Lily Vakili
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. Off the heels of her 2025 full-length release Oceans Of Kansas and East Coast tour, comes Vakili's first live EP, Live Wire out May 8, 2026, an in-studio, live audio and video recording of songs named for what fans and critics alike say is a perfect description of her charismatic performance style. For this stripped down and intimate six-song release, Vakili 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. Live Wire reimagines old favorites and introduces two new songs showcasing her emotionally raw, live sound - a genre-blending fusion of blues, rock, and art rock elements, backed by poetic storytelling. One of those new songs, and the focus track of the EP, "Anybody Knows," out March 20, 2026, showcases Vakili's emotional vocal delivery with a melody prominently featured above a foundational rhythmic guitar baseline as she recalls the feelings she had about a crush from long ago. Vakili's creative passion, as a singer/songwriter shines through in her live show where she strives to reach her audience through her storytelling whether through a ballad, a love song, or a hard-rocking blues lament. But most of all, she wants to fully connect with her audience, so they not only leave feeling like they've truly been seen but that they have enjoyed hearing something new from an old friend.