For Kapil Chetri, the quest for salvation ended early on with the arrival of the old delta blues melodies. “Nothing satisfies my soul like blues music does,” says the self-taught musician who will perform on September 23 at Speakeasy, Gurgaon.
Few originals and renditions are included in the line-up. The latter includes Delta Streaming, Fifteen Years and Poor Boy Long Way from Home and Bukka Whites Jitterbug Swing. After a stint with a blues band called Big Bang Blues, Chetri tested the waters as a solo musician. Subsequently, he became a part of the band Blu.
Chetri, who uses acoustic guitars and the slide in his sets, often cites Robert Johnson, Keb Mo, Mississippi John Hurt and country blues singer Rory Block as towering influences. Inspired by the aesthetics of African music values, he believes the genre’s greatest victory is emancipation for the culturally dislocated Africans.
Earlier this year, his band won a band hunt contest. That was followed by two gigs at the Mahindra Blues festival in Mumbai. “As a purist, I believe that blues music has a niche audience and doesn’t boast of being a crowd-puller,” says the artiste who teaches at Shiv Nadar School in Gurgaon during the day and performs at Speakeasy and the Piano Jazz Club at night.
With right sentiments and rhythm, his blues acts have resurrected forgotten tunes. He and his team is
now working on getting an EP out, hopefully, this year. September 23 at 9 pm, at Speakeasy, Gurgaon.