Brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum go together like peas and carrots. As The Cactus Blossoms, one of the Twin Cities’ most prominent indie acts, the pair harken back to an earlier time in country music, when simplicity was king and vocal harmonies were the cat’s pajamas.
But don’t call them stuck in the past.
“There's no novelty to what we're doing,” said Torrey, “and we're not trying to be some, some old thing. I mean, we're writing new songs and making music and exploring the sonic possibilities there, so for us, it's a very active, current thing that we're doing, even though, you know, some people might be confused.”
Save for a collection of (fellow Minnesotan) Bob Dylan covers in 2022, The Cactus Blossoms write all their own music. Their original tunes possess an ambiguously nostalgic, Old American texture, as if plucked from a 50s diner jukebox or a dusty bin of used 70’s folk vinyls. Even “Stoplight Kisses,” the first song on their first album, would feel right at home at a drive-in with rollerskates, soda pop, milkshakes — the works.
While the sonics of their music seem untouched by the Digital Age, the themes are universal and everlasting. They sing often about love, longing, loneliness, mistakes and new adventures. The lyrics on songs like “Is It Over,” “Lonely Heart,” “I Could Almost Cry,” “Travelers Paradise” — and many more — are a real bummer. Luckily, all sadness is tempered by bright and cheery rock and roll. They say this is a natural tension of life, mixing the good with the bad.
“That’s kind of life, in some ways. I think there's a lot of wonderful things out there in the world and wonderful people, and there's also a lot of sadness and darkness and difficulty,” Torrey said. “And, I think they kind of go hand-in-hand and come out in songs sometimes.”
Turns out, Torrey and Burkum’s butter-smooth harmonies are the perfect delivery mechanism for these universal messages.
Blossoming
From their music, you’d think The Cactus Blossoms brothers would’ve spent their childhoods shooting marbles and hitting a hoop with a stick. But, like many youths their age, Torrey and Burkum grew up on the music of the times, not necessarily the traditionalist country they’re known for.
“REV105 was an alternative station in Minneapolis, only for a few years in the 90s,” Torrey said of their early favorites. “They played a lot of great stuff. All the usual suspects, everything from Weezer to Radiohead, Bjork and Air and Lauryn Hill.”
That said, The Beatles were big in the brothers’ house growing up, so the 60s were not some faraway concept. They were also privy to — and eventually began to resemble — the all-American sibling duo The Everly Brothers (originally from Shenandoah, Iowa!). But it took moving back to Minnesota as grown-ups for them to really dive into that bygone era.
“Not a whole lot of other old, country music or blues growing up, so that was something we got into a little later and discovered on our own,” Burkum said. “Us and our friends heard a lot of music that was dating back to the early part of the 1900s. Some of the first recordings from the 1920s, stuff like that, we got really into and just loved all the folk traditions and folk songs. To our ears, what we’re doing now feels like modern music, but I know to some people it sounds kind of old-fashioned.”
In 2016, Torrey and Burkum made a big splash with their debut full-length, You’re Dreaming, which showcased the pair’s laser-sharp harmonies and neo-traditionalist disposition. The genesis of The Cactus Blossoms, though, occurred six years earlier.
Ironically, both Cactus Blossoms were late bloomers, or at least slow to discover the power of their two voices together. Despite having a whole childhood to practice, and a guitar-playing eldest brother named Tyler, Torrey and Burkum didn’t start singing together until well into adulthood.
“Start doing anything at any age,” advised Burkum. “I kind of wish that I had started learning to play and sing more so when I was younger. But, you gotta have a reason to do things. I didn’t get into [music] because it was a good plan or because it made any sense. It was out of pure desire for the joy of making music. I think if I would’ve set out to do it as a job, or thinking we could have a career doing this, it would’ve been a foolish idea.”
Warmer weather
Throw a rock at a Cactus Blossoms tracklist, and you’re bound to hit a song befitting the American south, complete with galloping tempos, folk picking and the sensation of a warm Texas sunrise hitting your cheeks. Not to mention the duo’s use of Mexico, employed in songs like “Hey Baby” and “Desperado,” as an allegory for the optimistic and the unknown.
Burkum, who was born in Texas, and Torrey (Nebraska), have called the Twin Cities home for about 15 years. There, daydreams of orangish red rocks and blossoming cacti are all but inevitable. When asked to describe their perfect day, the answer was simple: 75 degrees.
“It's cold in Des Moines, but it’s colder here,” Torrey said from a well-below freezing Minneapolis. “And I think it puts a deep sense of longing for that temperate winter weather, when you don’t have to put up with the stuff that we have here.”
“I think we dream of being in Mexico, maybe more than some people, when you live in Minnesota,” Burkum said.
Warmth is not the only aspect of ol’ Texas that the pair resonate with. Torrey and Burkum find real kinship, or “camaraderie,” in the works of 1970s Lubbock, Tex. folksters Joe E. Lee, Jimmy Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock, known collectively as The Flatlanders.
Remembering David Lynch
In 2017, David Lynch was gifted an opportunity to premiere his long-thought-impossible vision for the continuation of his beloved, though short-lived, oddball horror series, Twin Peaks. Set 25 years after the events of Twin Peaks’ second season, Twin Peaks: The Return brought back original lead Kyle MacLachlan, as well as some damn fine coffee, for a third season.
The legendary film director personally tapped musicians not just to fill out the 18-episode drama’s soundtrack, but also to be involved in the production. Musicians played themselves, performing their own music, at the Roadhouse (AKA The Bang Bang Bar), the iconic and mysterious bar-slash-venue located in Twin Peaks.
The Cactus Blossoms, who performed their river-loving song “Mississippi” on the series, joined an all-star lineup of performers, including Sharon Van Etten, Nine Inch Nails, Eddie Vedder, Quad Cities-born singer-songwriter Lissie and an appearance by Lynch’s son Riley — also a director — on guitar.
The brothers are humble about their small roles in the dark TV reboot, but the memories from set were sunshine and rainbows. As fans of the show and Lynch himself, they found the cig-ripping savant incredibly personable.
“There was just a general sweetness emanating from that man [Lynch] and the whole crew,” Torrey said. “You know, it's like when you go into a restaurant and everyone's happy to be working there. It's a good sign that it's a well-run, cool place. They’d been shooting for two or three months by the time we met up with them to shoot our thing, and everyone was so happy and lovely.”
After their time in LA, the brothers received a gift in the mail from Lynch, thanking them for their assistance: two cardboard boxes, each containing a mug. The mug read “TP” for Twin Peaks with a drawing of the mountains and a couple of donuts.
“It just had a little return address, and I saved it, and I looked it up online,” Torrey said. “I was like, huh, it’s on Mulholland Drive. Weird. Then I was watching his [David Lynch: The Art Life] documentary and saw him leaving his house, and I was like, I think that’s the house. For years, I was gonna send him a letter, and I never did, and I regret that.”
Coming to Iowa
Regret, and leaving, are through-lines in The Cactus Blossoms’ most recent offering, 2024’s Every Time I Think About You. It's the band’s fourth studio album, but certainly not their last. They say a new record is currently in progress, and that unreleased songs will likely pepper their upcoming sets in 2026.
The first and final shows of The Cactus Blossoms’ upcoming 10-date winter sprint will take place in Iowa. The tour kicks off in Des Moines at The Temple Theater on Tuesday, Jan. 27, and will swing back through the state on Saturday, Feb. 7, at The Wildwood Saloon in Iowa City.
