Biography
The Cactus Blossoms deliver Americana rooted in classic sibling vocal blends, a natural outcome given that guitarists and vocalists Page Burkum and Jack Torrey are actual brothers. Torrey first performed under a stage name after launching his singer-songwriter career at age 19, and the pair’s voices merge with an ease that evokes contemporary echoes of the Everly Brothers and the Louvin Brothers. Their 2016 release You’re Dreaming leaned into relaxed country shuffles that balanced warmth and melancholy, while Easy Way in 2019 and One Day in 2022 introduced a sharper modern edge, the latter spotlighting the track “Everybody” alongside Jenny Lewis; Every Time I Think About You, issued in 2024, wove indie-pop textures into the band’s longstanding roots foundation.
Raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Burkum and Torrey absorbed pop radio and early Beatles recordings alongside a shared affection for older country and folk material. They began performing as a duo in 2010 under the name the Cactus Blossoms, mixing vintage country and folk standards with newly written songs in the same vein. A self-released, self-titled debut appeared in 2011, after which the brothers secured a residency at St. Paul’s Turf Club; selections from those performances surfaced on the 2013 live album Live at the Turf Club.
Positive coverage of the live set prompted wider touring, whether headlining smaller venues, supporting artists in larger rooms such as Kacey Musgraves, or guesting on the public-radio program A Prairie Home Companion, where host Garrison Keillor introduced them as “the brother duet that America is waiting for.” A 2015 recording agreement with the St. Paul-based roots label Red House Records led the siblings to collaborate with musician and producer JD McPherson on their first project for the imprint; You’re Dreaming reached stores in January 2016, after which Burkum and Torrey hit the road in support.
An appearance in David Lynch’s 2018 series Twin Peaks: The Return provided further visibility, and the band followed with Easy Way in March 2019. One Day arrived in 2022, featuring the Jenny Lewis duet on “Everybody” and drawing from 1970s soft-rock palettes; that same year the EP If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1) presented four covers of material by Minnesota’s most celebrated songwriter. For Every Time I Think About You the Cactus Blossoms worked at Minneapolis’s Creation Audio, a studio previously used by both the Trashmen and the Replacements. Their road band—guitarist Jacob Hansen, bassist Phillip Hicks, and drummer Jeremy Hanson—contributed more substantially than before, and the resulting arrangements merged the group’s country and soft-rock leanings with contemporary indie-pop touches. An extensive tour followed, including a stop at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater.
Raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Burkum and Torrey absorbed pop radio and early Beatles recordings alongside a shared affection for older country and folk material. They began performing as a duo in 2010 under the name the Cactus Blossoms, mixing vintage country and folk standards with newly written songs in the same vein. A self-released, self-titled debut appeared in 2011, after which the brothers secured a residency at St. Paul’s Turf Club; selections from those performances surfaced on the 2013 live album Live at the Turf Club.
Positive coverage of the live set prompted wider touring, whether headlining smaller venues, supporting artists in larger rooms such as Kacey Musgraves, or guesting on the public-radio program A Prairie Home Companion, where host Garrison Keillor introduced them as “the brother duet that America is waiting for.” A 2015 recording agreement with the St. Paul-based roots label Red House Records led the siblings to collaborate with musician and producer JD McPherson on their first project for the imprint; You’re Dreaming reached stores in January 2016, after which Burkum and Torrey hit the road in support.
An appearance in David Lynch’s 2018 series Twin Peaks: The Return provided further visibility, and the band followed with Easy Way in March 2019. One Day arrived in 2022, featuring the Jenny Lewis duet on “Everybody” and drawing from 1970s soft-rock palettes; that same year the EP If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1) presented four covers of material by Minnesota’s most celebrated songwriter. For Every Time I Think About You the Cactus Blossoms worked at Minneapolis’s Creation Audio, a studio previously used by both the Trashmen and the Replacements. Their road band—guitarist Jacob Hansen, bassist Phillip Hicks, and drummer Jeremy Hanson—contributed more substantially than before, and the resulting arrangements merged the group’s country and soft-rock leanings with contemporary indie-pop touches. An extensive tour followed, including a stop at St. Paul’s Fitzgerald Theater.
Albums
Every Time I Think About You
2024
If Not For You (Bob Dylan Songs Vol. 1)
2022
One Day
2022
Easy Way
2019
Singles
