Lili Haydn

Before stepping out as a solo artist, Lili Haydn had already earned recognition as a formidable violinist after George Clinton dubbed her “the Jimi Hendrix of violin,” an assessment backed by her performances alongside the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Porno for Pyros, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Hootie & the Blowfish, Victoria Williams, Tom Petty, and Page & Plant. Born to actress and comedian Lotus Weinstock and video artist David Jove, she first took up the instrument in childhood after an early phase as a child actress that included parts in assorted films and television programs. At eight she shifted her focus to violin, pursued classical training, and later enrolled in college as a music major. Upon finishing her studies she turned to writing original material while simultaneously becoming one of Los Angeles’s most in-demand session and live violinists. In 1994 she and her band began a two-year engagement at the Viper Room that doubled as a workshop for her own songs. By the time Atlantic offered her a recording deal in 1997, her résumé already included additional work with Brandy, Tony! Toni! Toné!, and No Doubt. Her self-titled debut, Lili, appeared on Atlantic in the fall of 1997. Light Blue Sun followed in 2003 on BMG/Private Music, and Nettwerk Music Group issued the EP Goodbye Stranger in 2007 and the album Place Between Places in 2008. Haydn also contributed violin to the soundtracks of She’s the One and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End while composing original scores for Jacklight, The Horse Boy, and The Lightmaker. After Place Between Places, a chemical contamination event rendered her home uninhabitable, destroyed most of her possessions, and caused minor brain damage. Through self-directed practice she relearned the violin, an effort that restored both her memory and equilibrium; those events shaped the April 2014 EP How I Got My Brains Back and the album Lililand, then slated for release the following September.