by Danny Coleman
originally published on Rock On! This Week’s Sound Bites…Sept 17, 2026 (NewJerseyStage.com)
“Yes, I’m in Montclair,” said the incredible Lily Vakili as she talked about her two recent releases, her music and upcoming tour which kicks off on September 26 in Blairstown, NJ to support both.. “Actually, “Oceans of Kansas” came out already; I’m still very much supporting and promoting that and it came out last year, that was a full LP and then this year, I released a live in studio EP called “Live Wire.”
A multi-talented artist who has been a lawyer, a dancer, an actor and most importantly a mom, she is currently focusing on her music, touring and touring often.
Over the years, Lily, like most in the arts and/or music industry has had her share of ups, downs, triumphs and tribulations but this vivacious performer who has lived on several continents and is now here in New Jersey is very determined to forge ahead doing what she truly loves and that includes meeting new friends and musicians that allow her to “Collaborate.”
“I really love doing the deep dive in terms of collaborating with people and with artists that I like, technicians and all that,” she began. “I had started working with this artist who happened to be at the time the manager of a studio in New York City and also a musician himself; mixer, engineer, all of it and his name is Reed Torchi and he has an album coming out by the way. We initially started collaborating because I was going out on tour as an opening act for John Douglas who very sadly recently passed away. He was a beautiful Scottish singer and member of Trashcan Sinatras who had come to the U.S. to do his own solo tour and I was invited to be the opening act and I joined him on the West Coast. In advance of that tour, I wanted to have something to release and a friend of a friend connected me with Reed and I did an acoustic EP called “Tannersville” with him. While we were working on that, I was in kind of a transitional point at that time. I had finished in the Spring doing a tour with my THEN band and then as happens with bands, a few members basically said they couldn’t do the touring anymore and that was kind of a heartbreaker and led to a real shift in the work I was doing and how I was making it and one of those shifts was to put out this solo acoustic EP with Reed Torchi and in the process he said, “I love these songs and I’d love to connect you with some guys I know who I think would sound phenomenal” and I said, “Talk to me when I get back from tour and we’ll see.”
“I came back from tour and I’d been thinking about it and the process; almost everytime I go out on tour, I come back and I’m inspired to write. I love being on the road and I think one of the reasons is that almost without fail, I get home and I start writing. So, I called Reed and I said, “I’ve got a few more songs to add to that EP, what do you say about making a full album and can you introduce me to those guys?” So, he did and we rehearsed and tried out different things, we got along like gangbusters and it was just kismet. We made the album, went on several tours and after being on the road with them for a while, I called Reed again and was like, hey man, these guys are so great and we’re having such a good time on the road, I want to capture what we do live in the studio. No click track, just us doing what we did because the thing I love and what people respond to is the live performance; it’s more like life, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. You take a chance, you put yourself out there, all of those things are to me what rock ‘n’ roll is about, that’s what being a punk is,” she said with an infectious laugh that seemingly defines her outlook in many ways. “I think, if you allow it to move a little bit, let it “Breathe” an experienced musician can feel it, it allows this kind of movement that reminds you that live human beings are making this. I just find it super exciting, I think it’s totally sexy to have that sense of real presence; know what I mean?”
“Sexy” is a word that has been used to describe her performances and vocal stylings along with “Raw” and “Edgy” among others and with the release of “Live Wire” which showcases her and her band at their best, live, Lily is psyched to get back out on the road beginning on September 26 in Blairstown.
“I’m actually doing some shows, kind of soft starting the tour with a three day residency in Blairstown; actually it’s in Marksboro, New Jersey and if you are familiar with that area, it’s absolutely gorgeous. There is a place called Marksboro Mills and there is now, because the owner Ruth Perretti dreamed it up, there’s an outdoor Woodland Stage behind the mill and she has started to host shows. I go way back with Ruthie and she was gracious enough to say, “Hey come out and do some shows!” I was there on August 22 with Eric Burns an amazing guitarist, I’ll be there on September 26 with a full band and that will kind of be our soft launch for the third leg of the “Live Wire” tour which officially starts at The Government Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on October 7 and then Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit and Nashville. Down in Nashville, we’re playing The 5 Spot. I am so delighted to be playing The 5 Spot. I had been there years ago and said to myself, I want to play here and it’s as if that wish I made so many years ago has come back. My booker called me and told me we had an offer to play The 5 Spot and it’s a great little kind of dive bar where you hear everything at and that’s kind of where I wanna be. The other exciting thing is, for the first time, I’m going out with another band. I don’t know if you’re familiar with this band but you should be; Mighty Joe Castro and The Gravamen, I just love that name. The Gravamen, which means like, the gist of a legal claim, the reason you brought the claim. They’re a totally modern rock-a-billy band out of Philly and we played together on one of my other tours and I reached out to them because I was like, these guys would be a lot of fun to tour with (Laughs) and they said yes. Check them out, they’re just an interesting group of guys and Joe Castro is also a visual artist, a graphic designer and just an all around interesting guy. I mentioned before why I like going on tour and doing what I do, it’s a hell of a lot of fun; it’s a tremendous amount of work. The logistics are probably right up there with, I don’t know, a moon landing (Laughs). The logistics are crazy but once we’re in it, if you like the people you’re hanging out with, it can be a really good time.”
Seeing Vakili on stage, one may be in a quandary as to where to look; between her constant motion, her vocal delivery, the way she interacts with her bandmates, the band itself or her full head of hair, there are many options. So, since the audience can’t see everything at once, where does she see herself and her music in this day and age of labeling styles and genres?
“I am very much inspired by a certain orientation when making music that’s kind of epitomized probably by a David Bowie who explored a wide universe of sound in his exceptional extraordinary career,” she explained without hesitation. “The gift of making music and if you’re making your own music, original work, you follow the muse. You don’t tell the muse what to do; oh I’m sorry, I have to fit that in this little box over here so the promoters can do their thing? No, that’s not the way I’m gonna make music. All I have is my creative drive and inspiration and if I’m not true to that, what the hell am I doing? Not just with my time but with the time and effort and talents of the wonderful people I get to work with. I take that really seriously. You can hear, I laugh a lot, I think laughter is a good thing but there are some things I’m dead serious about and following that muse is one of them. I hope to be able to reach people and have them love it and find some escape and pleasure in what I make but I don’t think that the way to do that for me is to constrain my imagination.”
“Constraint” is not a word one uses to describe her; one look at her live performances or her videos lend credence to that statement. So, what will her road setup be like and has she begun work on her next release?
“Most of the time it’s a full band, a quartet. Drums are Joseph Yount, Seth Barden on bass, Eric Burns on lead guitar and I’m on vocals and sometimes rhythm guitar; I’ll tinkle away on keyboards but not in public (Laughs).”
“How do you know?” She laughed yet again, “Yeah, I have, it’s early days but I have. I mean, as long as the water is flowing, I’m along for the ride and I hope it goes on for a while.”
To discover more about Lily Vakili, please visit https://lilyvakili.com/or to hear her on a recent “Rock On! Podcast,” click here: https://www.mixcloud.com/thepenguin/rock-on-podcast-w-lily-vakili/?utm_medium=share&utm_source=clipboard&utm_content=show&utm_term=VXNlcjo1MDg4MjA3Ng%3D%3D