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The Cactus Blossoms play songs from their new album, 'Easy Way'

The Cactus Blossoms perform in The Current studio
The Cactus Blossoms perform in The Current studioNate Ryan | MPR
  Play Now [18:04]

by Bill DeVille

February 17, 2019

The Cactus Blossoms - Desperado (Live at The Current)
by MPR
The Cactus Blossoms - Please Don't Call Me Crazy (Live at The Current)
by MPR
The Cactus Blossoms - See It Through (Live at The Current)
by MPR

The Cactus Blossoms' new album, Easy Way, comes out March 1, but the band certainly didn't take the easy way when making the album. "This time around, we produced it ourselves and went down that rabbit hole," the Cactus Blossoms' Jack Torrey says. "Now that it's done; we're really glad. It took us a while to make it."

With the album now ready to go, the Cactus Blossoms are thrilled to put it out into the world. Ahead of its release, the full lineup of the Cactus Blossoms — frontmen Jack Torrey and Page Burkum along with Tyler Burkum and Jake Hanson on additional guitars, Phillip Hicks on bass, and Jeremy Hanson on drums — stopped at The Current studio to play songs from the new album and to chat with host Bill DeVille.

The album's lead single, "Please Don't Call Me Crazy," drew inspiration from a local music icon, Curtiss A. "I'd been working on this little idea not knowing what it was or what it would turn into," Jack recalls. "I started thinking about the perspective of Curt; what would Curtiss A sing about? 'Please don't call me crazy' was the first thing I came up with, and I thought, 'Maybe it should be something else.' Like it always happens, it just goes back to the original idea and you run with it."

"Please Don't Call Me Crazy" features a grittier guitar sound, suggesting to some listeners perhaps a changing sound for the band. "It's just kind of growing in its own direction and evolving with our own interests," Torrey explains. "I didn't have an electric guitar like this back then, either. So it's a slow change; I can see how it could seem like a quick one, but I think that's because we need to put albums out more than every three years."

The album's sound isn't what the band members think is its biggest departure from their previous work. "The biggest difference is that they're all new songs," Page Burkum explains, "whereas the last time around, they were feeling a little old when they came out, and this time it feels like a fresh new chapter, so that's fun."

Use the audio player above to listen to the complete session with the Cactus Blossoms.

More Video

Songs Performed


"Desperado"
"Please Don't Call Me Crazy"
"See It Through"
All songs from the Cactus Blossoms album, Easy Way, out March 1, 2019, on Walkie Talkie Records.

Hosted by Bill DeVille
Produced by Derrick Stevens
Engineered by Johnny Vince Evans
Visuals by Nate Ryan
Web feature by Luke Taylor

The Cactus Blossoms - official site