Brian Lillie & the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra

About Brian Lillie & the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra

Brian Lillie is a musician from Ann Arbor, Michigan who has been playing guitar and writing songs for more than half of his 33 years on the planet. He has performed in everything from avant-garde rock bands to Sufi-inspired dance groups, but his first love has always been playing simple, heartfelt folk rock for humans.

The message of Lillie's latest album, Good Luck Fire Chief, is one of musical joy. The overall feel ends up somewhere between the chamber folk pop stylings of Revolver-era Beatles, the alchemical group playing of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks, John Prine at his finger-picking best, and Pavement (!). Brian and the Squirrel Mountain Orchestra hail from Ann Arbor, and some of that town's best players guest appear on Fire Chief, most notably The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love, who act as the band on the title track and two others ... also featured are David Mosher, KC Groves, Jim Roll and more. There are even guest appearances from the great St. Louis band One Fell Swoop, with lead singer Cheryl Stryker duetting with Brian on "Rain on Your Roof" (provided for your listening pleasure at right). The Orchestra is a six-piece, with cello and viola, drums, bass, guitar, and Al Di Blassio (who sings harmonies and plays everything from percussion and slide guitar to mandolin and pennywhistle). The core of the band has been playing together for over ten years, and they have a knack for supporting each other and the songs with an effortless musicality.

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