Not to be dour as our thoughts quickly turn to Thanksgiving next week, but there is nothing quite like a good ol’ murder ballad to quicken the blood flow. Today we bring you the celebrated Knoxville, Tennessee band, The Black Lillies. They were formed just two years ago, by ex-Robinella & the CC String Band leader, Cruz Contreras. The Black Lillies take their name from a song on their first record, Whiskey Angel. Their influences are age old; traditional country with a potent Appalachian infusion of heart, soul, and subject matter. And these are timeless tales, ones that have touched everybody, every family, if you dig back far enough.

The latest album is 100 Miles of Wreckage, and that is where you will find the song "Two Hearts Down." Trisha Gene Brady, Jamie Cook, Tom Pryor, and Robert Richards trooped into our space, along with Cruz Contreras, and electrified us during the Music Fog Fall shindig at Marathon Recorders. Those chops, those harmonies, that pathos. This is the real deal.

You might know we recorded 32 artists in Nashville while the Americana Fest was going on. For the last month we have been brining you the first offering from all these artists, with more to follow from each of them. Hope you have been digging it!

- Jessie Scott