The 1960s were big for folk music, and the Kingston Trio led the way. They were the ones who started it all. The music was fresh and alive. College kids loved it and their parents did, too.
Growing up, we had folk records.
Harout Pamboukjian is one of the biggest Armenian folk singers in the world. In the '70s, he was making these records that were really Zeppelin-influenced.
What I'm doing is basically the same as Bob Dylan did with folk songs and Woody Guthrie songs, the same as folk music's always done. I'm not going to sing about ploughing, but I'll write a song that sounds like it should be about ploughing.
There is a black folk music audience. They're just very small.
When I got to NYU, I had applied based on playing folk music, and they said, 'You're the banjo girl,' so I thought, 'OK, I'm the banjo girl.'
I liked the American folk style of Woody Guthrie.
Folk rock was my real roots. I did a few gigs as a folk artist, in the style of Fairport Convention.
The Marathi film 'Natrang' has amazing songs. I also like and have sufi and folk music.
With 'Mirzya,' we went deep into folk music. The film, unfortunately, did not do well because it was not marketed well. But we got freedom to do the music the way we want.
But the reality is that we are a folk band.
I was never really a bone fide member of the folk scene.
I'm an old-fashioned folk singer. I stand in front of an audience with a guitar and a barstool.
If you're in a garage band, it's about being better than the band in the next-door garage. But in the folk tradition, it's more a vibe of sharing.
