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Will blues see a worldwide revival? Here’s what Kathmandu musicians have to say

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At the second edition of Kathmandu Blues n Roots at Wicked Spoon, Jhamsikhel. Photo: Wicked Spoon

It’s 2016, and blues has no business existing.

The tide of music has changed so much that it feels strange that somebody even fiddles with the guitar, let alone play a genre of music that finds it home back in Africa.

The blues musicians around Kathmandu are no different, it’s a kind of dogma that they’ve seen. They’ve laughed at it and taken it in their stride, continuing the small but thriving blues scene here in Kathmandu.

Recently, musicians like Deep Shamsher Rana of The Midnight Riders infamy, who now rocks his new project The Kathmandu Cats and Satish Sthapit, the voice of Newaz, a popular rock/blues/grunge group that emanated from the earliest Jhochen bearings, took to the stage at Kathmandu Blues N’ Roots, a special blues event now in its second edition.

They were joined by Nikesh Joshi, who has been behind the drums for Spirit X, Sunny Mahat who has been a bass-tastic force of nature for the The Midnight Riders and their TMR trio along with Jason Baidya, an avid blues fan and a vivacious blues player.

We asked them 2 simple questions.

When did you fall for the blues? Who was the first guy you heard and you went ‘ Wow this is it!’?
Deep Shamsher Rana: I started to get into the blues right out of high school. I listened to mostly classic blues rock acts like Cream, Mountain, Hendrix etc. but the one album that really got me hooked was John Mayall Bluesbreakers with Clapton a.k.a. the ‘Beano’ album. The next obvious transition after that were the three kings most notably Freddie.

Satish Stapit: I was in grade 9 when I discovered Black Sabbath. I loved how Tony Iommi (guitarist for Sabbath) played the guitar and upon discovering more and more about him, I stumbled across the blues. So I can say Tony Iommi is my first blues man.

Sunny Mahat: My first blues album was a copy of a copy of a copy cassette of Wheels of Fire by Cream which I’d got my hands on courtesy of a friend in middle school. I’d listened to singles by Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Jimi Hendrix at the time but Wheels of Fire was that one album which I put on repeat mode for days.

Jason Baidya: It was 1991 when I first heard the blues. I listened on end, tapes of Stevie Ray Vaughan, Albert King and John Mayall.

Nikesh Joshi: While I heard blues here and there, the first time it registered with me was when I heard Cream. What a trio! Their music is something that just spoke to me and it’s never been the same.

Do you think blues music will see a golden revival worldwide? Like the times of Hendrix, SRV does blues make a comeback to mainstream or close to it.

Satish Sthapit: It doesn’t really matter. We don’t play blues for Chocolate Stardom. (Chocolate Stardom is a band name waiting to explode).

Sunny Mahat: Not very optimistic about it since the whole focus of the music industry has shifted to the artist more than the art. As long as there is this mass consumption of corporate-ly processed music which is infecting our generations, I see less hope. But let’s see, big wheels keep turnin’ and I wish they turn for good.

Nikesh Joshi: I think it can, all it needs is that one revolutionary act. Someone who himself transcends the genre and brings people to this art form. All it takes, is one song, one band.

Deep Shamsher Rana: A golden revival worldwide? Sadly I don’t think so. Unless you have another Hendrix or SRV come along current modern blues guys like Joe Bonamassa, John Mayer and Derek Trucks just aren’t cutting it enough to have a golden worldwide revival. But given the current music business industry, you really can’t blame ’em either.

Jason Baidya: Blues never died to be revived. It was always here and will always be. Almost all the music we hear today evolved from blues. Blues does not take center stage but takes center of your heart because everybody has the blues. They just don’t know that it’s called the blues.

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