Indian blues

Although traditional Jazz has had a sizeable following for a long time in India, with the yearly Jazz Yatra festivals and the frequent collaboration between Indian Classical and Western Jazz musicians, the interest in the Blues has more or less been incidental due to the shared ancestry with Jazz. Nonetheless, there have been a few musicians who stay true to the genre. They have not only helped define, promote and keep the Blues alive in India but also have developed a very Indian flavour of this music form.

Contraband

Sagar Sarkar is considered the father of the Pune Blues style, and "Contraband" are credited as the earliest practitioners of it in Pune during the late eighties to the nineties.

In a rare late nineties interview about their hedonistic lifestyle, Sagar Sarkar is quoted as saying: "The jams we've had were centered around three guys: Nirmal Kumar, Samuel Wilson and Zubin Balsara. The other prominent guys were Devendra Gautam Singh, Naveen Shastri and Rohit Nagarkatti. We ran a circuit using little known Pune venues like Nadikinara, Madhur Milan, Jaws, our respective homes and the private houses of anybody who'd cooperate. Anyone who knew about our venues were free to just carry their booze, instruments and tune in! Many a time we were joined by guests at our sessions, namely guitarists Sanjay Joseph, Milind Mulick, Jayant Sankrityayana, Ashdin Bharucha, and bassist Jacob Panikar."

Soulmate

Soulmate is a north-east India based Blues band, which according to their myspace page "... came together in Shillong, in February 2003 playing their first concert at the ‘Roots Festival at the Water Sports Complex in Umiam. Since then the band has performed many concerts all over The Northeast as well as in different parts of India,Southeast Asia,Europe,The Middle East and The USA. "

Soulmate is primarily made up of Rudy Wallang (Guitar/Vocals/Songwriter) and Tipriti TIPS Kharbangar (Vocals/Guitar), although they frequently team up with local artists (on drums, bass and possibly other backup instruments) when on tour.

Soulmate gained nationwide recognition and popularity within the Jazz and Blues circles in India after they became the only Blues band to represent the country (Courtesy The Blues Club of India) at the 23rd International Blues Challenge organized by The Blues Foundation of America, in Memphis, Tennessee, USA, in February 2007. They were semi-finalists and performed at The Rum Boogie Café (Blues Club of The Year) alongside 150 other bands and musicians from all over the world.

As of Feb 2009, Soulmate is known to have released two albums. Shillong and Moving On.

Smokestack

Smokestack is a band from Pune, who named themselves after the legendary song by Howling Wolf. They grouped together as a band sometime in 2006 and started off as a pretty purist, acoustic blues trio. However, soon after formation, they began experimenting with folk and roots music as well as rhythmic influences from around the world. This led to expanding the band to include drums and electric guitars. According to their blog, they now "...pride [themselves] for playing blues in all their shades and styles, pegged on a dynamic, unfaltering groove, while channelling the raw, direct emotion of the earliest acoustic Blues."

Smokestack is currently made up of:

• Anoop Kumar - Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Bass
• Michael Thompson - Harmonica
• Vishal Gore - Vocals, Electric Guitar, Bass
• Shreyas Iyengar - Drums, Percussion
• Vidula Andromeda - Vocals, Harmonica

They have previously had a few other musicians as full/part-time members of their group:

• Varun Venkit - Drums, Percussion, Occasional singing
• Sarathy Korwar - Drums, Percussion
• Siddharth Sharma - Bass Guitar

They frequently play with other musicians who are well known names in the local Indian jazz/blues and rock scene, many of who also stay in Pune.

Blues Conscience

Blues Conscience is a blues trio from Chennai that was started in 2008 by Anek Ahuja, Aum Janakiram and Neil Smith, for the sole purpose of promoting the blues in today’s rock and metal influenced live music culture. As a 3-piece outfit, their roots go deep into some of the greats that have played the blues such as B.B.King, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Cream, Eric Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name a few.

They provide a fully suited up act, retaining every essence of the blues while also performing renditions of their own such as Kamasutra, Shaggin Ma Dog and Barack Obama. Often called a “feel good band" that is constantly engaging the audience with the right energy, they are a band like no other.”

On the bass and vocals is Anek Ahuja, Aum Janakiram on guitars/vocals and Neil Smith on the drums.

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Link to their Music Player

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