Bristol Rhythm & Roots Reunion Kick Off Concert with The Black Lillies

The Black Lillies are a band for the ages, not the slick, soulless music that seems to get most of the radio airplay, but rich, rootsy tunes performed with as much heart as technical virtuosity. This commitment to authenticity has earned them accolades from outlets as diverse as Rolling Stone Magazine, who calls them one of

“the most buzzworthy new acts in country and Americana,” and the Wall Street Journal, who praised their “rootsy flair … a winsome hybrid traditional enough to appeal to an Opry crowd and expansive enough to ensnare a broader audience.”

The band’s fourth studio album Hard to Please, which has been called their “rallying cry” by Rolling Stone, will be released via Thirty Tigers on October 2. Their previous album, Runaway Freeway Blues, conquered the Billboard Top 200 country charts and dominated Americana radio, spending three months in the top 5 on the radio charts and claiming the #18 spot on the Americana Music Association’s Top 100 Albums of 2013 (based on radio airplay). It was selected for dozens of Best of 2013 lists and caught the attention of NPR, CMT, Vanity Fair, American Songwriter, Guitar World, Garden & Gun and more for what Entertainment Weekly calls “strong roots-folk songwriting, sweet harmonies, and charismatic indie spirit.”

The Black Lillies have enthralled audiences at festivals ranging from Bonnaroo and South by Southwest to CMA Fan Fair and Stagecoach, won two Independent Music Awards, and played the Grand Ole Opry more than any other independent band. The music is breakneck, brazen and beautiful; gentle Laurel Canyon folk, sultry Muscle Shoals soul, the honky-tonk heartache of classic country, winding jams and flat-out rock’n’roll … but full of the spirit of the open road, heading down the highway and not about to stop anytime soon!