What do you think sets The Cactus Blossoms apart from other Americana-flavoured acts? Well, on the surface you might mention their short-haired, clean-shaven style. They wear matching jackets on stage instead of trying to look like The Band circa 1969. Then you can point to the pure harmonies of blood brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum. They can’t help but sound like the Everly Brothers when they sing country with such a perfect blend of voices. And they favour retro guitar tones with tons of twang and tremolo. Finally, you may notice that younger brother Jack is a seriously handsome guy (my other half felt obliged to tell me this as soon as she clapped eyes on him). She’s right. He looks like a film star or a pop idol.
Yes, all of these things do set them apart. But dig more deeply and the most important difference between The Cactus Blossoms and nearly everybody else is their ability to write simple, instantly memorable songs with melodic choruses you can sing along to at first hearing. That’s a rare and valuable skill.
I didn’t know much about the band before buying tickets for this show in Montreuil, an eastern suburb just outside the Paris Périphérique. Confused by their different names (Jack uses a stage name, Page does not), I wasn’t sure that the two singers were in fact brothers until I did some research. Not only that, bass player Philip Wicks is their cousin, while lead guitarist Jake Hanson and drummer Jeremy Hanson are a second pair of brothers in the same band. “We’re really bad at making friends so we have to stick to family,” joked Torrey while introducing the line-up.
Visually they made an instant impression with the two singers in pastel-blue jackets and the back line in the same colour waistcoats (no doubt inspired by their song Powder Blue, which was played mid-set and sounded more like the Everlys than the real Phil and Don). We didn’t hear that trademark vocal blend so much during the opening four numbers which featured one or other of the brothers singing lead on the verses. Then came the double whammy of ‘Runaway’ and ‘Statues’ and suddenly we were in sibling harmony heaven.
The 22-song set included eight of the ten tracks from their last album “Every Time I Think About You” plus highlights from previous collections going back to 2016’s “You’re Dreaming”, which was still one year in the future the last time they played Paris, as support to J.D. McPherson in 2015.
Halfway through the show Page Burkam introduced the set’s only cover version by saying: “We come from Minnesota and we’d like to play something by a fellow Minnesotan, name of Bob Dylan. He added, thoughtfully: “This is one of his least popular songs…” He wasn’t kidding. The Cactus Blossoms recorded ‘Went To See The Gypsy’ for a four-song EP of Dylan covers released in 2022. His Bobness did it on 1970’s “New Morning” album. I had no memory of ever having heard it before. My own favourite song of the night was ‘Hey Baby’. Not the Bruce Channel number from 1961, but a low-key feelgood boogie that gives me a shiver of pleasure every time I hear it.
I watched the show from the right-hand side of the hall. And with lead guitarist Jake Hanson stationed on the left, I couldn’t see him when he sat down for certain numbers. At first I thought he was playing pedal steel because that’s what it sounded like. Suddenly I saw through a gap in the crowd that there was no pedal steel and in fact he was coaxing showers of shimmering glissandi from his Fender Jazzmaster using a slide and a volume pedal. This was seriously impressive. There was lots more to love about The Cactus Blossoms for a guitar nut like me: the pleasing visual contrast between Jack Torrey’s pristine instruments – a gleaming sunburst Stratocaster and a Danelectro Longhorn – and his cousin Philip’s road-battered Precision bass; the way Hanson’s upfront licks wove in an out of Torrrey’s precisely tooled arpeggios and subtle lead lines to form a delicious sonic texture.
The band had played four shows in the UK (Glasgow, York, Bristol, London) and five in Spain before this one concert in France, with more to follow in Belgium and the Netherlands. Page Burkum thanked the Montreuil crowd for being friendly and appreciative but admitted that they were more familiar with rowdy US audiences. “We’re used to people shouting and throwing things while we play. Next time bring some rotten fruit,” he quipped.
I’m still exploring unfamiliar music venues in and around Paris and La Marbrerie was a good discovery. It used to be a workshop that made gravestones and despite a spartan industrial ambience the sound was superb throughout. It has a canteen alongside the auditorium which lived up to its name by serving food from hot trays as soon as you ordered it.
The show ended on a cheerful note when the band came back for their first encore and a fan near the front asked them to play ‘Out of My Mind (On Sunday)’, the closing track from the last album. “Um, we haven’t practised that one,” said Burkum. “We wouldn’t want you to go home remembering us for a song we messed up.”
So they played something else. But when that song finished they decided to go for it. With the help of a fan holding up a phone with the lyrics, Torrey began singing the request hesitantly, then confidently, and suddenly it was as if they had played it on every night of tour and everyone was smiling. After a final rousing performance of ‘Travelers Paradise’ The Cactus Blossoms left the stage on a tide of Gallic goodwill.
PS: someone at the very front of the audience has posted good-quality videos of four songs from this show to the usual site. They’re easy to find.
