The Black Lillies
with Eryn DeSomer

After co-founding Robinella and the CCstringband with his wife, he spent nearly a decade traveling the road and making music from coast to coast. When his marriage — and the band — dissolved in 2007, he returned to the road . . . this time as the driver of a truck for a stone company. It was then, over the course of a year spent rolling down the highways of East Tennessee, that the songs and sounds that would form the nexus of The Black Lillies were conceived. And Runaway Freeway Blues, the band’s third studio album, was realized exactly there . . . on the road. When the Lillies weren’t playing their 200-odd gigs over the course of the year, they were in Wild Chorus Studio in their hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., working with Scott Minor of Sparklehorse to craft a beautiful ode to restless spirits and rambling hearts. Rooted in the mud-rutted switchbacks of Appalachia, Runaway Freeway Blues is the sound of a band that’s becoming something of a phenomenon across the country. In its initial months of release, the album received many press raves. According to Vanity Fair, “With one foot planted firmly in Appalachian music culture and the other always expanding and evolving, the Black Lillies have created a unique sound embraced by fans old and young.” American Songwriter stated, “a release this strong and diverse will surely increase the miles on the act’s van and help secure them a place as one of roots music’s most talented outfits.” The Wall Street Journal noted its “rootsy flair, mixing folk, honky-tonk country and gospel into a winsome hybrid traditional enough to appeal to an Opry crowd and expansive enough to ensnare a broader audience.” Paste said that “The Black Lillies continue their tradition of excellence with Runaway Freeway Blues.” And CMT Edge observed, “The Black Lillies hail from a variety of different roots, rock and country backgrounds. They’ve made a habit of casting an even wider stylistic net on each of their three albums, including the latest, Runaway Freeway Blues. That, and the fact they’ll do just about anything it takes to get a crowd dancing, is why they’re the rarer-than-rare independent band that’s made no fewer than 30 appearances on the venerable Grand Ole Opry and played wildly eclectic festivals like Bonnaroo and South by Southwest.”