The Spektral Quartet

By SAMANTHA WATSON
Marketing, Ignition Music Garage

GOSHEN — The October concert series at Ignition Music Garage, voted top ten favorite venue by the americana music association, continues with a performance by The Spektral Quartet Oct. 16 and The Black Lillies making their Ignition debut Oct. 17.

Founded in 2010, The Spektral Quartet is widely regarded as one of Chicago’s most magnetic and forward-thinking chamber ensembles. The group’s inclusive approach to concert format, shifting the role of audience member from spectator to ally, has earned it a loyal following within and beyond the city limits.

Since its inception, The Spektral Quartet has sought out the discourse between the masterworks of the traditional canon and those written this decade, this year or this week. Rather than simply pairing Brian Ferneyhough with Josef Haydn or Thomas Adès with Béla Bartók, though, the group offers listeners an even more elastic and absorbing experience through its Sampler Pack concert format. For these performances, shorter works and single movements are curated in a setlist containing a menagerie of musical styles, spanning centuries. The unexpected similarities and enticing contrasts between two or three composers becomes a conversation between twelve.

Born in the rumbling cab of a stone truck and aged in the oak of Tennessee’s smoky night haunts, The Black Lillies have quickly risen to the forefront of the Americana scene. Founded by multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Cruz Contreras (co-founder of Robinella and the CCstringband), The Black Lillies have created their own unique brand of country, roots, rock and blues via Appalachia. The group, formed in 2008, also includes electric guitar and pedal steel whiz Tom Pryor and drummer Jamie Cook, both formerly of the everybodyfields, bassist Robert Richards, and vocalist Trisha Gene Brady.

The Black Lillies

In April 2009, The Black Lillies released Whiskey Angel, their debut recording, which was recorded live in Cruz’s living room. The album received rave reviews and appeared on multiple “Best of 2009″ lists across the country, winning the Independent Music Award for Best Album, Americana. The band’s current album, 100 Miles of Wreckage, has been nominated for multiple awards and spent more than five months on the Americana radio Top 40 charts — four of them in the top 20 — once again proving that a band with this much spirit can break through traditional industry boundaries to achieve success without the constraints of a major label.

Ignition Music Garage presents The Spektral Quartet Friday, Oct. 16, as part of the ongoing Ignition Concert Series. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

Seated tickets are $15. Standing tickets are $10.

Ignition Music Garage presents The Black Lillies Saturday, Oct. 17, as part of the ongoing Ignition Concert Series. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the concert begins at 7:30 p.m.

Seated tickets are $20. Standing tickets are $15.

Tickets may be purchased at Ignition Music Garage, by phone at (574) 971-8282, or online at http://ignitionmusic.net.