Multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, songwriter, and producer Cruz Contreras has roots in Tennessee and Michigan but has impacted Americana music worldwide.  

The frontman, founder, and driving force behind The Black Lillies’ raw and rootsy sound also co-founded Robinella and the CCstringband, and has been an innovative force in the world of Americana now for nearly three decades. His projects have topped both the Billboard and Americana radio charts, won Independent Music Awards, and been nominated for the Americana Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year award. 

Over the years, Cruz has appeared on nationally broadcasted television including Late Night with Conan O’Brien, CMT, VH-1, GAC, Bluegrass Underground and PBS Television’s Sun Studio Sessions. His music has been lauded by outlets as diverse as American Songwriter Magazine, Rolling Stone, NPR’s Morning Edition and Vanity Fair, among others. As an independent artist, Cruz has played Nashville’s lauded Grand Ole Opry 40 times over the years. 

Contreras is currently on the road performing his debut solo album, Cosmico, as well as his extensive Black Lillies catalog. Catch Cruz Contreras on tour with his band as “Cruz Contreras and The Black Lillies”.

Tour dates and tickets can be found at CruzContreras.com/tour.

Sam Lewis has collaborated with everyone from Leon Russell to The Wood Brothers. Chris Stapleton dubbed him “a modern Townes Van Zandt”.  He’s often labeled with some form of the word ‘soulful’ (some have even compared his voice to molasses), Lewis’ style meets at a juncture of many different genres however he’s discovered what most musicians spend lifetimes working for; the place where feel-good music meets vital social commentary.

After spending a nomadic youth throughout the Southeast (USA), he began calling Nashville home in 2009. Since then he’s been joined on his journey by some of music’s most righteous and luminary figures. He has pressed the first few chapters in his career’s studio anthology with the release of his self-titled debut (2012). His sophomore release WAITING ON YOU (2015) features an impressive list of Nashville notables all placing their stamp on this enduring expression of un-compromised songwriting. 

Billboard announced the highly anticipated third studio release third studio release LOVERSITY (2018) and landed Lewis a spot on Rolling Stone’s “10 New Artists to Watch” list, with writer Marissa Moss describing the album as, “… seventies psychedelic soul, with a storyteller’s eye, a swampy Southern groove and an emotional, political punch.” SOLO (released 2020) is a solo-acoustic album recorded at Southern Ground Studios in Nashville in front of a live audience that captures Lewis in his element. HARLEY KIMBRO LEWIS (2022) is a trans-Atlantic collaboration with England’s own Martin Harley and East Tennessee all-star Daniel Kimbro that features a collection of all original material recorded in Nashville. The long-awaited new studio album SUPERPOSITION (2024) irresistibly fuses Americana undertones to hazy dream-like melodies with psychedelic instrumental flourishes. Comprising eight atmospherically captivating originals alongside a compellingly unique take on Dire Straits’ ‘Walk of Life’

This impressive body of work has received critical acclaim and each session has grown with the legendary family for which he has adopted to curate and share his musical inner-vision with his listeners.

While each album has a distinct sound, they all circle back to one universal theme and certainly something you will hear Lewis preach to his audience, “we are all trying to get somewhere — all running from something or toward something; we’re all in it together, though.”