Indie Music Women’s Featured Artist of the Day is…⠀
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Lily Vakili (@lilyvakiliband)⠀
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Genre-transcendent rocker Lily Vakili has had a wild, freewheeling life: “I was born in Honduras during a military coup,” says the New Jersey-based artist, “and my dad had to walk over bloodied soldiers in the hospital to welcome me to the world. He’s always said that set the stage for everything else in my life.”⠀
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Raised in a large family in Honduras, Florida, Puerto Rico, Iowa and Thailand, Lily trained as a dancer and left home at sixteen. Since then, she’s worked as a dancer, actress, summer stage director, choreographer, corn detasseler, night “nurse”, human rights researcher and waitress. She became a lawyer and the mother of three and having raised a son with autism, a fierce advocate for disability rights. Whatever the role, the gig, the job, she’s written songs marking the journey. ⠀
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Lily launched her recording career as a solo artist with Lake City/Next 3 Exits (produced by Bruce Hanson of Fellaheen) and Meadowlands (produced by James Mastro of Ian Hunter and the Rant Band and The Bongos) before forming a full band. The Lily Vakili Band includes lead guitarist Ben St. Jacques; back up vocalist, Cecile Williams, harmonica player, Joel Dorow, and bassist Jim Tyndall and drummer Gordon Kuba. ⠀
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The band’s first album, titled “Oh Alright”, was produced by Ray Ketchem (Magic Door Recording). A second album is in the works, engineered and produced by David Amlen of Sound on Sound Studios. The lead single “She Wants What” dropped in October 2019 to great reviews. ⠀
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Lily shared with me what it means to her to be an indie music woman artist:⠀
“If you’re a woman trying to make your own music your own way – you’re kind of indie by definition. It takes moxie, baby! To me, being an “indie music woman artist” means expressing yourself despite (or in spite of) the pressure to conform to somebody else’s idea of what you should be. It means speaking your mind and being willing to work (hard!) for the right to do it. The rewards are GREAT.“⠀
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You can hear Lily’s single, “She Wants What” on Indie Music Women’s Spotify playlist.