A lifelong observer, chronicler, and creative force, Lily Vakili has spent years gathering fragments of the world – memories, landscapes, voices, losses, joys – and transforming them into urgent, electric songs. She was raised across Honduras, Florida, Thailand, Puerto Rico, and Iowa – absorbing pieces of each place, each culture, along the way. This international upbringing shaped her worldview, her voice, and her lifelong search for connection. The past decade has seen her channel that force through six studio albums – released both as a solo artist and with her successful Vakili Band – each one experimenting with the wide, untamed possibilities of rock. When she isn't making music she advises biotechnology companies in the negotiation of complex supply chain transactions. She's also a mother of three.
With the release of her upcoming six-song Live Wire EP out May 8 (pre-save HERE), Vakili wanted to capture the distinctive sound of performing this collection of songs with her touring band: Eric Burns on guitar (Super Yamba Band, Robert Finley), Joseph Yount on drums (Super Yamba Band), and Drew Hart on bass (The National Reserve). The timing felt right because she'd just come off touring with the same group of musicians, so she called upon her collaborator, the Grammy-Award winning, Emmy-nominated producer/engineer Reed Turchi, to produce the EP at his studio Second Take Sound in New York City.
"What makes my music most compelling is when I perform it live with a band," says Vakili. "This is the message audiences have been telling me for a long time, so I decided to try to capture that sound in an in-studio session recorded the way jazz and vocalist performances used to be made, with everyone in one room with no headphones, no click track - just like we would on stage. It either works or it doesn't, but when it does, it's electric and authentic."
"Lily has established her reputation as both a performer and as a songwriter, and to me Live Wire is the most successful (to-date!) simultaneous showcasing of those strengths," says Turchi. "In a time of AI music and inhumane amounts of editing on even 'roots' style records, it is a huge risk — and a huge reward — to record an album like this, insisting on full-length song takes with everyone together in a room, rather than piecing things together bit by bit in the name of 'perfection.' There is no sorcery without sacrifice, and on Live Wire Lily proves that she will stand behind what she and the band do live rather than rely on studio trickery."
