Blues is referred to as the origin of modern western music. From Jazz to Hard Rock, most of the genres that we listen to were created by artists who were inspired by the blues. But where did the blues come…

As the year is coming to an end, we remember these creative personalities of eminence, from India, that are no more amongst us. The departing year took lives of many creative personalities—from literary geniuses, to cinema personalities to some of…

A decade ago, no one had any idea about what Kpop was. Now, there seems to be a gigantic community of Korean pop culture lovers in our country. Those flashy colours and enigmatic lyrics have grabbed the eyeballs of millions…

Smita Agarwal is a professor, poet and a trained singer from Allahabad, who not only writes poetry but also sings her poems to the tunes of folk music. At the 100 thousand poets for change in Mumbai, she sang her…

Abhivyakti City Arts Project is giving a platform to budding artists to explore their creativity. The process of making the festival is as interesting as the performances. Read more about how the festival came to fruition here. You may spend…

Are you ready for the elections? If not, here’s our selection of songs to stir you into action to cast that vote for the 17th Lok Sabha elections.   Election 2019 fever is running high and we’ll soon know, on…

Videos of Kinjal Dave’s Gujarati pop-folk songs have gone viral on YouTube. What does the young rising star’s success tell us about the power that folk music holds over the people of Gujarat? What does it signal for folk music…

Indian classical music’s instrumental sphere has been lacking in woman torch bearers, however this generation is changing the fabric. We bring to you stories of these six women instrumentalists who are brewing the winds of change in this traditional space. There are countless…

Team CY ventures out to receive feedback from the creative community of Ahmedabad, with the purpose to gauge the acceptance and efficacy of it’s work as a hyper-local culture media. Has CY really added value in augmenting the demand for…

Zoya Akhtar’s film Gully Boy is set to bring hip-hop to the forefront of the Indian music scene. What does this mean for the Indian hip-hop community? Considering that director Zoya Akhtar’s Gully Boy stars the most recognisable young actors…

Know more about the artists that are performing at this year’s Saptak Festival. Proficiency in Indian Classical Music is as much about devotion to the supreme energy as much it is about perseverance and skill. Saptak Music Festival in Ahmedabad, is one of…

What can you do if you don’t have time to go for a raw, live music show? Check out 20 of the best live sessions recorded in 2018 by Indian musicians and bands like Prateek Kuhad, Easy Wanderlings,  Sheldon D’Silva,…

In 2018, the Indian classical music community lost many great artistes. CY remembers the contributions of some of these stalwarts like Annapurna Devi, Pt. Brij Bhushan Kabra and Pt. D K Katar. Looking back on 2018, we remember a slew…

As concert season rolls around, here’s some more insight on different aspects of Hindustani Classical music for budding music revellers who wants to be a better listener and audience member! The Gharana System Gharana, rooted in the word for ‘house’,…

Maed in India is a unique podcast, an on-demand episode-ized radio show, where Mae Thomas scours the earth for Indian indie musicians and gets them talking about their lives and music. Between interesting banter and stories of life on the…

In the city of Ahmedabad lies a time capsule of Indian classical music. Saptak Archives has a collection of recordings of the greatest artists over the generations, gathered from concerts and personal collections. Read about this treasure trove of music…

Are you someone who doesn’t let Indian classical Music reach your heart, harboured misconceptions for ages? Music, in all its glory and forms, is never unappealing or unmoving. The Raag and Raginis are as enthralling as Rock and Roll, provided you take a free plunge and don’t…

There is a whole universe out there filled with lot of music by independent artists. We browse through tons of playlists to give you a curated list of the best Indian releases in the indie music genre. You’ll love them.…

There’s a ‘brassroots revolution’ in the world of music and it’s called HONK! This gathering of activist street bands believes in “lending music to the politics of the moment” and is reclaiming the streets wherever it goes. You’ve never quite…

Are you planning to spend the day working on your latest painting? Are you setting the scene for the perfect first date? Do you have a party this weekend? In this list, we feature an album for every person and…

So many genres of music go unnoticed in our everyday lives, clouded instead by the popularity of mainstream genres like Bollywood, Rock, Pop and Hip-hop. As if oblivious to these trends, however, I often find my mother singing away to…

A recently released trailer for the highly anticipated film on British rock band Queen has received mixed responses from audiences. Most fans are thrilled, while some are disappointed that the film may have turned a blind eye to Freddie Mercury’s…

Be it Carnatic singers humming to Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You or Sia’s Cheap Thrills, IndianRaga has found a novel way to integrate classical genres with contemporary styles. After stupendous response in the US, RagaLab in Mumbai is set to…

A folk musician, a self-taught mandolin player, a Carnatic violinist and a freestyle drummer. Can you imagine them all together? Now imagine them singing Kabir. You cannot call these guys just a band. They are an experience to behold and…

If you are young and Indian, with a head full of dreams – someone like me, who imagines her life being played out to changing background scores – it is difficult to imagine these scores without that quintessential radio static…

That she is a beautiful Indian classical vocalist, we know. That she is a crowd-puller and a leading one at that, we know too. But, not all of us know what goes in retaining that amazing voice or the focus…

As January approaches, the thought of Saptak Classical Music Festival hits the right note in our heads. The wait is steady, and with passing days, the resolve firmer. January evenings are booked even before the month arrives. And so, when…

India a land of festivity with more than 1599 languages, 3000 castes, and 25,000 subcastes; the country has a variety of people blending with each other through various means. And the celebration of a festival is one of the most…

Her Crraft of Art initiatives have been responsible in creating memories that are not only exclusive but also off the beaten track. The Sufi Festival at Sarkhej Roza, Water Festival at Patan Rani ki vav, Bhadra Festival at Teen Darwaza,…

There are very few classical musicians who have the conviction she has, of rendering a pure classical piece as systematically as one involving fusion. Sitarist Amita Dalal believes music should stir the mind as much as it must soothe the…

To say that the Indian band Maati Baani is pioneering the new music scene would not be an over-statement. The spirited couple that is Nirali and Kartik, who hail from Ahmedabad, recently came into the limelight as their cover for…

At a time when children were busy chasing either playgrounds or PlayStation, this girl was playing ‘music-music’. She was pursuing melodies and immersing herself in riyaaz. Morning, evening and night. But, when I ask Aishwarya Majmudar, 22, her age when…

Music rekindles harmony, beauty and stacks of emotions in a living form. It not only affects humans but even animals and trees. The musical revolution started from jukebox to walkman, leading to iPods and its Youtube today.  Youtube revolutionized common platform…

Long gone are those days, when folk music was just a part of the traditional sects. We are witnessing an increasing number of Indie artists collaborating with Folk musicians and successfully weaving the ethnic sounds with their experimental renditions.  In…

Before we begin our talk on music, composing and all that goes into making tunes sense-clinging, Parth and I first listen to Mangamtu in the car’s stereo. I have told him it is one of those first Gujarati songs that…

“Hurrian Hymn No.6” is the oldest known written music piece, discovered so far. This origin of this piece dates back to 3400 years back in Bronze Age. It was engraved by Syrians on a clay slab. Even the origins of…

We have seen these two artistes rock the stage and dance into people’s hearts. Time and again, one after another. Individually they have livened up the stage, one with her dances, the other with her songs. Together, danseuse Sanjukta Sinha,…

It’s not every day that you come across someone who unhesitatingly admits he’s obese, that he doesn’t have a fancy crop, that he isn’t your typically smart or handsome rockstar. But, is a head turner still. Singer Arvind Vegda manages…

What do we need to do to serve our purpose in this life? Relinquish our desires for sustenance? Lose ourselves in the daily clichés of what we know as the rat race? It might not be this grim; because with…