Black Lillies front man Cruz Contreras is no stranger to the music business and the Black Lillies are not his first musical endeavor. Having lent his name to two previous bands that held notable success – Contreras continues that success and more with this electrifying bluegrass outfit. The Black Lillies have grown from a group of friends sitting around a campfire to one of the hardest working independent bands in the industry.
If you missed their barn burner this past Summer at the Rochester Jazz Festival, this is your chance to see what you missed – if you were one of the foot-stomping attendees to that dance party, you know what to do! Come and enjoy the Appalachian sounds of Knoxville, Tennessee at Abilene in Rochester, NY on March 3rd. Show starts at 8:30PM and tickets are $12 and this is an all ages show.
Eschewing record labels, they’ve still managed to conquer the Billboard Top 200 charts (Runaway Freeway Blues debuted at #43), put three tracks in Country Music Television’s top 12 requested videos, and film a nationally broadcast commercial for Twizzlers. They’ve been featured on numerous television specials and played festivals as widespread as Bonnaroo, Rochester Jazz Festival, MerleFest, and CMA Fan Fair. Despite trafficking in a richer, more authentic brand of country and Americana than what gets played on mainstream country radio, they’ve still been invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry more than twenty times – a record for an independent act.
The Band: front-man Cruz Contreras, harmony vocalist Trisha Gene Brady, multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor, bass player Robert Richards and drummer Bowman Townsend.
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This night the venue was full and the music was hot! Highlights were hearing originals like, “Love Will Only Break Your Heart” – in true Mayfield fashion songs about love were followed by strong fiddle and bass filled dance songs, and dancing on the bar and the chairs and flat-out on the floor.
