C. Lilley

C. Lilley (born Christopher Lilley) is a classically trained vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. He brings warmth and vulnerability to a soul and folk filled sound. C uses his gift on multiple instruments to craft stories filled with transparency and honesty. Floating between the sounds of gospel and soul and the likes of acoustic folk and blues, C uses his love for people and his love for God to build dialogue around mental health, masculinity, and life after.

C was born in Brooklyn, NY and raised in the Bronx, and is currently based out of Jersey City, NJ. He started singing at a very young age at church where he fostered a love for both singing both on his own and in ensembles. After being gifted a small keyboard from his grandfather, C truly began his musical journey learning first to play the piano, and then eventually picking up the drums, the guitar, and the bass. After attending both the LaGuardia High School of the Arts and Manhattan School of music, C began to create his own stories by writing and performing spoken word poetry. As a spoken word poet, C has had the privilege of performing with the likes of Jasmine Mans and Prentiss Powell, and has performed in several famed spaces such as the Nuyorican Poets Café and the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as in venues across the country including the National Poetry Slam in 2017, in which he placed 2nd in the nation as a member of the Brooklyn Slam Team.

It was during this time that C also began publishing his poetry as well. He has been published in various magazines including Artifact Nouveau, Rigorous Magazine, and the Chagrin River Review. This was all the encouragement he needed to release 2 full length poetry books. je suis noir [i am black] and The Quiet Way were both self-published and released in early and late 2016 respectively and are available on Amazon as well as on Bandcamp.

Now, C is fusing his love of music and his love of poetry together. He is fusing his love for gospel and soul with folk and acoustic music and a sprinkling of poetry to produce content that breaks down the walls of toxic masculinity, racism, spiritual abuse, and mental health stigma one song or poem at a time. This is beginning with the release of his first audio poetry project, 3 Poems, Op. 1, chronicling the poems that carried him through the beginning of his artistic career.