Kishi Bashi is the stage name of Kaoru Ishibashi (born 1975, Seattle), a Japanese-American singer-songwriter, violinist and Emmy-nominated filmmaker based in Athens, Georgia. He studied film scoring at Berklee College of Music and built his reputation as a touring violinist with Regina Spektor and of Montreal before launching a solo career in 2011. His five studio albums span looping indie-pop, symphonic folk and genre-hopping dance-rock, with the 2019 album Omoiyari - a meditation on the WWII incarceration of Japanese Americans - earning wide critical acclaim and a companion documentary that premiered at SXSW 2022 and later streamed on Paramount+.
Kishi Bashi released Sonderlust (10th Anniversary Edition) on February 27, 2026, including the original album, session demos and two previously unreleased B-sides.
In October 2025, Kishi Bashi announced the 2026 Sonderlust 10-Year Anniversary Tour, promising to perform the full album live across the US.
In June 2025, Kishi Bashi announced a run of overseas solo dates followed by North American festival appearances including the Kaslo Jazz Festival and San Jose Jazz Summer Fest.
Kishi Bashi released his fifth studio album Kantos on August 23, 2024, via Joyful Noise Recordings, with an anime music video for the single 'Lilliputian Chop' premiering on Crunchyroll.
Kaoru Ishibashi married philosopher and professor Kimberly Dill in a private ceremony in California's Sierra Nevada mountains in July 2024.
concert19:00Kishi Bashi, the multi-instrumentalist behind the album "Omoiyari", performs an intimate solo show at Trädgår'n.
concert19:00Japanese-American musician Kishi Bashi performs at Babel in Malmö. An intimate concert of experimental pop and virtuosic guitar work.