![]() With a high lonesome twang, an Emmylou-like southern drawl, and blistering guitar techniques, Blue Cactus’ new record Stranger Again exercises the honky-tonk muscles to firmly bear the flag for a new generation of classic country practitioners. ![]() Their finest work yet, Blue Cactus resuscitate a fleeting style of honest-to-goodness country music considered valueless to a “new” country music where songwriting is officiated by financial analysts and teams of marketing plutocrats instead of woebegone troubadours. Throughout Stranger Again, they explore loss and longing, self-love and reckoning with personal, political and human struggles. Following their critically acclaimed 2017 debut and a string of singles in 2020 their evolution is made plain on their sophomore LP, Stranger Again, released on Sleepy Cat Records. The otherworldliness of the music is a perfect contrast to their distinctly grounded, human storytelling lyrics. Blue Cactus, the North Carolina duo of Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, make Dream Country: a blend of grit, glitz, groove, and twang that evokes a celestial soundscape of mid-century heartbreak. Stranger Again is a deep dive into Cosmic American music, with the band taking. Stranger Again is a deep dive into Cosmic American music, with the band taking their sound into ambitious new planes, where country-rock meets light psychedelia as the soaring vocals meet twangy slide-guitars and propulsive bass-lines. Blue Cactus, the North Carolina duo of Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez. The album has received enthusiastic attention from tastemakers including No Depression, American Songwriter, FLOOD Magazine, Talkhouse, and INDY Week among others. ![]() It's taken me at least a month to settle in and do more creative work, so I feel very lucky to be able to work this way.Blue Cactus, the North Carolina duo of Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, make Cosmic Americana: a blend of grit, glitz, groove, and twang that evokes a celestial soundscape of mid-century heartbreak.įollowing their critically acclaimed 2017 debut and a string of singles in 2020 their evolution is made plain on their sophomore LP, Stranger Again, released on Sleepy Cat Records. I'm also working on being a self-sufficient photographer/videographer in order to keep stockpiling content. My primary goal of the year is to be recording more, and I've been taking the time to follow through on that. Different pieces of music gear come in and out of the room. My creative space changes a little every day, skating through varied states of organized chaos. In a way, that burden has been lifted and I have been taking the creative time I had been denying myself over the past year or so. Without a booking agent, its a necessary evil but is a path I know to do what I love. From Mario Arnez -Īs an independent musician, I used to feel intense pressure to work on the never-ending black hole that is music-booking emails, since performing live has been the tried and true way to grow our fan base and secure more income. ![]() ![]() Blue cactus music steph and mario series#We've also started a monthly live stream concert series together called "Everywhere from Here". The songs were collaborations with my music and life partner, Mario Arnez. All of our performances are canceled so long as this virus persists, which has freed us up to make new art, but it takes time for me to synthesize all of the feelings and changes we're experiencing in this "new normal." Taking the time to process and creative while accepting the mental blocks in creativity as part of the process has helped me create new poetry and a couple of new songs. It's a lot to process everything that's happening in our world. Each day is an oscillation between extreme productivity and numbness, like the dreams when you're flying and then all of a sudden your frozen and being chased by an inescapable force. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |