Showcasing the talents of Lake Street Dive singer Rachael Price and Brooklyn guitarist/vocalist Vilray Blair Bolles, Rachael & Vilray perform original songs inspired by classic jazz, as well as traditional Tin Pan Alley-style pop. A live presence since 2015, they came to wider attention with their 2019 debut, Rachael & Vilray (which featured guest Jon Batiste). The duo's sophomore album, I Love a Love Song!, arrived in 2023.
A soulful vocalist with a background in jazz, Price is best known as the lead singer with the genre-bending pop outfit Lake Street Dive. Born in 1985 in Australia, she grew up in Tennessee the daughter of composer/conductor Tom Price. Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald, she took up jazz, studying at Boston's New England Conservatory and winning praise for appearances at the 2003 Montreux Jazz Festival's International Jazz Vocal Competition and the 2004 Thelonious Monk Institute Vocal Competition, where she was a semi-finalist. It was while at NEC that she first befriended fellow student Bolles. A gifted guitarist and singer, Bolles impressed Price with his songwriting skills playing in several projects with her future Lake Street Dive bandmates Mike Calabrese and Mike "McDuck" Olson. Despite their creative affinity, Price and Bolles did not yet know that they both shared a love of classic pre- and post-war jazz. In the years after college, Price enjoyed success with Lake Street Dive while Bolles moved away from performing as his main focus. However, after an accident at his day job left him with a broken finger, he decided to reconnect with his musical passion. In 2015, he accepted a series of solo gigs at a Brooklyn's Bar Below Rye. Price showed up to support him and even sang on several songs. They kept working together and eventually added their own compositions to the mix, drawing inspiration from their shared love of classic jazz and pop standards. They signed with Nonesuch and in 2019 issued their debut album, Rachael & Vilray, which featured horn arrangements by reedist Jacob Zimmerman, as well as contributions by Lake Street Dive pianist Akie Bermiss and Late Night with Stephen Colbert pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste. The duo's sophomore album, I Love a Love Song!, arrived in January 2023 and found them working with a small group featuring Zimmerman (who again supplied horn arrangements), pianist Larry Goldings, bassist David Piltch, drummer Joe La Barbera, and others. ~ Matt Collar, Rovi
