While tradition fireworks will illuminate the skies over Boothbay Harbor on July 4, the week will also be filled with explosive performances at the historic Opera House at Boothbay Harbor including hot indie, roots rock band The Black Lillies performing on July 3 and the acclaimed folk singer John Gorka on July 5.

Special guest Michael Johnson will join Gorka for what promises to be a great kick-off to the summer season at the Opera House.

The Black Lillies hail from Tennessee and include Cruz Contreras and his bandmates: harmony vocalist Trisha Gene Brady, multi-instrumentalist Tom Pryor, bass player Robert Richards and drummer Jamie Cook.

They have grown from a few friends sitting around campfires and living rooms to a band that shows up in far-flung cities where folks to whom they’ve never played before already know the words to the songs.

Eschewing record labels, they still managed to put their song “Same Mistakes,” from the last record “100 Miles of Wreckage” in Country Music Television’s top 12 requested videos for four months.

The Black Lillies have been featured on numerous television specials and conquered festivals as widespread as Bonnaroo, Pickathon and the CMA Fan Fair.

Despite trafficking in a richer, more authentic brand of country and Americana than what gets played on mainstream country radio, they’ve still been invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry more than a dozen times – a record for an independent act.

Lead man Cruz Contreras sings with a voice that makes you think of Randy Travis or Dan Tyminski or even the great Ralph Stanley in his prime: steeped in regret, seasoned with pain and tempered in the fires of hard times.

It has served the group well; and when “100 Miles of Wreckage” was released in 2011, the band seemingly burst onto the national stage, spending five solid months in the Americana Music Association’s radio charts (four of them in the top 15).

Tickets for The Black Lillies performance on July 3 at 7:30 p.m. are $17 in advance and $21 if purchased on the day of the performance. The Opera House box office at 86 Townsend Avenue is open Tuesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or by calling 207-633-5159.

Gorka & Johnson

John Gorka is a world-renowned singer-songwriter who got his start at a neighborhood coffeehouse in eastern Pennsylvania.

Though small, Godfrey Danielswas and is one of the oldest and most venerable music institutions and has long been a hangout for music lovers and aspiring musicians. In the late 1970s, John was one of these aspiring musicians.

Although his academic coursework at Moravian College lay in philosophy and history, music began to offer paramount enticements.

Soon he found himself living in the club’s basement and acting as resident MC and sound man, encountering legendary folk troubadours like Canadian singer-songwriter Stan Rogers, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton and Claudia Schmidt.

Their brand of folk-inspired acoustic music inspired him, and before long he was performing his own songs, mostly as an opener for visiting acts. Soon he started traveling to New York City, where Jack Hardy’s legendary Fast Folkcircle (a breeding ground for many a major singer-songwriter) became a powerful source of education and encouragement.

Folk meccas like Texas’ Kerrville Folk Festival (where he won the New Folk Award in 1984) and Boston followed, and his stunningly soulful baritone voice and original songwriting began turning heads. Those who had at one time inspired him had become his peers, including Suzanne Vega, Bill Morrissey, Nanci Griffith, Christine Lavin and Shawn Colvin.

Many well known artists have recorded and/or performed John Gorka songs, including Mary Chapin Carpenter, Griffith, Mary Black andMaura O’Connell. John has graced the stage of Austin City Limits, Mountain Stage, and has appeared on CNN. He continues to tour, playing festivals, theaters and clubs all over North America and Europe; but, this will mark his first appearance at the Opera House.

Well-known to Boothbay audiences, acclaimed guitarist Michael Johnson will be joining his friend John Gorka on this summer’s tour. As a young man, Michael Johnson (of “Bluer Than Blue” fame) worked and performed in Boothbay Harbor and his surprise appearance on the marquee has been well-received.

Tickets for the John Gorka & Michael Johnson concert on Friday, July 5 at 8 p.m. are $22 in advance and $27 on the day of the performance. Both performances are open to all ages.