WATCH: Blue Cactus Premiere the Video for 'This Kind of Rain' Taken from Their Forthcoming Album, Believer

"Everyone says when it rains it pours / I ain’t seen this kind of rain before," begins the latest single from North Carolina alt-country stalwarts Blue Cactus, 'This Kind of Rain.'

The opening lines feel particularly analogous and timely in a world that looks increasingly bleak with every fresh news bulletin, but the inspiration for this collective rallying cry comes from a more personal impasse for singer Steph Stewart - mired by professional and creative upheaval and a series of unexplained health problems in 2021 - and the amelioration of her own human spirit that followed.

“This Kind of Rain” is one of those special songs that just wrote itself the instant I sat down with my guitar and connected with the feelings I had been carrying around," Steph Stewart explained about the song. "Back in the spring of 2021, when we were deep in the throes of the pandemic, I had developed a series of chronic health issues. I was pretty certain I had inherited my mother’s Lupus and finally went to the doctor. After running every test under the sun and seeing multiple specialists, I was diagnosed with uterine fibroids and Raynaud’s Syndrome."

"On top of all this, I felt like I had lost my identity as a performing musician and was unsure of my path moving forward," she continues. " I just had no answers, and I would drive to work every day at 6am feeling worried. It was one of my darkest and scariest times, and I turned to music to help me through, listening to Dolly Parton's 'Light of a Clear Blue Morning' every day until I finally believed the words she was singing: "I can see the light of a clear blue morning / And everything’s gonna be all right / It’s gonna be okay."

"Once my cloud began to lift, 'This Kind of Rain' came to me," she says. "I don't feel like I wrote it, but rather, I was a vessel for it to be captured. It’s remained a constant mantra for me when times get hard- some days all we can do is get by, and that’s good enough."

At a time when so many of us are struggling to make sense of the world and to feel hopeful about the future, it's a message of comfort we could probably all use right now and a reminder to dig deep when we need to; the song's uplifting denouement giving 'This Kind of Rain' its reassuringly optimistic old time spiritual ending.

"Where’s that silver lining? How long must I keep on climbing? I know I’m gonna see it shining over me."

When it rains it quite literally pours in the new video for 'This Kind of Rain' and things keep going from bad to worse as a water-soaked Steph Stewart takes on her daily routine under a perpetual black cloud. That is until serendipity steps in when her car breaks down and she gets towed to the nearest garage, and as luck would have it, the mechanics turn out to be kick ass country pickers and they form their own (literal) garage band in the workshop.

Watch the video for 'This Kind of Rain' exclusively on Holler below

Led by kindred spirit songwriters Steph Stewart and Mario Arnez, Blue Cactus got their start among the active honky-tonk circuit of North Carolina, developing an electrified twang that now branches out effortlessly into folk, alt-country, and psychedelic-tinged rock.

'This Kind of Rain' is taken from their third full-length album Believer, due out on April 25 via Sleepy Cat Records. Recorded in Pittsboro, North Carolina, with Mario Arnez and Kate Rhudy on hope-filled harmony vocals, 'This Kind of Rain' is the delicious first taste of the album, mixing the jangly honky tonk of Sheryl Crow with the melancholy soaked, two-fisted alt-country of Lucinda Williams' debut.

"We recorded it back home in North Carolina with a core team of musicians who were all there for me when I was going through the time that inspired the song." Stewart says. "Mario Arnez (electric guitars, harmony vocals and my life partner), Saman Khoujinian (producer, engineer), and Gabe Anderson (drums, percussion), plus Casey Toll (bass), Joe MacPhail (keys), Kate Rhudy (high harmony), and our second producer Whit Wright makes the song shine even brighter with his pedal steel."

The band hit the road throughout February and the Spring including dates at SXSW in Austin and shows with Hayden Pedigo and Alexa Rose.

Tour Dates:

Feb 15th Monkton, MD - The Loft at Manor Mill
Feb 20th Vienna, VA - Jammin’ Java w/ Alexa Rose
Feb 21st Mansfield, PA - The Hut w/ Alexa Rose
Feb 22nd Freehold, NJ - The Studio w/ Alexa Rose
Mar 1st Richmond, VA - The Camel w/ Deau Eyes + Nan Macmillan
Mar 14th Austin, TX - SXSW Official Showcase at Stephen F’s Bar
Mar 15th Austin, TX - The Long Time Austin w/ Hayden Pedigo
Mar 28th Harrisonburg, VA - Pale Fire Brewing
Mar 29th Roanoke, VA - The Spot on Kirk
April 19th Phoenicia, NY - The Phoenicia Playhouse
May 3rd Carrboro, NC - The Cat’s Cradle Back Room
May 16th Charlotte, NC - Petra’s w/ The Carolina Down Boys
May 17th Wilmington, NC - Live at Ted’s
May 28th Waco, TX - Levitt AMP Waco

Believer is released on April 25th on Sleepy Cat Records. Click here to preorder.