Transfixing, hyper-folk jams with rich and deep Pushtoon roots

With its propulsive, furious sound, Khumariyaan, "The Intoxicators," has reawakened the live music scene in Peshawar, the ancient crossroads through the Khyber Pass that links Pakistan and Afghanistan. The lute-like Pashto rubab is the meeting point for this transfixing, hyper-folk quintet that intertwines the djembe-like zerbaghali (clay or wooden goblet drum), sehtar (long-necked lute), and searching vocals underpinned with driving . acoustic guitars. Khumariyaan’s rolling pulse and richly layered sound builds to frenzied intensity. It’s an addictive and accessible pleasure that has ushered in a new era for an eclipsed music.

“We are group of individuals that have come together as one soul to experience and share the trance that is live acoustic music. To us, music is the best sublimated form of art. In our journey, we hope to entice musical ‘goose bumps’, and become a moving philosophical experience.” – rubab player and band leader Farhan Bogra

Khumariyaan made its international debut with the band’s 2014 Center Stage tour around the U.S. In the intervening decade they’ve shared their work in Europe, the Middle East, and in East Africa, spreading art like water on the fires of fundamentalism in all its forms.

Khumariyaan’s music darted forward, nimble, vital and determined.

 

jon pareles, The New York TImes

travelers

7 on tour:
Farhan Bogra – rabab and sehtar, band leader
Sparlay Rawail – lead guitar and dhol
Aamer Shafiq – rhythm guitar
Shiraz Khan – percussion
Obaid Khan - vocals
Sound Engineer
Center Stage Company Manager

venues

Indoors or out: clubs, amphitheaters, concert halls, and festival stages. Excellent sound system to reinforce and balance acoustic mix.

Khumariyaan’s Technical Rider (pre-contract; will be revised)

season 2, 2014 Archive

• Season 2, 2014 Program Notes & Backgrounder
• Season 2, 2014 Tour Overview

Additional press 

• New York Times: With a Slight Western Inflection, Culturally Charged Pashtun Folk Melodies
• VOA, Across the Durand: Khumariyaan Intoxicate Washington, D.C.
• Dawn: Spotlight: From rabab strings to stardom
• Express Tribune: Khumariyaan releases music video of soulful number Bela
• Express Tribune: The Sound of Intoxication