By Tod Shapiro, Eric Shapiro and the Flatiron Hot! Editorial Staff

The Madison Square Park Series of free concerts finished up this past weekend Saturday October 5th from 3 to 5 PM with strong performances by artist Carrie Elkin and also the Black Lillies. A good crowd was on hand in the south end of the park to sing and dance and cheer them on on a beautiful October afternoon! The Concert Series, sponsored and organized by the good folks at the Madison Square Park Conservancy, gets the neighborhood out and involved, and presents a wonderful chance for up and coming acts, as well as for established artists, to strut their stuff and get some live feedback from area music lovers for old favorites and new prospective albums. Eric Shapiro from Flatiron Hot! was on hand to get some videos of the spectacle and flavor of Saturday’s fun, and even got a chance to speak with the Black Lillies – he also put together some background and info on the two performers for those who are interested … way to go Madison Square Park Conservancy and thank you – can’t wait to see what you can rustle up for the neighborhood next summer …

Information Care of Madison Square Park Conservancy Web Site …

On the Black Lillies …

The Black Lillies front man Cruz Contreras and band composed of harmony vocalist Trisha Gene Brady, multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor, bass player Robert Richards and drummer Bowman Townsend bring Contreras’s strength into American instrumental virtuosity. With a new album, Runaway Freeway Blues, The Black Lillies have come a long way, and when they were not playing their 200-odd gigs throughout the year, they were in Wild Chorus Studio in their hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., working with Scott Minor of Sparklehorse to craft a beautiful ode to restless spirits and rambling hearts. Rooted in the mud-rutted switchbacks of Appalachia, Runaway Freeway Blues is the sound of a band that’s become something of a phenomenon across the country. It’s breakneck, brazen and beautiful. It’s the sound of a band that’s rooted in East Tennessee but more at home piled into a van stacked with gear, windows down and aimed toward the next gig. “The vocal interplay calls to mind the old-school exchanges of June Carter and Johnny Cash”—Metro Pulse

On Carrie Elkin

CARRIE ELKIN & HER GREATS With her Red House Records debut release, Call It My Garden, Carrie Elkin has emerged as one of the defining new voices in the world of Texas singer-songwriters, celebrated by Texas Music Magazine as one of their artists of the year.  The voice, the stories, the images, the grace and infectious enthusiasm, it’s a complete package. But it’s the power of her live performances that really have been creating an incredible buzz around this young artist. Maverick Magazine said it best, after a recent festival performance: “I have never seen a performer so in love with the act of singing. That’s the gospel truth. Onstage Elkin was simply a force of nature.” She’s an artist full of contrast and contradiction. With a voice that’s somehow both gritty and pristine, the Austin Chronicle calls it “an earthy combination of strength and compassion . . . reminiscent of the winsome beauty created by a young Nanci Griffith,” while Bob Harris of the BBC throws in comparisons to Patty Griffin and Iris DeMent, and calls her voice “spellbinding from the opening track.”

See more about these artists by clicking here …