It brews passion throughout, even when they sometimes veer too close to James Taylor territory as on the smooth pop of ‘Is it Over’.įor ‘Everybody’, the brothers invite Jenny Lewis into their all-boys club, her voice on lead and harmony is both gorgeous yet cautionary. It’s especially evident on the ominous ‘Ballad of an Unknown’ Torrey and Burkum’s voices project a reserved innocence in isolation and partnership. There’s a modest 60s undercurrent to the Blossoms’ sound, somewhat akin to an old Neil Diamond chestnut like ‘Solitary Man’. On ‘Runaway’ the twosome sing “Have you found another fool / To do anything for you / Will you ever see / what you did to me” as reverbed guitar even brings some nifty Spaghetti Western soul to the mid-tempo nugget. Hints of pedal steel, electric piano and sparse drums provide the instrumental muscle behind melancholy moments like ‘If I Saw You’, ‘I Could Almost Cry’, ‘Broken Heart’ and ‘Not the Only One’, all of which convey a sorrowful, even regretful nature by their titles alone. The Blossoms’ may eschew guitar solos and extended instrumental passages, but these tunes still soar gracefully due to the effortless harmonies and uncluttered arrangements. It’s not an issue when you can craft minor gems with such subtle backing that's as strikingly conceived as these.Įight of the 11 tracks are done and dusted in under three minutes each, yet none feel rushed or dashed off. Longtime fans won’t be surprised that the pair hardly stray from the sound of their two previous releases. That’s all they required to craft this 11-track set of sublime and beautifully hewed country/folk. Longtime engineer Alex Hall brought his mobile recording unit in, the duo keeping the shape of their sparse touring band to bass, drums and keyboards. They don’t need a fancy studio, a well-known producer or complex Pro Tools equipment to create enduring songs in a relatively stripped-down format.įor their third studio album, shop was set up in Page’s basement. Their acoustic guitars do the rest, creating a rootsy concoction that evokes an understated honesty. Minnesota duo Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, aka The Cactus Blossoms, are one such pair.ĭespite different last names, Torrey and Burkum are blood brothers (the latter taking a stage name early in his career) who harmonize with the same symbiotic grace that made the Everly Brothers’ music so timeless. The poetry continued with the up-and-down swirling themes depicting a morning awakening.Some acts, by nature and lineup, were always going to be better prepared than others to continue recording once the pandemic took hold. It began the evening with an actual evening-themed movement, a conversation between violinist and festival founder Stephanie Sant’Ambrogio’s violin and Beth Rapier’s cello, as if in front of a fireplace. The program also featured two women composers, starting with France’s Mélonie Bonis’ “Soir-Matin,” (“Evening and Morning”). The third-movement “valse triste” melody was gentle and lovely, leading into the high-spirited finale. The musicians handled the Brahms quintet’s tricky beginning by finding the perfect balance between the two violins and two violas vs. Pianist Scott Cuellar, gold medalist in last year’s San Antonio International Piano Competition, emerged to the fore, though, in the thrilling finale. ![]() The Beethoven trio circulated numerous moods as Russian violinist Dmitri Pogorelov and festival veteran cellist Anthony Ross held forth the first three movements.
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