Austin-based world music octet Atash will make its long-awaited return to the state of California after a decade. The return is significant, as California, not Texas, was really the place where this world music ensemble forged its identity, touring up and down the West Coast while taking classes at the Ali Akbar College of Music in 2001, and returning to the state frequently, ending in a memorable performance at the Skirball Cultural Center in the summer of 2004 . Stops on the tour to include Ashkenaz in Berkeley (September 26), the Mint in Los Angeles (September 28), and the Multicultural Center at the University of Santa Barbara (September 29).
After several years operating moderately successfully under the name The Gypsies in Austin, the five founding members of Atash decided to break with beginnings with a new identity, a new name, a new sound, a new style of music — and new surroundings. In the summer of 2001, having played only one low profile concert under the name “Atash” (Farsi for “fire”) in their hometown, they purchased a used, dark grey 15-passenger van — which they called Ganesh, after the Hindu god of new beginnings, the remover of obstacles — and, armed with the Los Angeles phone book and the relatively new technology of cellphones, they hit the road to California, cold-calling to book any gig they could get, in what came to be known as the Fear No Venue Tour.
Starting off in coffee shops and sports bars, Atash’s sound captured people’s attention, and every gig landed them another, and another, and their popularity grew. At the same time, they enrolled in classes at the Ali Akbar College in San Rafael, having the opportunity to sit at the feet of one of the greatest living masters of music at the time, the late Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. They spent three months traveling up and down the coast, sleeping on couches and floors, or in the van, and making many memorable connections, while returning to take classes for a few days each week. They finally left California on September 9, 2001, and returned to Austin at 6:00 am on the morning of September 11, 2001, where, along with the rest of the world, they soon learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center, and watched in horror as the events unfolded.
Those events changed Atash’s trajectory, summoning them back to Los Angeles within a couple weeks at the behest of Hollywood actress Shae D’Lyn, to perform in a disaster relief benefit at the Sunset Room alongside the likes of the Counting Crows. Over the next 3 years Atash returned many times to California, especially in support of their first studio album release, republic of love, in 2003, which garnered great reviews in the California press.
They performed throughout Los Angeles at venues such as the Temple Bar, House of Blues, and the Knitting Factory, among others, and frequented the San Francisco Bay area and surrounding cities, playing the Make Out Room in San Francisco and Ashkenaz in Berkeley, taking part in the “How Berkeley Can You Be?” Festival in 2003 and venues in Monterey, Santa Cruz, and Ukiah. The group’s last performance in California took place in the summer of 2004, at the prominent Skirball Cultural Center in Santa Monica, where the band performed played a concert for the Sunset Concert Series.
In the past decade, the band came to dominate the world music scene in their hometown, earning the Austin Music Award for “Best World Music Band” for six consecutive years, from 2007 to 2013.
The band’s second studio album Everything Is Music was released in early 2014.
Author: World Music Central News Room
World music news from the editors at World Music Central
