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Artscape Headliners Cake Aren't All That Interested In Mixing Things Up, And That's Just Fine By Fans

"It's an amazing amount of work," McCrea said. "It's tens of thousands of tiny decisions. ... It's this amazing home craft project that's gone way too far."

With album sales -both digital and hard copy - sagging in recent years, McCrea has struggled to justify all the time and effort it takes to make a record. It would be much easier for Cake to just release a single every few months online, especially since they own their own label.

"We've toyed with the idea of doing that," McCrea said. "The idea of not having to release an entire album at a time would certainly be a freeing experience."

But for the moment, McCrea is still attached to the idea of presenting a group of songs - not just one or two at a time.

"It's been a real trial by fire for me," he said. "It's taken so long. I'm finally feeling really good about it. It's a rite of passage for me. Next time, I'm just going to release a single."

If you go

Cake performs at 6:30 p.m. Saturday on the main stage at Artscape. For more information about the festival's exhibits and performances, go to baltimoresun.com/entertainment.