Folk music singer and composer Mame Khan from the traditional Manganiyar community of Rajasthan has released his debut album, which is one of its kind in terms of music but also because it has been crowdfunded.
The Manganiyars have been known to perform for kings with several generations of the community known to have provided musical service to their patrons and receiving in turn cattle, camels, goats or cash as gifts.
The concept of crowd-funding dates back to centuries according to Khan.
"Being a manganiyar, our community used to sing and perform for the kings and emperors in the past. The rewards we got were, gold, silver horses and elephants," Khan told PTI in an interview.
Khan explains that the idea was to gather support from people and at the same time involve them in musicmaking, which is an essential characteristic of folk music.
"We started collecting funds through the Internet and other means and I was glad to see such a huge support from people, I feel blessed that they really believe in folk music and we got 30 per cent more than the target we had expected that too in around 20 days," says Khan.
The album titled 'Mame Khan's Desert Sessions launched here recently comprises seven tracks rich with Rajasthani folk music with some of the tracks having elements of Sufi music too.
"It's a very special moment for me and I don't have enough words to express it. A boy from from a small village getting such a platform for his music, it's really a big thing for me," Khan says.
The album consists of tracks, "Lolee", "Bule Shah", "Kesariya Balam", "Krishna bhajan" among others.
"The tracks consists of folk and Sufi songs and I have also included a Krishna Bhajan, the reason being I have been listening to it since my childhood. My father used to practice it and that's how it became special for me," he says.
