Rachael & Vilray

Since their formation in 2015, Brooklyn-based duo Rachael & Vilray have achieved a certain timeless quality with their singular take on traditional pop. Though rooted in the language of an earlier age, their songs transcend nostalgia with wit and a flair for the theatrical. On their third album West of Broadway, vocalist Rachael Price (also of Lake Street Dive) and guitarist/singer/songwriter Vilray evolve their music’s previous dreaminess to achieve a refreshing angularity built on left-of-center instrumentation (e.g., vibraphone and alto saxophone coasting above the moody strains of baritone sax and trombone). Produced by Dan Knobler (Allison Russell, Bahamas), West of Broadway unfolds in a series of sharply drawn vignettes inspired by a recent fascination with classic musicals—bringing their luminous vocals to offbeat tales of love and heartache along city streets.

Recorded at the legendary Sear Sound in Manhattan, West of Broadway took shape with the help of renowned musicians like saxophonist Steve Wilson (a former member of Chick Corea’s Origin sextet) and drummer John Riley (Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie). Over the course of 10 lush and effervescent tracks, the album delivers standouts like “Love Comes Around” (a joyously romantic piece that set the direction for the LP’s West Coast jazz-inspired aesthetic), “My Key to Gramercy Park” (a fantastically salty number narrated by a well-to-do character who lives in lonely suspicion of all those who covet their key to the notoriously exclusive private park), and “Off Broadway” (on which golden-voiced comedian Stephen Colbert joins in for what the duo dubs an “oddly grumpy anti-Broadway screed”). Thanks in large part to the colorful detail and extravagant personality of Rachael & Vilray’s storytelling, West of Broadway ultimately immerses the audience in an exquisitely out-of-time vision of their beloved New York City.

Taylor Ashton

Taylor Ashton is a shape-shifting songwriter with the heart of a novelist and the timing of a stand-up comic. An inventive clawhammer banjo and guitar player with a distinctive warm baritone voice, his songs are intricately crafted stories and meditations on love, life, and memory. Whether solo, trio, or with a six-piece band, his live shows unfold like a play: vulnerable, funny, and slyly profound. Laughter often gives way to a hush and feelings will be felt. Born in Vancouver and now based in Brooklyn, he cut his teeth fronting Canadian folk band Fish & Bird before launching a solo career with The Romantic (2020) and Stranger to the Feeling (2023). Ashton’s performances of his original songs have been featured everywhere from the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to the New York Times, and he has established himself as a staple of Brooklyn’s quirky folk scene.