Cactus Blossoms: old-style country crooners

Posted at 8:13 AM on October 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

At the heart of some of the finest country music there are two brothers making beautiful harmonies.

The Delmore Brothers, the Louvin Brothers, the Everly Brothers...and now, the Cactus Blossoms, featuring brothers Jack Torrey and Page Burkum.

Jack Torrey and Page Burkum of the Minneapolis band "The Cactus Blossoms."
Photo courtesy Quillan Roe

MPR's Chris Roberts met up with the brothers, who talked about their harmonizing:

"Your voice is the most expressive thing that you have, if you let it be," Torrey said. "It can also be the most contrived thing you have, if you choose to use it that way."

Creating immaculate harmonies comes easily. The two brothers come from a musical family, where a rendition of "Happy Birthday" sounds like a choir. But Burkum says that's not the only reason they've chosen to be old-style country crooners.

"There's a lot more sentimentality in old music, and that is another thing I like," he said. "There aren't songs like that now on the radio."

You can hear the rest of the story, and the music of the Cactus Blossoms, by clicking on the link below:

Using music to build trust

Posted at 3:35 PM on October 10, 2011 by Marianne Combs
Filed under: Music

"Where there is trust there is music, and by extension, life. Where there is no trust, the music quite simply withers away."

Such is the premise of conductor Charles Hazlewood's TED Talk. Hazlewood , with help from the Scottish Ensemble, demonstrates how a successful orchestra is built on trust, and how making music together can build trust between such unlikely partners as black South Africans and white authorities who participated in the crimes of Apartheid.

Check out this video not only for the gorgeous live performance, but also for clips from two of Hazlewood's projects empowering people of all backgrounds to make beautiful music together.