HMV Sessions

The Bluegrass Journeymen were formed in 2017 by Patrick Fitzsimons, who is the band’s mandolin player. He always wanted to take bluegrass music to India, and in doing so, he discovered the culture and music of the country and thought to combine the two genres to see how that would work out.  After the band had made a couple of tours to the country, they headed for the HMV studios in Kolkata, West Bengal, India, to record this session.

Led by Fitzsimons (vocals, mandolin, mandola and mandocello), he is joined by Billy Cardine (vocals, resonator guitar, chaturangui, melodica), Coleman Smith (violin), Summers Baker (vocals, guitar), Andrew Conley (cello), and Jean Luc-Davis (vocals, bass). The guests on the project include Nabanita Sarker (vocals, ukulele), Mary Lucey (vocal), banjo players Matt Menefee, Sean Nicklin (banjo), Ryan Cavanaugh, and Sam Armstrong-Zickefoose, Charlie Mertens (arco bass), River Guerguerian (percussion), Uppalapu Rajesh (electric mandolin), and Prareen Narayan (tabla).

The songs selected by the band for this project feature local vocalist Nabanita Sarker on “El Shure Bohu Dure,” “Tujhe Dekha,” “Dokhina Batash,” and “Badal Baul Bajay Re Ektara.” Summers Baker sings lead on “Helen.” There is a very nice a cappella rendition from the band of “You Go To Your Church.” Instrumentally, there is “Pickin On Paganini,” “Backyard Bhangra” with Rajesh on electric mandolin, Narayan on tabla, and Sarker on ukulele, “Tanz Tanz Yidelekh,” and the old chestnut “Paddy On The Turnpike.”

The combinations of these diverse musicians and their blending of American and Bengali songs and styles make this project a welcome new member of the music’s international community.