Acoustic jam sessions bring joy to city rockers

 In what can be considered to be good news for the local rock music circuit of Guwahati, popular music forum Indian Music Mug and ND’s Kitchen have started periodic jam sessions in the city. These jam sessions have witnessed highly enthusiastic participation by the local musicians and also music lovers who come to watch the musicians and bands perform.

Shantanu Baruah with Asiqur Rahman

The first session was held on December 9 last year, which saw hundreds of people comprising mostly of youngsters attending the same. In the first session, popular Assamese rock band Swadhyay headlined the evening. The band, led by Gourav Mama Saikia, has within a very short time managed to carve a niche for themselves, primarily on account of their fiery lyrics and subtle handling of the guitars. Inspired by radical musicians like Bob Dylan, the songs are a beautiful blend of fiery youth angst and poetic wordplay. The band had last year performed in the second edition of the Guwahati International Music Festival.

The other bands which performed on the first session included alternative rock band Magnum Opus, Virgin Creep and Incendiary.

The second jam session was held on the merry time of Christmas and the evening featured virtuoso guitarist Shantanu Baruah. Shantanu, who has established a mark for himself in both the independent industry as well as Bollywood, performed with Ashiqur Rahma. The other featured bands included Riffage and Nasreen Sultana, Burn Pacific and Benjamin Liana.

Talking about the decision to start the sessions, Indian Music Mug published and editor-in-chief Shaun Klet said, “Indian Music Mug is committed to promoting Northeast musicians on an international platform. We have been highlighting various issues of the northeastern music industry in rock forums across the entire country as well as even outside. I feel that these acoustic jam sessions will help our bands interact with one another and also help elevate the gig scene of the city.”

Guwahati has a number of musicians and bands. However the lack of proper gigs and performing spaces have been a deterrant for the emergence of quality bands and musicians from the city. Most of the artistes have to content themselves with just the odd gig in pubs or bars. The initiative to promote rock music in a healthy, clean environment like ND’s Kitchen is thus indeed welcome.

Talking about the session, ND Kitchen’s proprietor Nabajyoti Kalita said, “Most people associate rock with a lot of violence and anti-social activities. Since most of our clientele comprises mostly of youngsters, we felt that we can help promote the rock musicians of the city and also give them a chance to interact and perform in a healthy atmosphere.”