In a Quarantine Project, R&B Siren Aviana Takes Funk for a Test Drive!

Steve Visneau
Aviana wears a Pamela Roland dress from  Saks Fifth Avenue.

Aviana wears a Pamela Roland dress from Saks Fifth Avenue.

R&B maven Lilly Aviana, 26, released her debut album, Late Bloom, last summer, after two years of hard work. It’s chock-full of total R&B and neo-soul bangers. The Houston-reared artist wrote all of the music herself, and had plans to take the highly personal album on a Texas tour this spring. Instead, she ended up using the time allotted by the shutdown to pour into a new funk project. “I’ve been studying funk music from the ’70s and ’80s,” she says. “It’s been really fun and challenging. The time off has really opened my mind up to creating since I have no distractions.”


However, she is looking forward to getting back on the stage in the coming months. “Feeling the energy from the crowd — there’s nothing like it. We need it to survive.” 

Click here to see the full 2020 portfolio.

Aviana wears a Pamela Roland dress from Saks Fifth Avenue.

Art + Entertainment

Toca Madera Bird's Nest patio (photo by Connie Anderson)

FINALLY, FALL WILL arrive this week. Grab a bite and a drink or linger over a multi-course meal at these cool spots — the patios are calling!

Keep Reading Show less
Food

The Camino Huichol over the Wet Deck

VERDANT, WINDING BRANCHES arch up and over a pathway as a soundtrack of herons and chachalacas (and the occasional monkey) plays overhead. Concrete rectangles artfully jut up through the green, painted in rays of sunlight. Eventually, the path leads down to the beach, where the streaks of sun create a cinematic moment: A slim, tan couple emerges from the ocean with their surfboards in hand and their dogs at their heels, the scent of the Pacific lingering in the thick, humid air.

Keep Reading Show less
Style