cactus Blossoms The Still Tide