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The Cactus Blossoms Residency 2022
The Cactus Blossoms Residency 2022First Avenue

The Cactus Blossoms Residency with Brianna Kočka

Monday, January 3
6:30 pm

Turf Club

1601 University Ave W, Saint Paul, MN 55104

Effective immediately, all concerts and events at First Avenue and associated venues will require either proof of a full series of COVID-19 vaccination, or proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken in the prior 72 hours. More info HERE.

Doors open at 6:30PM | Show starts at 7:30PM | 21+ | $20 Advance | $25 Day of Show

More information

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.


Brianna Kočka is a singer-songwriter and producer from Minneapolis, MN. She has shared the stage with Marc Cohn, The Cult, and has had her music featured on General Hospital, 20/20, Betrayed, Siesta Keys, and many other television shows. Evoking the instrumentation of Joni Mitchell, the intimacy of Nick Drake and mournful harmonies of Americana pioneer Gillian Welch, Kočka’s songs are both autobiographical and fantasy, documents of facing phantoms, and fleeing them.

On May 14, 2021, Brianna released her fourth solo album, Let It Stay, her most masterful and challenging work to date. Let It Stay takes you on a sonic journey from chaos to calm, depicting the juxtaposition of closeness and longing both through lyric and sound.

Previous releases include: Three Songs (2019), an autobiographical look at love, loss, and grief; Dreamlife (2018); and Write by Night (2010). Brianna also wrote, sang, and played in the psychedelic/trip hop band Sun Gods to Gamma Rays between 2012-2015, who released two albums. She has also released one album of indie-rock songs (The Black EP) under an alter-ego, CAETANI, in 2011.