Video Releases
We are so glad to share the film of entire set of Grassy Strings at Bluegrass in la Roche, 2023. Thanks to Christopher Howard Williams and the entire festival team for filming and sharing this with us.
Grassy Strings is so honored to get the chance to present some Bengali songs in front of hundreds of European and American listeners in the international stage of Bluegrass in La Roche, France and the band is very glad for the way the audience enjoyed the performance. Grassy strings can't wait to reach out to as many listeners around the world as they can and play for them,
at Kathmandu Bluegrass Fest
One of the board of directors of IBMA, Mr. Ben Wright introduced the band for the first time to the international audience in France at Bluegrass in La Roche.
A Swallow Song was one from our set at Bluegrass in La Roche, 2023. This is a traditional Jewish song called Los Bibilicos and translated by Richard Fariña. It was so great performing that for the audience their who enjoyed this song a lot.
'Make a Little Love' is one of the originals of the band. The initial viewpoint of writing a song with such lyrics that urges someone to fall in love is just to celebrate the springtime where the nature refurbishes itself with the ecstatic colors and sets the backdrop for the love to be completed. In India during the Spring one of the biggest festivals takes place which is called 'Holi'- the festival of colors, that celebrates the eternal love. this song is written on such day in 2020 and it took just 15 minutes to do the whole arrangement.
The old time fiddle tune which is getting popular in the bluegrass music culture in the recent times day by day is 'Old Grimes'. It was a fun recording session with another bluegrass guitar picker from India Mr. Koustav Dey. Dey is one of the prominent Jazz musicians and a humble music teacher from the Kolkata music scene. 'Old Grimes' is the first collaboration jam video between Grassy Strings and Koustav Dey.
An improvised fiddle tune jam on the popular East Tennessee Blues. This is the second fiddle tune jam in colaboration with Mr. Koustav Dey, which is published for the folks to listen. One good attraction of this music video to us is that giant Miles Davis photo on the wall.
'Off to Sea Once More' is a particular form of traditional folk songs of Europe known as Sea Shanty. Shanties were chanted essentially by the maritime labours who used to work on the British and other European ships. This song is more than three hundred years old. It tells the story of a young sailor who once lands in Liverpool, gets drunk and losses all his essentials and hard-earned money to a whore. The young sailor then eventually vows to not to work at sea again. The song urges sailors to avoid strong drink and the hard lifestyle that comes with it, and to "get married instead".
Playing Bluegrass in the hills of Himalaya always makes us feel that we are playing mountain music. No matter how far we are from the the Bluegrass state or from the Bluegrass hills it gives us the same touch so exquisitely every time and that helps us make the believe more strongly that Bluegrass can grow anywhere. Here is a waltz for you from the Indian mountains.
When Virginia based award winning, multi instrumentalist musician and music teacher Tara Linhardt paid a visit to our place in Kolkata to know the story of Grassy Strings, we had a chance to pick a few Bluegrass standards and fiddle tunes together.
Grassy Strings met with the beautiful mandolinist Patrick Fitzimons who is also the founder of the traveling American Bluegrass band called 'The Bluegrass Journeymen' . While hanging out over some songs in the hotel room we have recorded that favorite lonesome bluegrass standard 'I Wonder Where You are Tonight' in 2020.
Fiddle tune jam in the mountains again...
Big Bluegrass jam in Kolkata! Tara Linhardt met Grassy Strings and Koustav Dey.