Anyone that follows Shooglenifty will know of their long-term relationship with musicians of Rajasthan. Held at the striking Mehrangarh Fort each year, Shooglenifty have performed at the Rajasthan International Folk Festival three times now (2014, 2015 and 2017). It was following their last appearance at the festival that they recorded the album Written in Water with Dhun Dhora, an eight-piece band of master musicians from the Thar Desert close to the Pakistan border.
The album was released in 2018 and was a Featured Album of the Month on Folk Radio. In his review, Neil McFadyen concluded:
Travelling 4,000 miles to blend so perfectly with a musical tradition where the structure, the approach, even the tuning is so different from the comfort of their own music is as impressive as Dhun Dhora’s ability to embrace this music from a different shore, to make home for it in their own home, and to produce such a wonderful celebration of music and life. With Written in Water, Shooglenifty & Dhun Dhora have realised a beautiful dream and produced an album of exciting, intoxicating, exceptional music.
As Neil said, the album was a celebration of music and life and there is naturally a strong bond between the band and the people they have befriended there over the years. Shooglenifty have just launched a Crowdfunding campaign to help those so harshly affected by the pandemic:
These musicians, our friends, and many like them have been particularly harshly affected by the Coronavirus pandemic. We have therefore decided to start this campaign to raise much-needed funds to support the Coronavirus Relief Project being run by Jodhpur Riff and the Jaipur Heritage Trust.
They are running a prize draw featuring prizes donated by the band themselves – they think they are really special and so do we. They are
- Weekend for 2 at James and Kaela‘s Caravan Up North
- Signed test pressing for Acid Croft Vol 9
- Two tickets for Feis Na Mara 2022
- A tune written especially for you by Quee
- The guitar Malcolm played on all albums from Venus in Tweeds to Murmichan
- An online Gaelic song lesson from Kaela
- A tune written especially for you by our bestie Laura Wilkie
Tickets are £5 each and you can buy as many as you like. Good luck!
More here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/shoogle-rajasthan-prizes
About the Coronavirus Relief Project (from Jodhpur Riff):
The traditional musicians of Rajasthan are at the heart of our work at Jodhpur RIFF and therefore under the aegis of the Mehrangarh Museum Trust, we have initiated the Coronavirus Relief Project.
You can help us tremendously by supporting this prize draw. The project aims to alleviate the suffering of those artist communities who need the most assistance by providing them with rations of food and covering costs of their healthcare as required.
From April 2020 – January 2021 we were able to distribute over 1700 kits to artist families across Rajasthan (each kit serving a family for 7 days) and more than 70 artists received either financial or healthcare aid – our total support outlay was approximately £27,000.
In 2021 the impact has been even harsher than in the previous year we will need at least £35,000 to support our artists through the next 6-8 months. This year the food kits contain more rations, serving a family of 6-8 people for two weeks. Each kit costs Rs. 1900 (around £19) and includes sufficient quantities of wheat flour, rice, lentils, onions, potatoes, tea, sugar, salt and essential spices, disinfecting soap and masks.
The Jodhpur RIFF team and our village representatives are all working on a voluntary basis and all donations will be used only to purchase food kits or medicines and medical services.
In the UK, Jaipur Heritage Trust, a UK registered charity and which has partnered with Jodhpur RIFF in numerous projects, has agreed to accept donations on our behalf for this relief project.
Get involved: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/shoogle-rajasthan-prizes