Where The Hills Come Alive With Music

In Shillong, music is always in the air. The seasons break out to the sounds and rhythms of songs. The hills wake up to the pitter-patter of early morning July drizzle and then the rumble of clouds that reach a crescendo with bountiful rain.

The sun shines lazily, not necessarily in time with daybreak, eventually paving the way for a pleasant evening.

‘Oh most beautiful,’ sang Lou Majaw, the resident Jedi Master of Meghalaya music. ‘I thank you for the soothing rain. When madness rules and love’s in vain’.

The song plays on loop in my mind as I soak in the vibe. That’s what happens when you are in Shillong. You tune up instinctively, allowing your musical universe to reset. Meanwhile, there’s hot tea and momos selling on the roadside for the men and women in a hurry at PB, which is the call sign for hailing a bike-taxi to the bustling Police Bazar. Once there, the Evening Club is the place to be. A live music hotspot with impeccable acoustics for both performer and listener.

Barely, 100 metres away is Cloud Nine. Across town is Acropolis, a recent entrant in the live music scene. On the way to Laimu (Laitumkhra) is Cafe Shillong with soft cushion seating, smoked pork and excellent cappuccino to keep you company as young songwriters sing their originals.

Adding to the cheer every other evening, in addition to weekends, are town square gigs held on special podiums fitted with high-powered speakers welcoming one and all to jive to their favourites. It’s one of the many successes of the Grassroots Music Programme, a state government initiative for nurturing talent by offering financial support and mentorship to local artistes. On the shop-lined lane to Bijou Cinema freeze-framing single-screen nostalgia, I got to catch Colours, an electrifying pop band that had the crowd rocking with a playlist of Gen Z staples.

I am blown away by the band’s professionalism and impeccable chops. “They know all the songs,” says Keith Wallang about Colours. That’s a rare compliment for a covers band coming from the city’s most loved band manager-musician (Soulmate, now Blue Temptation) who was also the architect of the grassroots music project launched a couple of years ago.

If Colours has nurtured its extensive repertoire with solid musicianship, it is a trait that most bands of Meghalaya, especially the ones doing originals, have imbibed from the big daddies of Shillong rock and blues. I am talking Lou Majaw, the Bob Dylan of the East who founded Great Society in the 1980s with a storied line-up of musicians like Eddie Rinja (vocals), Bert Cooper Syiemiong (drums), Arjun ‘AJ’ Sen, Sam Shullai and the affable ‘Mr Blues’ also known as Rudy Wallang (guitar).

Great Society introduced Shillong to two aspects of music making. The band wrote songs and did concerts with original material. Even while playing covers, the songs chosen were the ones Lou and Co. loved, and not the hit of the season. “As a result, we became kind of niche without wanting to be niche,” recalls AJ. Every other person in Shillong, young and old, is musically blessed. The Shillong Chamber Choir’s stellar record of enthralling audiences across the world with heartfelt renditions of hymns and songs in 40 languages (including, say, Khasi, Tamil, Norwegian and yes, English), is testament to that natural ability honed with rigorous training pursued with discipline and an abiding sense of humility, something late founder Neil Nongkynrih so passionately advocated.

“Shillong has been instrumental in my growth as a musician because of the influence of my late father Toto Wallang and the music he played,” says Rudy Wallang who’s been an integral part of three top bands of the city, Great Society (1980s) to begin with, followed by Mojo (1990s) and Soulmate (2000s) which has etched a place for Meghalaya on the world map of blues music.

Guitarist Gregory Ford Nongrum cites Shillong’s affinity with its rich musical heritage as an inherent enabler along with a sense of community built over listening to music on All India Radio and playing together. “Having neighbours who were musically inclined and always playing something made it easy for everybody to just soak it in daily,” he says before going onstage in Bengaluru with his band, Blue Temptation that’s scheduled to release a new album in September.

Of late, Shillong’s being talked of as the Rock Capital of India, which may be a good Instagram tagline and certainly helps draw visitors to its now famous Cherry Blossom Festival. But the descriptor’s narrow focus on a single genre, however inclusive in today’s context, limits the eclectic and rootsy appeal of Meghalaya’s musical oeuvre. For, Shillong lives in this wholesome embrace of music old and new, the traditional four-string duitara resting alongside the six-string guitar — as in the double-neck ‘Guitara’ Lou Majaw designed for Shepherd Star Najiar to play at the latest edition of the Bluesmen of Meghalaya concert.

These days, when the sagely Lou in trademark shorts and mismatched socks is not performing, he’s stitching together such events to showcase younger musicians, aside from the Bob Dylan birthday bashes his foundation has been hosting annually. “It’s nice to get people together like in the song, Let’s Work Together,” is Lou’s favourite quip. Amen to that.