Cactus Honey CD Release Party: "Groovy Life"

Written by Scott Virtes

The band "Cactus Honey" is Eve Selis & Kim McLean, backed up by an all-pro lineup.  Any release by Eve is bound to be a treat, and her band has been playing together in various lineups for over 15 years now -- they always deliver a good time.  I didn't know much about Kim, other than that she wrote many of my favorite Eve Selis songs.  But Kim is such a perfect match for Eve, just as big and bold, just as quiet and sweet.  Sisters in harmony.

Let me take a moment to introduce the band here: Eve on vocals, Kim on vocals & guitar, Marc Twang on guitars, T.J. Klay on harmonica, Larry Grano and Kim's son Will McJ on drums & percussion, Rick Nash on bass, Sharon Whyte on keys.  Marc and Larry did backing vocals as well.  Every few days you can see some subset of this band out jamming somewhere in San Diego.  It's great when they can all get together.  You can't quite put a name on their style; it has country, rock, gospel, folk and soul elements.  I'd rather enjoy music than analyze it.  It can be a little awkward when trying to bring new fans to one of their shows.  People will ask what kind of music they play, always want simple answers.  Most of the band calls it "Roadhouse Rock".  I usually just say, "Trust me, they're good.  No matter what you think you like, you will like these guys."  Nobody has ever come with me to an Eve Selis band show and not walked away feeling better about life and what music can do.  I discovered them back in 2000, can only guess how many of their shows I've seen since then. 

They're a local treasure.

For the first set they played the whole CD from beginning to end.  As Eve said: "Real inventive, huh."  But why not?  It's fun when a band can do that, so you know none of the songs are studio gimmicks.  These songs are all very real.  Heartfelt highs and lows.  Laughter and tears.  I spent some time watching the audience be mesmerized.  "Groovy Life" and "One Less Monkey" are good-time party songs.  "Do You Know Me?" is one of Eve's standards, written by Kim, to hear the sing it together was sweet.  "Where'd You Go" was a heart-wrenching experience, two voices suffering through their losses together.  I've had some bad times lately and my brain was just begging them to stop, no more misery ... but music can take you apart, clean out the bad stuff, and put you back together again.  Healing.  It was one of those nights.

One note about the venue.  The Church at Rancho Bernardo.  Even in a tiny club, good music can be a near-religious experience.  Something about music playing in churches heightens that a little more.  But this Church was like a four-star hotel.  Beautiful theater facility, crisp acoustics, top-notch sound system, 70-foot back-splash of video projections.  They had two cameramen manning the entire concert, with live feeds on two giant screens above the band.

And you know what?  The music was so engrossing, I hardly noticed the 70-foot graphics.  

One note about Eve.  She pulled a hamstring in a rollerblade accident (from the sounds of it).  Her leg was in a brace, she was medicated, she was on crutches, stuck in a chair when she wanted to be dancing.  She was in pain.  And she was still an angel.  For the audience.

The band was so solid, proud to support their two big stars.  But never dull.  Larry and Will kept swapping places: drums, percussion, little shaky thing, you name it.  Marc had the right sound for every occasion: acoustic, electric, slide, picking, jamming, or soft highlights.  Sharon had two keyboards, accordion, even played a jaw-harp for one song, because every minute mattered.  They swapped solos seamlessly.  They filled the envelope of every song, backed off to let vocals fill the air.  They make it look effortless, but this is hard work, a rare concentration of selfless talent.

One thing with live music is: you never know what will happen.  With all this veteran talent, it was the young guy Will who came up with something I've never seen before.  For one song, the entire percussion line was a hypnotic bit with a plastic cup on a small wooden table: clap, 3 taps, slap the cup on the table, tap tap, flip cup over the hands, bang it down on the table.  So fascinating, I don't think I even heard the song.  Just kept watching ... the ... cup.  Tap tap.  It made me think of seeing Lance Burton's magic act 20 years ago, for some reason.  Random smile.

And that was just the first set.  There was a break, where we could walk around and explore the amazing building, gawk at the audiovisual booth ("Nice rack!"), get drinks, and chat.  Nice staff behind every table, everyone always ready to help.

The second set was more of a classic night out with the band.  More old favorites.  No cover tunes, they have

so many hours of originals.  "Same Train" was the big fun jam piece of the night.  And the saddest low was a lovely piece called "I Won't Cry", for Eve's father that she lost to cancer five years ago.  I'm not sure why, but in the last few years, Eve has found new depths of sadness, in between her joy and smiles.  Used to be, she could belt out a sad song, but it was only "country sad".  Now it's the real thing, from somewhere deep.  It can be hard to watch, but she's "all-in" on these songs.  Here's a song about being angry at your own tears, and saying how you refuse to cry them ... while trying hard not to cry for real.  And when it was over, Kim held her hand like a sister, and they got on to the next piece.

One big highlight was when Kim sang her song "Nothing But the Truth".  A sad breakup song, but it always seemed fairly typical to me.  The band quietly left as she was introducing it.  Even Eve got on her crutches and walked off for a quick break.  So it was just Kim, saying, "Well, this song just got a whole lot sadder."  I like Eve's version (I'm playing it now), but Kim gave it a virtuoso performance.  So perfectly nuanced.  Individual words were angry or bitter or sad.  It was relentless.  This was her story to tell, wherever it came from originally, you felt it now.

The night ended in a crescendo, where Larry sat down at the drums next to Will and the two of them just went nuts together.  And bang, the night was done.  Except for the echoes.

I'm so glad someone posted a blurb on Facebook and reminded me about this show.  Friends on stage, friends in the audience, and big-time emotional rollercoaster music, delivered with a hug.  As an extra benefit, this concert helped raise money for the Alabaster Jar, which is a charity trying to build a group home for victims of human trafficking.  Local music matters.