When the hills sing: Kasauli Rhythm & Blues fest brings music and its lovers to...

The hills are truly alive with the sound of music. With some funk and blues, hardcore rock and roll, little Bollywood masti and some Indie pop nostalgia, the sixth edition of the Kasauli Rhythm & and Blues Festival kickstarted here amid music lovers and do-gooders.

The Genesis Foundation has once again put together a musical extravaganza to raise funds to ‘save little hearts’.

With the sun shining bright, the music festival began with a sublime performance by Late Too Soon - Guwahati, Delhi and Mumbai.

In pictures | At the Kasauli music fest

“The festival is an extremely personal experience for me as I have closely interacted with the organisers. This is our first time playing in Kasauli. The cause is also close to us. Music should lead the way in driving conversations,” said Sanjit Phooken, lead vocalist of the band.

The music festival has risen in stature as one of the major destinations for not only upcoming bands but also genuinely talented musicians. The fest has created a huge platform for a parallel stream that doesn’t want to identify with mainstream music.

“Globally it’s the same. Parallel music should be this way. But the music scene is much better now,” said Phooken, who is working for Nestle for twelve to thirteen years in their brand communications department.

The next performance was by fusion band Rajeev Raja combine, a band based out of Mumbai. Mixing some western beats with classical Indian sound, the band revved up the atmosphere with their special Kerala boat song.

Their main man and flautist, Rajeev Raja has a background in advertising. But music is like “breath to him”.

“Music for me is personal, so I don’t want to commercialise it. Sound should be original and I want to add value by combining different genres.”

Their music, influenced by Carnatic as well as Hindustani music enthralled the audience.

“I wanted to create a band with all musical influences. So I quit my regular job four years back and started this band,” said Rajeev.

The evening ended with scintillating performances by bands Naasya and Eka, who enthralled the audience with the latest Bollywood numbers.

But the after party was a nostalgic ride back to the India obsessed with Indie pop. Singer-composer Lesle Lewis created his own kind of magic with some old numbers that brought the audience to their feet.

“I can’t bring back the same magic but I strive to create some original music to suit today’s generation. There’s so much more to music than you actually hear. There’s baggage from the past, but I love the music I’m doing now,” said Lesle Lewis.