Blue Cactus

Brimming with cracked-open honesty and electrified twang, BELIEVER cements North Carolina’s Blue Cactus as a leading force in modern country and roots music. Led by songwriters Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, the group’s third album was written over a heavy two years following their critically lauded debut BLUE CACTUS and the glitz-and-glam sophomore album STRANGER AGAIN, as Stewart battled chronic health issues and the duo reassembled their musical careers in the wake of 2020. Feeling into an arid internal landscape, Stewart found microclimates of life as she hummed melodies and jotted down phrases. On BELIEVER, Stewart’s instinct for cadence and lyricism evoke Emmylou Harris’ spacious storytelling and the dusty Southern folk melancholy of Gillian Welch while Arnez holds space for each song, tending the soil with layered folk textures, genre-hopping arrangements, and bittersweet hooks. The result is a shock of color and energy, Believer blooming as delicate, prickly, and bold as a field of wildflowers.

As a departure from earlier records, BELIEVER features Stewart as Blue Cactus’ sole lead singer, her gossamer warble setting a foundation upon which the duo’s multiple vibrant musical communities build. Recording in the buzzy indie-folk scene of their home in the Piedmont of North Carolina, and later among the country sheen of Nashville, TN, the songs transform and journey through genre and mood. On the title track, a velvety core of vocals and picked acoustic guitar crackles with barely-contained urgency before bursting into a chorus of guitar feedback and dirge-like drumming, creating a modern folk epic on par with Big Thief’s “Not” and Songs: Ohia’s “Farewell Transmission.” The folky ramble “Resolution” plods and plucks with the help of Arnez’s delicate acoustic guitar picking, a locked-in Tennessee rhythm section, and close harmonies by Arnez and fellow Southern singer-songwriter Erin Rae. Stewart wrote the feisty rocker “Bite My Tongue,” featuring Kentucky bluegrass singer Brit Taylor and legendary Nashville session musician Russ Pahl (Kacey Musgraves, Kenny Rogers) in a whirlwind of inspiration, her innate ear for pop-country clap-backs becoming buoyant on a bed of Wurlitzer bursts and pedal steel glissades.

Alongside Nashville veterans like producer Whit Wright, cosmic jazz instrumentalist Rich Ruth (Third Man Records), and Hozier keyboardist Ryan Connors, Blue Cactus solidified songs like the folky ramble “Resolution,” and the expansive sonic meditation “Take All Day.” At home in North Carolina, Arnez and Stewart worked with a trusted group of friends and producer Saman Khoujinian (The Dead Tongues, Mountain Man) at Small Pond Farm in Pittsboro to build out Believer’s first single “This Kind of Rain,” a punchy, twangy country confessional that digs deep into fear and depression. Stewart’s pristinely sung lyrics, nodding to Reba McEntire’s tough-but-tender 90s hits, form the song’s heart.

In a touch of genius and good fortune for this multi-location recording spree, the BELIEVER sessions came together cohesively with the help of Derek Garten, the mixing engineer behind Taylor Swift’s meticulous Taylor’s Version album reconstructions. The result is a mature and adventurous album showcasing Arnez and Stewart’s synergistic partnership, made unique by Stewart’s resilient heart-on-sleeve cowgirl storytelling and Arnez’s ear for both down-home and cosmic orchestration.

Learn more at https://www.bluecactusmusic.com/

Jeff MIller

Jeff Miller knew early on that music was in his blood. He started playing violin at five years old, and by eight was showing a serious aptitude for music. It wasn’t until age thirteen, though, that he found his true calling: guitar. He pawned all of his video games, went down to the local music store, and bought a used Kramer guitar. Soon after he added his first acoustic guitar to his collection. There was no looking back.

Jeff continued playing and writing during his high school years, where he produced and recorded his first album with his band. Later, Jeff would attend his first Phil Keaggy show. Legendary among guitarists, Keaggy’s unique approach to the instrument had a strong influence on Jeff. This influence resulted in his long-standing affection for combining live performance with cutting edge technology. The result was Jeff’s innovative live looping technique. What is live looping? Basically, it’s a process by which a musician can record a phrase live, in front of an audience, and immediately play it back in repetition. While this phrase continues to repeat, the musician can record another "layer" to play along with the original. This process can be repeated multiple times, creating dense compositions mimicking the sound multiple musicians and backing vocalists. Over the years, Jeff has adopted this technique into his core style, adding the elements of songwriting and expression alongside the technical prowess required.

In the years since finding the guitar, much has changed. He is now a gifted musician, a graduate of the prestigious Berklee College of Music, a husband, and a father. He has worked as the producer on two full-length projects, and performed and sung on numerous other releases. Jeff has also co-written many songs, aside from his own. His live-looping technique has become ubiquitous for-up and-coming guitarists and his skills as a teacher and mentor are now in demand. In this vein, Jeff’s “Loop of the Week” video series was the first and most popular video series of its type on Youtube. His music has been featured on nationally syndicated television, and has been used by CBS Sports and Napster. Jeff has even appeared on nationally-broadcast TV, in America's Got Talent and as an extra on the hit ABC/CMT show Nashville. For Jeff, though, it's always been about the music. He looks forward to the upcoming release of his sixth solo album, continuing to craft his songwriting skills, and connecting with people who love music.

Learn more at https://jeffmilleronline.com/