Lilli Lewis is a musical polyglot who glides easily between folk, roots, country soul, gospel, and jazz, and has integrated New Orleans traditions by singing lead for Dirty Dozen Brass Band founding member Kirk Joseph’s Backyard Groove. Lewis’ Louisiana Red Hot Records releases include The Henderson Sessions, We Belong, and Americana. As the story goes, Lilli Lewis should never have been. Before she was born, Lewis’ mother was told her baby probably wouldn’t survive due to lung trouble, so the fact that Lewis now makes a living singing with those same lungs is a gift she never takes for granted. Lewis uses her voice to bring what she calls sacred songs into profane spaces, and though she’s abandoned trying to define her sound, she hopes her audiences leave shows knowing two things: that they are brilliant as they are, and that they have the ability to use that brilliance to make a better world. Trained as an opera singer and classical pianist, Georgia native Lewis has been a composer, producer and performer for over two decades.

Lilli Lewis is…

1. A squishy humanist who loves pianos.
   2. A creator of #orangemusic–distant, more sober cousin of the blues.
   3. Singer of songs “for the people” who sometimes likes to get loud about it.
   4. New Orleans’ singer/composer of rare grace and grit.

“Lilli Lewis made a statement not only about her ability to refine and expand roots forms like murder ballads, a cappella spirituals and singer-songwriter storytelling with transformative empathy and classically trained poise.” – Jewly Hight, NPR