Wednesday, February 21, 2018

Krosswindz Bio

Krosswindz is one of the pioneers of the Indian Fusion Rock band scene with albums launched as early as 1993.The sound of Krosswindz is an amalgamation of diverse genres such as Rock Pop, Bengali Folk and modern  eastern and western genres like classical,pop and rock as showcased in their innumerable albums.Krosswindz is known for their versatile set list and dynamic live gigs covering popular genres like Rock and Pop along with Bengali folk,Rabindrasangeet,Shyama Sangeet,Nazrul Geeti and self composed songs also KROSSWINDZ are a  Fusion band as well and are a dynamic western bi-lingual Rock band and perform in English & Bengali .They have been enthralling audiences for the last 24 years playing across the globe to sold out concerts.The band has played every nook and corner of the country including The UK,The Netherlands,friendly neighbors The Royal Kingdom of Bhutan,Vietnam,The Philippines and have toured in the USA in 2007 and 2009 covering nearly every major city in the USA on their very successful concert tours.
From 1990 the year of inception of Krosswindz they have  delved into the great heritage of Indian Folk music like Bhatiyali and Baul and at the same time studied non mainstream music like Jazz and Classical.In search of their roots they found many beautiful traditional Folk songs sung in the paddy fields of West Bengal which were re-recorded by Krosswindz and sung adding their signature world music touch,these songs have garnered a huge response nationally and internationally for Krosswindz with their albums fetching awards and concert tours overseas for the band.Krosswindz has toured in the US in 2007 and 2009 covering nearly every major city in the US on their very successful concert tours.The band is in the process of finalizing dates for concert festival tours abroad for the season of 2018/19 along with promoting their latest RADIO MIRCHI Award 2016 winning full length album KROSSWIDZ Jhora Palok.
Youtube Channel
We are so happy Chandrani lead singer of Krosswindz won the Filmfare Award for Best Playback Singer( Female) song ~ Tomake Bujhina Priyo 🙂 film #ProjapotiBiscuit NOW WATCH THE CEREMONY HERE-https://vimeo.com/258741138
KROSSWINDZ is widely known as a champion for environmental causes and have actively participated and promoted movements for the conservation of the environment and have launched the famous CD KROSSWINDZ ONE WORLD which has gone on to be heard all over the world.Roger Holdsworth of PBS Australia FM Radio has repeatedly played ONE WORLD on his famous radio show in Melbourne.The album was an outpouring of feelings expressed by the band expressing concerns about the great deforestation and other issues linked to it.The album went to number one on the Music World charts and even displaced international stars like Ricky Martin from the number one slot.The issue of environment truly struck a chord with all music lovers and remains a fan favorite.
The latest album is titled "Jhora Palok" and its a bouquet of originals.The sound of the album is Rock Fusion and they have also experimented with Electronica and Drum and Bass.Krosswindz are also honoured to be working with Hungama(Artist Aloud) for the first time and the songs will be available globally via all the Digital download stores as well as conventional stores.Apart from this KROSSWINDZ has also recently launched English language music CD's namely One World,Singles and India Rocks.
 
For live shows Krosswindz perform their own composed  songs as well as popular songs in English of the Classic Rock Idiom like Pink Floyd,U2,The Cranberries,Nirvana,Deep Purple etc and some Classical fusion in our repertoire , and some golden hits from the 60's from the popular western English Rock and Pop songs.
Their main contact person is Vikramjit Banerjee Tuki 91 9830156148

Primarily a Bengali folk-fusion band,focusing on world music
with soulful songs,lyric oriented.Professionally
performing concerts all over india for the last
seventeen years. Krosswindz is the music of Bengal and
india with a blend of folk music traditions from
around the world.The result- a potpouri of sounds
deeply rooted in the soil that touches the heart and
speaks the common language of humankind.
Music Style-
world,folk,ambient environmental fusion
Musical Influences
Padmashree Protima Barua Pandey(Goalpariya-Assamese
Folk Exponent and singer),Rabindranath Tagore,Kishori
Amonkar,Bhupen Hazarika,Purno Das Baul,Shubha
Mudgal,Abida Parveen,Runa Laila,SD Burman,Abbasuddin
Ahmed,Lalon fokir,John Mc Laughlin,
Santana,Eric Johnson,Jimmi Hendrix,Pink Floyd,The
Beatles.Miles Davis.
Similar Artists-
Padmashree Protima Barua Pandey,Runa Laila,Shubha
Mudgal,Yossou n Dour,Sting,Cranberries,Joni Mitchell
Artist History
band was formed in 1990,has toured all over the world playing every major City in USA and Southeast Asia and the obviously
sub-continent playing at all major college festivals
and stadium concerts and clubs and has officially
released 12 albums.
Three of the most famous Bangla songs of Krosswindz are
"Prithibita Naki Choto Hote hote" written by Gautam
Chatterjee performed by Krosswindz in the album Abar
Bocchor Kuri porey and "Jhiko Jhiko"-from the album
Jhiko Jhiko Krosswindz.and Ghore pherar gaan Mohiner ghoraguli.
Krosswindz is renowned for the musical dexterity and
virtuoso skill of legendary guitar player Vikramjit
Banerjee(tuki)and the unique and mellifluous vocals
and gayaki of Chandrani. The band is busy perfoming
all over the globe along with recording new material
for their forthcoming album.
KROSSWINDZ is an accredited and empanneled band with
the ICCR(INDIAN COUNCIL FOR CULTURAL RELATIONS NEW
DELHI)and are officially enlisted as a premier band of
INDIA and they call us when they need us to represent
INDIA in festivals abroad.
The band has performed and collaborated with
internationally reputed names like HERBIE
HANCOCK(USA),SKY HIGH(SWEDEN),RAG FOUNDATION(ENGLAND
WALES),TIZIAN JOST(GERMANY),PANDIT RAMESH
MISHRA(INDIAN SARENGI PLAYER OF INTERNATIONAL
REPUTE),SANJAY MISHRA(CLASSICAL GUITARIST USA),THE
JAZZ AMBASSADORS(USA),DAVID DYKSTRA(THE BAUTISA BAND
SAN-FRANSISCO).
The album TRIBUTE TO ERIC JOHNSON USA(GRAMMY winning
guitarist from Austin Texas)features the dazzling
guitar work by Tuki(KROSSWINDZ) on the track SPACE
GUITAR.Available in USA and at Val Serrie productions
site.
The album THE MUSIC OF THE GLOBE features two tracks
by KROSSWINDZ namely ONE WORLD and MAHUT BONDHU which
was re-released in USA by independant Washington based
label JOE ANTHONY PRODUCTIONS,this album has gone on
to become a hot seller from amazon , itunes and other
online merchants apart from being popular at
conventional music stores like TOWER.
Krosswindz has been a pioneer in the band movement in
West Bengal and the first bengali
project/collaboration with GAUTAM CHATTERJEE(MONI
MAMA)of MOHINER GHORAGULI yielded the anthemic hit
Prithibita Naki Choto Hote Hote.Released in 1994 the
album AABAR BOCHOR KURI POREY has become a staple
amongst music lovers.
The collaboration happened when Gautam suggested
KROSSWINDZ record and perform one track he had written
and set tune to in 1993 and eventually the studio
sessions yeilded the astonishing new bengali side of
KROSSWINDZ.This song has now been remade by Bollywood
in the movie GANGSTER and a hindi version is doing the
rounds on all music channels.
Krosswindz has evolved over the early years from being
a  rock band to a world/fusion band and has gained
repute all over the world for its pathbreaking new
sound and fresh approach to music.In the early years
the band created a tremendous fan following of loyal
fans who followed the band and are still avid
listeners/audiences, the reputation of the band as
being a stupendous live act spread and gigs picked up
by the mid nineties and nowadays on an average the
band has ten to twelve shows a month.
The music of krosswindz has been featured in numerous
documentary films and commercials.Recently the
international multi-award winning film THE WAY BACK
HOME by film maker SUPRIYO SEN featured the vocals of
CHANDRANI(KROSSWINDZ) in the song Ghore Pherar Gaan
(written by Gautam Chatterjee from the album Khyapar
Gaan) prominently as the Title track and background
score for the film.
The music of KROSSWINDZ is being aired by all the
major FM stations in CALCUTTA namely RADIO MIRCHI,RED
FM,AAMAR FM and ALL INDIA RADIO.In AUSTRALIA pbs FM in
MELBOURNE is playing the song JHIKO JHIKO by
KROSSWINDZ on their show GLOBAL VILLAGE hosted by
ROGER HOLDSWORTH.
KROSSWINDZ has been on many major national and
international TV shows and reputed production houses
like the BBC and MTV have covered KROSSWINDZ on
innumerable occassions.
Krosswindz has acted for a feature part in the
telefilm called "Aamra Ebong" by noted Calcutta
actor/director Parambrata Chatterjee  where even the
soundtrack of the film has songs from the album
-MISIKI MISIKI(FOLK-FUSION)KROSSWINDZ.The song "Morihe
Shyam" from this album is the title song of this
tele-film.
The band also appears regularly on game shows and
interviews on popular Indian TV channels like zee
bangla(hau mau khau),Tara Muzik-Take a break and
Bandemonium,Sangeet Bangla(metro music and Shudhu
Gaane Shudhu Shongeete)etc.Channel S in the UK has
telecast a documentary featuring KROSSWINDZ.GAAN BEDHE
DOLBAJEE on CTVN PLUS channel.
KROSSWINDZ has one of the highest record sales in the
regional market and has had superhit albums like ONE
WORLD,JHIKO JHIKO and MISIKI MISIKI selling lakhs of
units.Presently Krosswindz is signed to Indian label
SAGARIKA MUSIC.
KROSSWINDZ has been on the charts at broadjam.com
numerous times and a huge number of people have
downloaded the band's music from free sites like
mp3.com
ONE WORLD has entered the Earth Top 10 at Broadjam!
ONE WORLD has entered the Production - Mid Tempo Top
10 at Broadjam!
ONE WORLD has entered the Pop Top 10 at Broadjam!
ONE WORLD has entered the Broadjam #1 Songs Top 10 at
Broadjam!
ONE WORLD has entered the Production - Female Vocals
Top 10 at
Broadjam!
Krosswindz's rendition of the song TANGRA TOBU KATON
JAYE from
the album JHIKO JHIKO has been nominated by an
AMERICAN company called JPF(CD BABY) in the BEST FOLK
SONG category of their music awards
http://www.jpfolks.com/MusicAwards/20



















press clippings are at the following link-


Krosswindz Bengali Songs-
                     https://youtu.be/Je2EifT0kXg



                     Krosswindz English Songs-

                 https://youtu.be/zPzi-dkPwgE







Assamese songs-


CHANDRANI - VOCALS




The mellifluous voice of Chandrani Banerjee has adorned many albums and won her many admirers from around the world. There's something incredibly endearing about Chandrani's songs a strange combination of vulnerability and unassuming melodies that work very well together.A Grassroot Grammy Nomminnee -nominated for Best Song and Best Album in Nashville TN(USA).Chandrani was awarded LBF Visionary award of Excellence  2009. Chandrani has established herself as a pioneer in the Indian music scenario as the first Indian female Singer Songwriter to make it to the charts. Fluent in a vast array of genres Chandrani has covered Jazz, Folk, Blues, Country, Classic Rock, to ethnic Bengali folk and contemporary Indian music. Maintaining a fine balance between her
Western music knowledge and Ethnic music experiments she is forgoing ahead in search of new horizons.



VIKRAMJIT BANERJEE (TUKI) - GUITAR AND PRODUCTION



If there ever was a person totally addicted and immensely passionate about his work then it would be none other than Tuki. His life has been a living example of dedication, honesty and integrity to his art form that is music. Inspired flights of melodic guitar solos to delicately arrpegiated chords or wildly screaming harmonics are all bread and butter for him. A total master of his instrument, playing since the tender age of four, he has studied nearly all forms of music and is currently mastering the DOTARA an Indian fretless 4 stringed instrument. Composing songs like "Silences" and "Too Tired To Talk" being examples of the poet hidden within him. There are innumerable songs within him just bursting out to be recorded and shared with the world. He spends most of his time in his own home studio where he
experiments and puts down his ideas as finished compositions. Equally adept at computer music sequencing he is a clever programmer and often programs pieces of music to form the foundation for experiments on new compositions. Like a star dancing on the horizon, just to light up that spark in your mind and open the gates of that dam that lets out inspiration that is TUKI.






RATANJIT  - KEYBOARDS



Ratanjit  has been passionately devoted to music since childhood. From an early age he studied all forms of music with attention to every detail of nuances and tonal coloration of each genre. He is a texture man and has added a beautiful color and depth to the Krosswindz sound with his subtle touches and inspired playing. Gifted with a very sharp ear he can change styles at the drop of a coin and each show is a great eclectic journey. You never know where each jam is going to go. 

Dominic - BASS  from ripon streeti is a rock solid bassist who is equally versatile as a six string Bassist

TUSHAR - DRUMS the youngest member and a very sensitive and dynamic musician,the backbone of the band


press clippings are at the following link-

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjuAfxz5
























Do
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Monday, June 10, 2013

Interview-A small Chit chat with the Trial Room boys,do check it people

A small Chit chat with the Trial Room boys,do check it people :)



A small Chit chat with our all time favorite Vikramjit Banerjee ( Tuki Da)
Trialroom :-We all know you are performing for POV , with the guitarist of Guns and Roses- Ron Bumblefoot Thal this 15th at Nazrul Mancha , can you share your experience when you came to know about this ?
Vikramjit tuki banerjee :- My reaction was of disbelief that someone of this stature will be touring in Kolkata,i think he is a living legend and i really admire his guitar playing .
Trialroom :- Is Guitar your life ? Or you play it for passion ?
Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-Guitar is one among many passions but it definitely is the number one passion, music is my life though i enjoy other facets of the music biz like managing my band, doing my own solo projects and latest being my Movie soundtrack projects also i plan to write a book someday and maybe publish/exhibit some of my drawings sketches etc
Trialroom :- Some role models who influence you the most and why ?
Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-Biggest role model is obviously Eric Johnson have a blog about it here- http://tukiguitarman.blogspot.in/2010/03/2009-what-made-it-special-usa.html
Trialroom :- What were the thing you initially did when you were new in the industry to start your career ? Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-i would play everywhere and i mean really everywhere i even played for a wedding inside a slum for rupees 50 !!! and i had a lot of music related hobbies-i love collecting vinyl records(gramaphone lp's) and i would scour free school street for them and when i listen to them nowadays i realize how much i learned from them coz it is a very deep personal experience unlike listening to an mp3 or a youtube video,one can really get in very deep and personal with the music and it almost feels like the artist is in the room, also i would buy guitar player magazines and read interviews of all the star musicians and take their tips that really helped me a lot. But the best thing was going to watch international and outstation bands touring at OAT now called nazrul manch, then it used to be an open air theatre just wonderful saw many great gigs there and learnt loads by watching the musicians...
Trialroom :- Say something about the Festival , organized by E365 media solutions ?
Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-Kinjal and gang are like an extended family to me and Krosswindz i know him from when he was absolutely new to the scene and remember doing small gigs and helping him out,it really makes me proud to see the strides he has taken in his career and i wish him and his team all the very best, I think they are the most dynamic event outfit in town...
 Trialroom :- Is it a dream to be part of Point Of View ( POV ) , or it was quite expected for you ?
Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-Chiradeep Lahiri the drummer of POV is actually a childhood friend of mine, i know him since 1989,we had a band together called Chlorophyll Dreams and later on he joined as the drummer for KROSSWINDZ when our original Drummer Clayton moved to USA. So its like you know we have been in touch over the years and he had this thing happening and it was a natural choice for him and POV to ask me and I am obliged to be on board coz he is a friend first and i do like his band they are great and the icing on the cake is Ron joining in
Trialroom :- What would you like to say to the people out here in kolkata , a message for The Festival ? Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-My message to the people of Kolkata is you better look out coz thunder never strikes the same place twice and its going to be thunder on 15th and its going to be very special so better not miss out, we gun slingers are going to be going full guns blazing so better watch out ,on a more serious note i would request all music enthusiasts to support this event so it paves the way for more international acts to visit, we should send out a positive signal to everyone watching that KOL is a big rock n roll venue and you can count on us for being the real mecca of music..
Trialroom :- Somelines for Trialroom !! Vikramjit tuki banerjee :-I wish everyone at Trialroom all the very best i hope this leads to bigger things for you and hopefully your publishing will get to the hardcopy stage sooner than later, until then keep it flowing and stay inspired ...
Youtube Channel

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Thursday, June 6, 2013

some online sites to book KROSSWINDZ

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Saturday, March 3, 2012



The KROSSWINDZ CD PHIRE DEKHA won Album of the year at the Mirchi Music Awards tonight 4th Feb 2012 Calcutta 2012.Thanks to all our friends, fans and well wishers around the globe :)

You can buy our album here-

http://www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Krosswindz

you can hear previews of it at-

http://music.ovi.com/in/en/pc/Product/Krosswindz/Phire-Dekha/20036253

Among other news KROSSWINDZ is also proud to be a part of INDIA ROCKS a compilation CD featuring the best bands of India-check it out here-

http://music.ovi.com/in/en/pc/Product/Various-Artists/India-Rocks-2/20936192


Phire Dekha is now available for purchase at FLIPKART DOT COM,you can buy it via their online digital store flyte,it is an Indian site so you have no worries buying it.
Here is the link to buy it-http://www.flipkart.com/phire-dekha-krosswindz/p/itmd5bunfhzynpap?pid=DGAD5BUHBKPY2WQA


If you want the physical CD go to-
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/krosswindz5


Love

Tuki
Youtube Channel

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Monday, July 4, 2011

Win one of the greatest microphones ever

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

This is a great opportunity to own a classic microphone and everyone should have a go at it in my honest opinion !!!
To qualify to win the R-121 Ribbon Mic, get connected to Royer Labs via Facebook, Twitter, or email, so you'll be among the first to learn of new Royer microphones, special deals, and studio tips for getting the most out of your ribbon mics

I am entering myself and i wish you all the very best :)
Cheers
Tuki
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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

[Krosswindz]Song Cat and Schecter



Hello again !!
The song “Refrain” by KROSSWINDZ has been playing 4 days in a row at the Song Cat site- and we are the "winners of the past 4 throwdowns" thank you everyone for voting http://song.cat/

In other news we are going international again-
Yours truly Vikramjit Tuki Banerjee has been appointed as a brand ambassador and endorsee for world class USA based Guitar manufacturer Schecter Guitars.I am presently using the brilliantly versatile Damien Elite FR(Super strat) and awaiting the arrival of a Schecter PT Fastback(Tele) in 3color sunburst !!!

http://www.schecterguitars.com/International/Artist/171/Vikramjit-Tuki-Banerjee.aspx

Stay tuned,
Cheers
Tuki
a little video of the Schecter in live action by yours truly-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXzW6PlWUS0

Youtube Channel

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Tuesday, March 9, 2010

2009 what made it special-USA Krosswindz tour


Krosswindz 2009 USA tour
2009 has probably been the most exciting and memorable year in my musical career.The Guitar Gurus Festival in Bangalore being one of the high points and then the JPF(Grassroot Grammy nominations)and the subsequent offer to play at B B King’s pub in Nashville Tennessee.But the icing on the cake definitely was the 42 day USA Tour that Krosswindz went for in September and October of 2009.
The Grassroot Grammys organized by the Just Plain Folks is a community of 50,000 odd songwriters,musicians and publishers and a cross-section of members from the music industry.They nominated Jajabor Pokkhi an original written by Chandrani and produced by yours truly from the Krosswindz album Misiki Misiki in the Best Indian Song category and the Krosswindz album Misiki Misiki was nominated in the Best Indian Album category.A concert was set for August 28th at B B Kings Pub in Nashville TN and Krosswindz was invited to perform at the awards ceremony at the pub and at the main event at the Wild Horse Saloon Concert Hall in Nashville TN.Alas we could not get a sponser to get us airfare to fly to Nashville from Kolkata and we had to let it pass.
As we were moping about missing out on the 2 gigs in the US an email popped into my inbox enquiring if Krosswindz would be interested in performing a string of shows in the US for the Durga and Kali Pujas.One thing led to another and i was jumping for joy when i learnt that one of the gigs was scheduled to be in Dallas Texas as i had been waiting to visit Texas and Austin City-the Live Music Capital of the world for a long time and I knew Dallas was pretty close in distance to Austin City and commutable from Dallas.

Our Youtube Channel

As things progressed the final itinerary started looking really interesting with eleven gigs spread over nine cities-Sacramento,Dallas Fort Worth,Austin City,Boston,Wilmington Delaware,San Diego,Tampa Florida,San Fransisco and New York.
As the day for departure grew close i thought to myself about how i had evolved as a musician,composer and human being over time and i realized that there was one person who stood out from all the influences that shaped me over the years and that was guitar legend Eric Johnson and it just so happens that he lives in Austin City Texas.I did a quick web search of all the live venues in Austin to see if any of the venues featured World Music and had a theme that would go with the music that Krosswindz plays and i found there was this one pub called COPA.I sent them an email asking them if they would be interested in having Krosswindz perform and i got an email immediately from them saying that they were very interested.I sent them a list of probable show dates and we settled for 24th of September.Now i had the perfect excuse to meet Eric Johnson in person as i would be in his home town and maybe he would even come to hear me play.
Before leaving for the US I sent an email to Mr Park Street(best friend and associate of Eric)that i would be in Austin City on 24th September and would like to meet Eric.He replied that he would try his best to get him to the venue.We reached Sacramento our first city in the tour on 17th September and rested before playing 2 consecutive gigs for the Bengali Association there.We headed for Dallas Texas on 22nd September.On landing we were treated to the great southern hospitality that Texas is so famous for and now the Bengalis have also picked this tradition up.They opened up their big mansion like houses for us and let us live as we liked and generally play the fool all over their property.Once we settled into our rooms in Dallas Fort Worth i called up Park to confirm if he had got any response from Eric,he said that Eric was in town and if wasn’t very busy he might meet me and then he asked if we had all our musical instruments with us.I told him we were travelling light and therefore we had no guitar amplifiers and no drums.He said he would try to borrow some equipment for to use at the gig in Austin.
We took the famous Greyhound bus from Dallas to Austin City on 24th September morning, it was a great experience with a motley bunch of characters on the bus-Hispanic, African American and Caucasian obviously all chattering in their native tongue in the tapestry of the early morning thrush. The bus ride was a healthy five hours and on reaching Austin we took two GPS equipped cabs to COPA Bar and Grill on 6th Avenue where we were greeted by Manuel the manager who served us piping hot freshly cooked Mexican food. Afterwards we headed upstairs to the Live Venue. The COPA live performance area is one of the most beautiful and ornately decorated spaces I have ever seen in the music business. The mermaid wall installation art piece was a real heart stopper along with the other installation art pieces suggestive of primitive sea life and European Mysticism.
As we waited for the sound engineer to arrive i got a call on my phone from Park that he was waiting outside with some equipment for us to use. He walked in and my jaw dropped to the floor-he was standing with Eric Johnson’s very own vintage Fender Twin Reverb Guitar amplifier and Eric’s drummer Billy Maddox had sent us his top of the line Ludwig drum kit with Zildjian K seies cymbals.As i plugged my guitar into the amplifier i was greeted by tone heaven-sparkling sounds emanated from Eric’s guitar amp and Billy’s drum kit were thunderous with a crisp crack from the custom made snare drum not forgetting the beautiful textures of the Zildjian cymbals.We were in bliss and i couldn’t believe my luck.
We finished soundcheck and decided to take a stroll.The band were awed to find bands performing already at all the neighbouring pubs and is was only 6pm.By the time we got on stage to start the gig it was 10.30 pm early by Austin standards. An eager crowd had gathered and were waiting for us to get started. I looked around but i could not spot Eric Johnson anywhere, I asked Park and he said that Eric wasn’t feeling well and might not come to meet me,my heart sank and i decided to start the gig.We started with a guitar instrumental based on Raag Lalit titled Emotions and as i was about to end the tune i saw Eric Johnson walk into the pub.i had butterflies in my stomach and i had to tell myself to get a grip on myself.We played an eclectic set of Jazz,Rock,Fusion,World Music and even some electronic fused with guitar jams.The crowd really loved the Fusion pieces and were intrigued by the Eastern melodies and the different rhythmic variations.
We took a break after an hour of playing and i headed for Eric Johnson’s table where he was sitting with Park and my Facebook friend Darrin also the web master for EJ’s web site.He got up to shake my hand and as i shook his hand and lookind in his eye i had all these emotions come over me like a lifetime of unsaid thank you’s and the joy i felt knew no bounds.We sat and talked for a long time and he turned out to be exactly the same sweet humble and kind person that i always imagined him to be.We discussed music,touring,guitar gadgets,Zakir Hussain and Ustad Allarakha Khan,Gharanas,and even the possibility of doing a concert tour together here in India.I told him how i taught guitar to my group of loyal pupils and called it the Eric Johnson Gharana and he had a good laugh!He told me he had food poisoning but he still had to come to meet me as i am very special to him.He also said that he really liked my guitar playing and that he wanted to give me a little gift.I told him that i was going to be off on a tour of 9 cities after the gig and the only place where i would be for a substantial amount of time would be in San Fransisco.So he took the address of the San Fransisco show organizer from me and said that he would courier the gift to that address.
After a nice lengthy conversation that lasted a good 45 mins we went back on stage for our 2nd set.Eric left in the penultimate song and i waved him goodbye from stage.
From Austin we went to Dallas Fort Worth ,Boston,Delaware,San Diego,Tampa Florida,San Fransisco and finally New York.
In San Fransisco as we landed the chief organizer came to me saying an enormous carboard box had come by courier and he would bring it to me in my hotel room.When he handed the humugous box to me i did not know what to expect,on opening it my eyes popped out for sitting inside was Eric Johnson’s very own personal Tube Overdrive Pedal.This Gold plated electronic processor has been custom built by B K Butler Of Chandler Tube Works & Industries and has Boutique features like a Bias Knob ,high,low,gain and level all powered by a 12 AX7 Vacuum Tube.I was so stunned that i kept it on my lap for the entire day just mesmerized and awed at the kindness and humility of the man-Eric Johnson.
This tour will remain etched in my mind forever not because i saw three outstanding bands in one night in New York or because the Sunny beaches of San Diego were pristine or because i rode the Amtrack to the Capes of Delaware but because i got to fulfil my childhood dream of meeting my unseen mentor,friend,philosopher and guide-ERIC JOHNSON!
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