Cast Iron Cactus formed in July 2021, during the pandemic, when guitarists and vocalists Mark Carroll and Patrick Cooper began playing together with drummer and percussionist Jorge Santamaria as a three-piece. The band takes its name and identity from the roots and country blues tradition, blending Americana standards, classic covers, and original songwriting into sets built for live performance.
In July 2022, original drummer Jorge Santamaria relocated to Richmond, Virginia, and the band brought on bassist and vocalist Keith Esparros and drummer and vocalist Guy Duplantier, rounding out the current four-piece lineup. All four members sing, giving the band's live sound a layered, harmony-driven quality that's become one of its signatures, alongside frequent use of lap steel guitar.
The band has built its reputation almost entirely through live performance rather than recordings, playing every year at Longue Vue House and Gardens and regularly at Carrollton Station, Le Bon Temps Roule, Buffa's, and the Abita Brew Pub in Abita Springs. In 2022 they appeared alongside touring act Trout Fishing in America at the Red Dragon Listening Room in Baton Rouge. Guitarist and vocalist Patrick Cooper also performs solo and in several other New Orleans-area roots projects.
