I first heard a sitar played on the Beatles’ Sargeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. My next encounter was at the famous Woodstock Festival, where Ravi Shankar, the greatest of Indian sitarists, was performing (see photo). It was 1969 and I was sixteen, traveling with a friend. We were slung with sleeping bags and backpacks full of Pop Tarts.
Ragas, the classical sitar-driven musical forms Shankar played, are vibratory states of resonating beauty. They don’t do much with Western harmony, relying instead on wondrous melodies run above a scintilant sonic drone created by santoor and harmonium, flowed along with tabla drums.
As a 12-string guitar composer, I’ve spent no few years trying to evoke ragas on my instrument to accompany my stories from India. You can come hear some of that music on two 12-strings, along with some pretty cool stories from India, this coming Sunday May 28th at 7:00 pm, at the Riverwalk Cafe and Music Bar in Nashua, NH. If you know anyone who might enjoy such an experience, please let them know. Tickets $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
Get them here.