Believer, the latest from North Carolina country duo Blue Cactus, starts strong. “Everyone says ‘when it rains, it pours,’” Steph Stewart sings. “I ain’t seen this kind of rain before.” It’s an effective country songwriting technique: start broad with a common idiom, then narrow the topic to something more personal. With its multiple hooks, with its jangle and drive, “This Kind of Rain” could easily be the lead single from a Nashville working songwriter rather than a duo from central North Carolina. “I don’t know if I’m getting better / if I’m getting worse,” Stewart sings. “I’m getting by.”
Yes, of course, North Carolina is a music state with deep sonic traditions. It boasts songwriters and pickers and gospel choirs, plus thriving communities of hip-hop, indie-rock, and…