In a case of perfect timing, Illumination formed in 2007.  Roots music singer/songwriter Suzanne Cannon was recording tracks at Elegbaland Studios in Lake Worth and engineer Marc Ward was playing music by other clients he'd recorded.  When he cued up Ginny Meredith's classically-trained (and Irish and bluegrass-influenced) violin playing, Cannon was transfixed and inquired about her.  Illumination was born as a duo, and Meredith's violin and vocal harmonies proved to be the perfect compliments to Cannon's blues/pop/country compositions, voice and finger-picked guitar patterns.  The two even formed an eclectic and unpredictable list of cover songs by the likes of Men at Work, the Dixie Chicks, Metallica, Sheryl Crow, Crash Test Dummies and Green Day.

The group started to grow in 2008, as Meredith's husband Bill Meredith made Illumination a trio as a percussionist/vocalist.  In 2009, John Smotherman turned the trio into a quartet by adding his dobro and vocals to the mix.  The two had worked together in the heralded 1990-1992 South Florida variety act, Lite-N-Up, and currently play together in Bob Dylan cover band Big Brass Bed, improvisational trio Blatant Disregard, and rock act the PowerCats (all with Meredith on drums and Smotherman on guitar).  Their inclusion has resulted in additional originals by both Cannon and Smotherman, plus more diverse covers by Led Zeppelin, Beyonce, Bob Dylan and Outkast.  From low-volume, all-acoustic house concerts to amplified festivals, Illumination can now brighten any musical occasion.