Making the Great American Songbook Great — and New — Again

Rachael Price, the captivating jazz-informed pop/soul singer from Lake Street Dive, seems to exemplify the concept of finding fruitful, long-lasting partners in college. She connected with members of Lake Street Dive after meeting and bonding as students at New England Conservatory. The band has risen to impressive heights — rising in local venue ranks from the Lobero Theatre to the Santa Barbara Bowl last year.

In a fruitful college connection dating back even further, Price connected with the skilled guitarist-songwriter-singer known as Vilray (born Vilray Bolles) at the New England Conservatory of Music back in 2003. Their special act, Rachael & Vilray, has become a respected side project with three albums to its name, and a fan base including Stephen Colbert, who had them on his show and even cameoed on an album of theirs. 

On Friday, November 20, Price returns to the Lobero in this mode, giving the vocal finesse to Vilray’s witty and unabashedly vintage sounding original material, ready to head jazz with a twist or three.

We checked in with the pair for a quick interview before their trip west.

I was so happy to hear about this Lobero date coming up. I confess I wasn’t aware of your project until I heard you on Stephen Colbert. I was immediately magnetized — thinking, “Here’s something fresh but also rooted in deep tradition.” Could that response reflect your own conceptual approach to what you do together?

Vilray:  I think there is a definite appeal to using a familiar musical language — suffused in so much of our culture still, in movies and on the radio — to express new ideas, and weave new sounds. The listener has the necessary vocabulary to engage the material innately, but we aren’t intruding on the often deep-seated relationships they may have with standards and their singers. 

Vilray, you have such a way with words and songwriting, a kind of Cole Porter–ish handle on how to convey emotions while freely playing with language. Can you say who your prime influences are on your writing?

Vilray: Not exhaustively and in no particular order: I am inspired by the writing of Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn, Frank Loesser, Stephen Sondheim, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, The Gershwins, Rodgers & Hart, Fats Waller, Johnny Mercer, Peggy Lee, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Webb, Lennon/McCartney/Harrison, Bob Dylan, Nas, Big L, Biggie, Old Dirty Bastard, Kurt Cobain, Molly Drake, Joni Mitchell, Herbie Nichols, Monk, Tom Waits, Kurt Weill…

Your third and latest album, West of Broadway (link), came out last year, with some delicious large ensemble textures involved. Did you have a particular mission with this album, compared to the earlier albums?

Vilray: West of Broadway was an exploration of flavors of N.Y.C. — where I was raised and where we both live now. It was also a more focused exploration of songs written with theatrical characters in mind, this has been a theme shared among all our albums, but more of these songs are pointedly from inhabited points of view. 

It was also a riff on some sonic techniques originated in the “cool school” of the West Coast of the ’40s and ’50s. Hence “West” of “Broadway.”

I know you both go back many years — to 2003, says the internet. Was there a kind of kindred spirit connection from the beginning, and a common musical objective between you?

Vilray:  We make each other laugh a lot and always have, that goes a long way to making this feelings-rich music come to fullest life. We also both deeply love both jazz and Tin Pan Alley classics and obscurities.

Rachael, your life with Lake Street Dive has been a happy success story, a case of a group deserving of upward motion but with some deep musicality attached. I first heard you at the Lobero, as part of the great “Sings Like Hell” series, and then heard you at the Santa Barbara Bowl just last year. Has the path of and buzz about that project taken you by surprise?

Rachael Price:  Our success has come slowly, after 12 steady years of touring and making albums — and nine more years before of playing music together. So, it hasn’t surprised me, but the longevity of our connection and our listeners to our music does truly amaze me. I’m very grateful. 

This duo seems to support the idea of a continuation of historically entrenched musical values, from the DNA of jazz, versus the standard practice of interpreting existing real book standards. It also can appeal to listeners both within and outside of the usual jazz suspect crowd of listeners. Are those goals, in a way? 

Price:  These are certainly goals we have. Jazz is an extremely inspiring and energizing genre of music, but its vitality is somewhat dependent on that feeling like you’re hearing something for the first time — as is the case with so many kinds of music. Refreshing and playing the wonderful songs of the American songbook is a worthy and wonderful task. But it’s also important to write new songs in this style so the listener can connect to the song without having prior experience with it. We strive to give listeners that experience. 

Is this a side project that grew wings and taken on a life of its own?

Price:  This project has most certainly taken on its life of its own — we’ve been doing it for 10 years and have no plans to stop!

For event info, see lobero.org/events/rachael-and-vilray.