The following article was written by The Smoking Jackets:

I’ve always looked at India as a bit of a musician Mecca. Though that could just be my personal obsession with George Harrison and desire to be a Beatnik in the 60’s. At any rate, I’d been wanting to get myself to India for a while and finally did when I went to study there for a few months this last spring. While I was based in New Delhi, living with a family and attending classes, I traveled all around the North with other like-minded college students. Everyone, while not all musicians, was an artist of some sort and had come to India seeking to soak up the vibes and get into the grit and fast-paced life of the country.

Lots of musicians I deeply admire have gone to India to get into the ethereal something the place has to offer. The Beatles wrote the White Album in Rishikesh. Mick Jagger has visited numerous times to study transcendental meditation, support the construction of schools, and even invested in becoming a patron of a folk Festival in India. Many other Western musicians have become entranced with Indian classical music and with it’s many similar characteristics to Western rock and roll it should come as no surprise.

Both styles of music have heavy elements of improvisation. Also, both put high value on musicianship and players of great prowess. An Indian raga allows a sitar or tabla player ample space to showcase their technical ability and artistic sensitivity, just like an epic, sweeping guitar or drum solo.

So I wanted to travel and follow the footsteps of George Harrison and other greats and see what I could learn. In my short time there, I took lessons in sitar and tabla and did extensive independent study of Indian music theory, composition, and vocal techniques. I recorded a three song mini-EP as a culmination of my study. In a series of posts, I’ll detail exactly what I saw, heard, and learned in my travels. Stay tuned.