Chapel Hill Musical Duo Gets a PBS Spotlight

COMMUNITY NEWS

CHAPEL HILL–The country music duo Blue Cactus takes their name from a shirt, their experience from honky-tonk, and their songwriting support from each other.

“One of us will get the song going by ourselves,” Mario Arnez, one-half of Blue Cactus, told The Local Reporter. “Individually we come up with an idea, then we share the song after it has some legs to it — an idea we can flesh out and make real.”

Steph Stewart, the other half of Blue Cactus, says that’s particularly true of the songs on their upcoming third album, “Believer.” “I think I started all the songs; a lot of them were pretty personal to me. To connect with the songs and where they’re coming from you have to be alone.” When it came time to edit and polish them, she and Arnez joined forces. “They’d get to a certain point where I knew they needed something — a different word or a chord in a certain place — and I couldn’t figure out what it was.” Working together, “we end up with the best version.”

Stewart said they love performing live and seeing how other people react to their songs. “Playing for other people–hearing the songs mean something to them–have helped them through challenges in their lives. To help people when they feel at their lowest.”

“Believer” drops on April 25. On March 27 Arnez and Stewart were featured in an episode of PBS North Carolina’s “Shaped by Sound,” a documentary series about North Carolina’s music scene. The episode is available online.

Becoming Blue Cactus

Stewart is a North Carolina native who moved to Chapel Hill in 2003 to attend UNC. Arnez moved to the area in 2012 from South Florida and fell in love with the music and the art scene here. He and Stewart eventually fell in love with each other as well.

The duo’s website says Stewart wrote her first song at age 10 and got her start as a performer at a restaurant/karaoke bar in Hickory, North Carolina. Arnez started with an intense study of a Beach Boys compilation tape on a portable cassette recorder his mother rigged up for him. Years later, after Arnez had moved to North Carolina, he became part of Stewart’s string band, Steph Stewart & the Boyfriends. They moved on to a country music cover band and began writing their songs as Blue Cactus. The name, Stewart says, comes from Arnez’s first western-wear shirt, embroidered with tiny blue cacti.

Stewart says they enjoy performing cover songs because “we’re paying tribute to artists we really admire, and whose music has influenced us over the years.” It’s also a way to connect with music fans; offering a new take on a song they already know is a gateway for them to listen to the duo’s original music. Arnez says they also enjoy the process of studying “the intimate workings of a song to the point you can deliver it and have your own interpretation.”

The artists they admire include Neko Case, whom Stewart says “pushes boundaries in the alternative country genre,” plus the Gillian Welch and David Rawlings duo. They’re also fans of “Weird Al” Yankovic. Arnez said he discovered Weird Al at the right age to dive into his albums, exposing him to many other music. “You’re getting a survey of the popular music of the time when you dive into an album of his. That’s a cool thing, pretty unique about him. And of course, you’re just listening to this ridiculous song about food or some absurd idea.”

Stewart said seeing someone play in as many musical styles as Yankovic is liberating. “Weird Al covers a lot of territory.”

The duo has plenty of experience performing in honky-tonks such as Chapel Hill’s The Kraken and the Thirsty Beaver in Charlotte. Arnez said the typical honky-tonk is a small bar with a medium-sized stage, a place “where you can get crammed in with a bunch of people and have a good time.”

Blue Cactus’ website describes their current style as “cosmic Americana,” which Stewart says reflects that they’re not completely traditional in their approach. “We’re taking folk, country and adding a twist that’s a little out of that world,” such as the use of synthesizers and guitar pedals.

Putting it out there

The most challenging aspect of their careers, Arnez said, is promoting Blue Cactus. Posting about it on social media isn’t enough: they have to set an ad budget for each album, decide how to spend it, and sit in front of the computer for hours working the marketing out. It’s a different headspace from the fun side of their work. “It’s like two different worlds. You don’t get inspired to pick up an instrument and play music in the same creative space.”

Stewart said they’re delighted, though surprised, that they got a spotlight episode on “Shaped by Sound.” “They just asked us. When you work at something long enough, people start to take notice.” The show’s talent curator knew of their work, asked if they were interested and, in Stewart’s words, “we didn’t have to think twice.”

Even with good advertising, it’s a tougher world for indie musicians than it used to be: streaming and AI have shaken up the industry’s finances and live performing hasn’t returned to where it was before the pandemic. The duo said they’ve survived with the help of good support systems: other musicians and bands who’ve offered them a place to stay on tour, their families, and their label, Sleepy Cat Records.“Also general stubbornness,” says Arnez.

Fraser Sherman has worked for newspapers, including the Destin Log, the Pensacola News-Journal and the Raleigh Public Record. Born in England, he’d still live in Florida if he hadn’t met the perfect woman and moved to Durham to marry her. He’s the author of several film reference books and has published one novel and several short story collections. This reporter can be reached at: Information@TheLocal Reporter.press