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The Cactus Blossoms with special guests, Devin Tuel & Stephen Harms

  • Abilene Bar & Lounge 153 Liberty Pole Way Rochester, NY, 14604 United States (map)

Doors 4pm, Music 8pm

The Cactus Blossoms

At its best, harmony duo singing can transform simple math into a magic trick. One plus one, instead of equaling two, suddenly yields an unexpected third thing. An upper-case ONE. A universal hum. A deep vibration that encompasses two different points of view. On their latest release, Every Time I Think About You, brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum, aka The Cactus Blossoms, once again prove themselves to be among the most adept – and distinctive – modern practitioners of that magic. But like any great magician, The Cactus Blossoms can’t – or won’t – fully explain the illusion they create.

“Harmonies are a big part of our sound, but in some ways they’re the part we focus on the least,” says Burkum. “We put most of our attention and energy into the songs themselves and then the harmonies just happen.”

There’s all kinds of magic happening on Every Time I Think About You, a record that sounds more like a band than any other in the Cactus Blossoms discography, thanks to contributions from Jeremy Hanson (drums), Jacob Hanson (guitar) and Phillip Hicks (bass). “There She Goes” casts its romantic regret against a danceable bop beat, and the title track is a heart-wrencher about loss and letting go.

“Even if you don’t set out to write songs with a theme in mind it seems like one usually presents itself,” says Torrey. “This record keeps returning to the idea of ‘moving on’ — from one place to another, from people and situations that bring you down, from loss and grief.”

http://thecactusblossoms.com/

Devin Tuel & Stephen Harms

Devin Tuel & Stephen Harms (formerly Native Harrow) have remained largely independent - musically, professionally, and aesthetically, since their beginning, meticulously crafting and perfecting a sound and style that is melded together from pieces of folk, soul, and rock n’ roll. This is the lifetime’s work of two scholars of music whose individual backgrounds in the arts have forged a strict artistic discipline that exists in sharp contrast to the more traditionally laissez-faire world of rock and popular music. The duo’s songs and albums have thus far completely refused categorization. Either they’ve never been pigeonholed, or if so, they’ve remained completely ignorant to it. Over a catalog of six albums, DTSH have produced a discography of “rich, engrossing records” and “instant classics” while single-mindedly following their own artistic code, acquiescing only to the exigence of the song: each song its own world with its own rules.

Formed a decade ago, DTSH spent their first five or six years crisscrossing the United States and Canada on numerous tours, averaging more than 150 concerts per year in 47 states and 4 provinces, on the back of two self-released albums, Ghost (2015) and Sorores (2017). In 2019, they released Happier Now, partnering with London alt-country stalwarts Loose Records. The record garnered glowing reviews, with Rough Trade selecting it for its album of the month, writing “Beautifully soaring... rolling grooves ground languid and dreamy clearwater shimmers of sound.” The critical acclaim and Americana chart success of the album prompted three back-to-back UK tours in 2019 and early 2020, ultimately leading to a three-year stint living and touring in the UK and Europe. In this time, DTSH released two more critically acclaimed records with Loose; Closeness (2020) and Old Kind of Magic (2022), playing for audiences ranging from rock clubs in Norway and Sweden to opera halls in Portugal, and every stop in-between, as well as performing at festivals such as BST Hyde Park (supporting the Eagles and Robert Plant & Alison Kraus), Greenman Festival, Black Deer Festival, The Great Escape, Celtic Connections, Moseley Folk Festival, SXSW, and many more. In 2024, the pair released their 6th studio album "Divided Kind", followed by an acoustic album "Like Never Before: Duo Acoustic Volume One" in 2025.

https://dtshofficial.com/

Tickets: $30 and on sale now online at https://abilene.showare.com and tonight at the door

Special thanks to our good friend (and huge supporter of live music), Doug Camp

Earlier Event: September 25
Singer-Songwriter Dan Eaton
Later Event: September 27
Teressa Wilcox & Friends