The Black Lillies are a band for the ages: rich, rootsy tunes performed with as much heart as technical virtuosity. If you ask them, they’ll tell you they play “Tennessee music” – combining strains of swampy Memphis soul and blues with Nashville’s classic country and East Tennessee’s traditional Appalachian style – while Rolling Stone describes it as “country music with a soul-rock infusion, supported by bandleader Cruz Contreras’ smart songwriting and tight musicianship.” Either way, it’s music that stirs your soul, touches your heart and makes you want to dance. In 2015, the band released their fourth album Hard to Please (Attack Monkey/Thirty Tigers), which American Songwriter summed up as “a soulful mix of upbeat Americana and tender ballads,” while Vanity Fair noted that “their sound continues to cross generations and musical genres – country, folk, blues and add in a touch of the Dead, for good measure.” It’s no surprise that Hard to Please was an immediate critical and radio success – the bar had already been set high by their previous releases. 2013’sRunaway Freeway Blues conquered the Billboard Top 200 country charts and was selected for dozens of “Best of“ lists, catching the attention of NPR, CMT, Wall Street Journal, Guitar World, Garden & Gun and more for what Entertainment Weekly calls “strong roots-folk songwriting, sweet harmonies, and charismatic indie spirit.” Their raucous live show has earned them festival slots and enthralled audiences at venues ranging from Bonnaroo and Stagecoach to the legendary Grand Ole Opry, where they hold the distinction of having performed more often than any other independent band. The music is breakneck, brazen and beautiful; sultry soul, honky-tonk heartache, winding jams and flat-out rock’n’roll, tied together with soaring harmonies that “bring back echoes of practically every great male/female duo of the past several decades … [the sound is] one for the ages, and, one suspects, ages yet to come,” according to Glide Magazine.
Over the last few years, The Dustbowl Revival has become known for their free-flowing and joyous live shows, combining their funk rhythm and brass section with a fast-picking string band section – opening for bands as diverse as Lake Street Dive, Trombone Shorty and The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, touring China as a guest of the state department and headlining festivals like Delfest, Floydfest, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and recently the Anastasia Music Festival, held at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre this past March. While bluegrass, gospel, New Orleans swing, and blues were what brought the gang together, after touring over 200 dates a year for the last four years, the band realized as it began to collaborate more on the road, that it was never content to be a throwback band recreating lost eras. Dustbowl recently shared “Busted” and “Only One,” the first two tracks from their forthcoming new record due out in spring of 2017. When they recorded “Busted” it was a like a door opening. As they charge into 2017, Dustbowl is ready to bring their new sound – more emotional, experimental and bolder than ever – to a bigger audience.
