Black Lilies Stop at Down Home in Johnson City, Tenn.

One month from now, Knoxville’s Black Lillies will be several weeks into their first national tour.
Scheduled to appear on Oct. 24 at Down Home in Johnson City, Tenn., the barely year-old band finds itself astride an exciting crossroads. Classify the future as bright new days dawning for the band’s co-founder Cruz Contreras.
But first things first, Contreras needs a ride.
“I’m actually looking at an RV right now,” Contreras said by phone from Knoxville, Tenn., when asked his current locale.
Big one?
“As big as possible,” Contreras said. “I’m looking at a 30-footer right now. We’re trying to avoid a van. I’m looking at an RV now wondering, will it hold out?”
Likewise could be asked regarding The Black Lillies. Particularly given Contreras’ year or so away from music before forming The Black Lillies in summer 2008, which followed his breakup with critically acclaimed Robinella.
Robinella moved on, while Contreras got a job as a truck driver.
“I didn’t have a backup plan,” Contreras said. “When we broke up, I just had to pay the bills. I had my CDL, and so for about a year I drove a truck.”
Then Leah Gardner came along.
“We’re going on two years of hanging out and singing together,” Contreras said. “The band evolved out of that. Last February, we recorded the record [‘Whiskey Angel’]. This year has been about getting the music out there.”
That takes The Black Lillies up to their upcoming months-long national tour. Stops include cities in states such as Oregon, Washington, Nebraska and so on. There’s even a date opening for Patty Loveless in the world famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn.
But before a gallon of gas can be bought to fuel their tour, The Black Lillies needed to discover exactly who they are as a band.
“We’re rooted in roots music,” Contreras said. “It’s country, bluegrass, rock, blues and folk. Some bands like to fit into a genre. It’s music that we also love.”
That music emerges from The Black Lillies’ lone album to date, “Whiskey Angel.” Recorded in Contreras’ living room, the album features a sound steeped in Americana with snippets of bluegrass mixed among large chunks of folk.
“I wrote all the songs over about a year period,” he said. “They are personal songs. But ultimately, I want to have fun playing music, so there are some fun songs, too.”
Fun. That’s exactly what The Black Lillies experienced in recording their album.
“We recorded it live,” Contreras said. “It was five or six people in my living room, kick it off, hit the button and go.”
That was the band’s launching pad. From there, they gradually whittled their musical chops.
“The band keeps getting better,” Contreras said. “Everybody can sing, everybody can write and everybody can play multiple instruments.”
So now with album in hand, a bevy of well-tooled songs in tow and a future that only they can craft, The Black Lillies prepare to buckle up and belt ’em out across the country.
“It’s going in the right direction,” Contreras said, his attention turning back to a particular RV. “Right now, it’s one show at a time.”

IF YOU GO
Who: The Black Lillies
When: Oct. 24, 9 p.m.
Where: Down Home, 300 W. Main St., Johnson City, Tenn.
Admission: $14
Info: (423) 929-9822
Web and audio: http://www.myspace.com/theblacklillies

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .