Upscale menswear and accessories brand, Blackberrys, is bringing music lovers in India an unprecedented opportunity. This year its annual flagship event Sharp Nights is organising a five-city World Music tour.
Aptly titled ‘Blackberrys Sharp Nights – Masters Of World Music’ the tour will showcase two of the world's leading world music performers, promote local musical talent and institute a scholarship fund to help conserve traditional Indian music. Now, with the music festivals being such a hit lately in India, we think there couldn’t have been a better time for a brand to do this.
The first musician to perform is Malian folk musician Fatoumata Diawara, who will perform in Delhi on November 19th at Blue Frog, Mehrauli and in Hyderabad on Nov 22nd at DurgamCheerayu Park, Jubilee Hills.
The other world renowned artiste on the tour is Malian folk Fusion and Blues guitarist and singer Vieux FarkaToure, who will perform in Pune on December 3rd, Bengaluru on December 6th and Mumbai on December 10th.
With this first-of-its-kind world music tour, Blackberrys is also providing an opportunity to home grown talents – Barmer Boys in Delhi(1st image), Catharsis in Hyderabad, Highway 61 in Pune, Shoonya in Bengaluru and Rajeev Raja Combine in Mumbai to perform on the very same stage in their respective cities.
Furthermore each concert will begin with a fashion auction which will showcase the Blackberrys AW '14 look – the proceeds of which will be used to nurture Indian traditional music schools, by providing scholarships for deserving students and funds for material support.
In our opinion, this is a great step by Blackberry in terms of bringing India one step ahead in music scene while also giving opportunity to Indian talents and at the same time fulfilling a good cause by giving away the proceeds to Indian traditional music schools. In today’s culture of pop and hip music where we all either listen to YoYo Honey Singh or Eminem, it’s nice to be reminded of some folk music. Well done, Blackberry!