Black Lillies, Blitzen Trapper Open Big Sky Concert Series
The Black Lillies on June 23
The Arts Council of Big Sky is pleased to announce another amazing summer of Music in the Mountains at Center Stage in Town Center Park. Starting on June 23 and ending on September 1, there will be 15 events, including 11 Thursday night concerts, the sixth annual Big Sky Classical Music Festival and a performance from Montana Shakespeare in the Parks. And best of all, all of these events are free!
The ACBS kicks things off in June again this summer by welcoming back the Black Lillies to Big Sky on June 23. This band is no stranger to Big Sky—having played here on numerous occasions—and are a band for the ages: rich, rootsy tunes performed with as much heart as technical virtuosity. If you ask them, they’ll tell you they play “Tennessee music” – combining strains of swampy Memphis soul and blues with Nashville’s classic country and East Tennessee’s traditional Appalachian style – while Rolling Stone describes it as “country music with a soul-rock infusion, supported by bandleader Cruz Contreras’ smart songwriting and tight musicianship.”
The series continues on June when Portland-based indie folk group Blitzen Trapper comes to Big Sky on Thursday, June 30. Over the course of 15 years and seven full-length albums, Blitzen Trapper has crafted one of the more compelling and varied catalogs in contemporary rock and roll. Even while continuing to explore broad stylistic territory, Blitzen Trapper’s eighth studio album, a 10-song collection titled All Across This Land, stands as an exceptionally focused and immediate effort. Though it follows 2013’s somewhat experimental VII, a futuristic hip-hop/country-rock hybrid, All Across This Land, in contrast, is a top-down, tightly defined piece of classic rock and roll, full of big riffs, bigger hooks and compelling, instantly relatable lyrics. In sound and scope it recalls two of the band’s more beloved albums, 2008’s breakthrough fourth effort, Furr, and 2011’s landmark American Goldwing.
Other weekly concerts through out the summer include: Blitzen Trapper on June 30; the Band of Heathens on July 7; the Tiny Band on July 4; the Jamie McLean Band on July 14; Todo Mundo on July 21; Lukas Nelson and the Promise of the Real on July 28; the Iguanas on August 4; Amy Helm and the Handsome Strangers on August 11; the DeadPhish Orchestra on August 18; Fruition on August 25; and Cure for the Common to close out the concert season on September 1.
Park opens at 6 p.m., music starts at 7 p.m. Food and beverages from local vendors will be available. Please no glass containers or pets allowed in the park during concerts. Admission is free and suitable for all ages! Plenty of parking!
For more information about this summer’s events, contact the Arts Council of Big Sky at (406) 995-2742 or visit www.bigskyarts.org for more information. The ACBS is a non-profit organization that was founded in 1989.
