Nashville band 10 String Symphony is coming to the Lexington venue Willie’s Locally Known Thursday night opening for the Black Lillies.

The band is composed of two fiddle players, Rachel Baiman and Christian Sedelmyer. According to Baiman, the two have been in Nashville for nearly nine years after meeting at a jam session. 

Baiman has an esteemed fiddle background, having previously won the Illinois state fiddle championship in the old-time classification. Sedelmyer, who also tours with the Jerry Douglas Band, was first trained as a violinist before taking fiddle for a spin.

The band is called 10 String Symphony because the members play two five-string fiddles. According to Baiman the name leaves many people guessing what to expect from the duo.

“We were both really obsessed with the potential of a five-string and what you can do with it, that’s kind of how this whole thing started,” said Baiman. “What can we do with this instrument, what are the all possibilities here? Some people think it’s going to be ten people playing one string, but usually people think it should be called 8 strings. They don’t realize it’s a five-string fiddle.”

The duo has been touring in support of their new album Weight of the World for almost a year. 

According to Baiman the record was inspired by Charles Frazier’s novel Cold Mountain, who recalls her father giving her an audio recording of the book which she listened to in her car on a drive from Chicago back to Nashville. Baiman became so enamoured with the story that she sat in her car when she got home and listened to the story’s conclusion.

 The duo has one other album, a self-titled project collection of songs released in 2012. 

“The first (album), that was about figuring out what the sound of the band was, how we could make a band with 2 fiddles,” said Baiman. “A lot of the material was traditional songs and covers.”

The duo has a full tour to finish out the year, including stops at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s Bluegrass Ramble and Americana Music Festival in North Carolina next week and a stint of shows down under in Australia in mid-October.

Following 10 String Symphony will be Knoxville natives The Black Lillies. The six piece features two guitars, percussion, bass, keys and mandolin. The group continues to turn heads with their latest album, 2015’s Hard to Please, and will be trekking into the windy West Virginia mountains after Thursday’s show for a performance at the Deep Roots Mountain Revival this weekend on Marvin’s Mountaintop. 

Tonight’s show at Willie’s Locally Known is all ages with a $15 cover charge. The fiery fiddles of 10 String Symphony take the stage at 8 p.m. with The Black Lillies to follow.