SHILLONG, Nov 1: Shillong-based folk-fusion troupe, Summersalt, is set to tour three countries in Europe —Germany, Denmark and Switzerland — to share the cultural intricacies of Meghalaya and India’s North East with the world through music.
The band will arrive in Germany on November 4 and will be the key participants from India at the India Week Hamburg 2021.
The band’s tour calendar will cover seven venues in the three countries and will be aiming at interfacing with the European crowd including the Indian diaspora settled in Europe.
The tour is curated by a Copenhagen-based Zamans East India Travel Odyssey (ZEITO) in collaboration with the Indian Consul General Office, Hamburg and Consul General, John Ruolngul. “The COVID situation has made it cumbersometo process travel details, but for the sake of the opportunity of sharing Meghalaya’s ethnic identity with Europe, we are giving our 110 per cent to the curating of the content. Thanks to all the key stakeholders for understanding the indigenous intention behind this tour”, says Kit Shangpliang, Managing Member of Summersalt.
The group’s repertoire is a gambit of cultural inclusion in its own, ranging from the influence of Khasi, Pnar, Garo, Manipuri, Assamese, Sikkimese and other cultural traits of the region.
Working out of Shillong, Summersalt is essentially a folk-fusion band whose energy builds on the indigenous music, sitting restless on the laps of the Khasi hills in Meghalaya. Summersalt is known to have crisscrossed genres. The songs (both in Khasi, English and other languages) contain wit and humour that is part and parcel of the indigenous communities.
The band was part of a Bollywood collaboration working with the industry’s best including Javed Akhtar, Usha Uthup, Farhan Akhtar, Shankar Mahadevan, and Loy Mendonsa Ehsaan Noorani, in the production of the musical drama Rock On 2 released worldwide in November 2016.