Music blossoms at Hooligans
The Cactus Blossoms brought their sound to Mankato Saturday, Oct. 15. The band played at Hooligans, under the support of Minnesota State University, Mankato Performance Series and the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
Page Burkum is one of the two band members. He said, “Me and my brother started the band about 10 years ago and we’ve been playing in the Minneapolis [and] St. Paul area.”
Burkum described their music as, “Kind of old country and rock and roll influenced; a lot of the same music that maybe the Beatles would have been listening to. We also do music that’s a lot newer than that and make our own blend of it.”
Danielle Quinn attended The Cactus Blossoms’ most recent concert.
“My friend recommended them to me,” said Quinn. “I heard their music and I really really liked their California, beachy, Surf’s Up vibe while still having that chill folk sound.”
The sound of their music is largely thanks to Burkum’s brother, Jack Torrey.
“Jack has written a lot of our songs, I’ve written some on my own, and then we’ve written some together,” said Burkum. “It’s kind of a mystery where some of the ideas come from. When you get some line that comes in your head that resonates with you and a little scrap of a melody that will start piecing it together – it’s like if you have a banana on the counter, and then you have some peanut butter in the in the cupboard, and some toast here, then maybe you put them all together and have a meal.”
Although so much goes into making the songs, they come out sounding smooth.
Quinn said, “If you’re looking for some good music that you can chill and relax to while still grooving, then I would say that they’re definitely a good band at checkout. I think all of their songs are really well written and there’s a lot of deep music.”
This sound has allowed The Cactus Blossoms to travel across the country, and even abroad to Europe and Australia. However, they still love coming back to ‘Kato.
“Well, we love this area. We have a lot of old friends in the area,” said Burkum. “Even tonight, I’ve already met several folks that haven’t seen [us] for a long time, so it’s good coming out here.”
Even if students missed the concert, The Cactus Blossoms’ music is still worth checking out. The band has three albums out for listening; their newest titled, “One Day.”
“I would say there’s something for everybody out there. If you happen to check out our music, maybe you’ll find that it resonates with you,” Burkum said. “We feel very fortunate that there are quite a few people who’ve told us that our music means something to them.”
Header Photo: The Burkum Brothers have been performing under the band name ‘Cactus Blossoms’ for over a decade now, gaining nationwide notoriety both on and off campus. (Dylan Long/The Reporter)
Writer to Lilly Schmidt at lillian.schmidt@mnsu.edu