Rachael & Vilray

Rachael & Vilray is a collaborative project between Rachael Price (lead singer of Lake Street Dive) and guitarist/songwriter Vilray Bolles. Formed from a shared obsession with pre-war jazz and the Tin Pan Alley era, the duo specializes in original compositions that meticulously replicate the harmonic and lyrical structures of the 1930s and 40s.

Their sound identity is defined by close-harmony vocals, Vilray's period-accurate hollow-body guitar work, and a recording philosophy that emphasizes analog warmth and spatial intimacy. While Price brings a world-class technical facility often compared to Ella Fitzgerald, Vilray provides the dry, witty counterpoint and the primary songwriting engine. Critically, they are praised for avoiding the 'kitsch' trap of vintage revivalism, instead treating the genre as a living language. Their work sits at the intersection of traditional vocal jazz and the contemporary Americana scene, appealing to both crate-digging jazz purists and the indie-folk audience. Their evolution has seen them expand from a sparse duo to incorporating lush orchestral and big-band arrangements on later albums like 'I Love a Love Song!' , though the core remains their singular vocal blend.