Atash to Play McKittrick Hotel's SLEEP NO MORE, 1/9 & 13

Award-winning Austin world music ensemble Atash will be performing two nights at the McKittrick Hotel's "Sleep No More" show on January 9 and 13.

Atash, based in Austin, TX, embodies the values of cooperation and collaboration, consisting of master musicians from Iran, India, Guinea, France, México, South Korea, Italy, Cuba, and the United States. Merging the different backgrounds of the individual artist's results in a unique sound that is showcased on their newest release, Everything is Music, out March 2014. Blending the musical styles from the Middle East, India, West Africa with genres such as flamenco, western classical, jazz and rock, this constantly evolving group continues to demonstrate how music can bring together diverse and contrasting cultures. The band strives to become pioneers for the world music scene in Austin and for any musicians from unlikely places.

Recording for the new album began in 2010 at Troubadour Studios in Lockhart. Located deep in the heart of Texas, the state of the art recording studio was a unique spot for the worldly band. A vibey Victorian-era house with high ceilings, lush velvet curtains, meticulously crafted oriental rugs and candles, the studio was a perfect state for the members to flesh out several new tunes of a remarkably different nature from their earlier work. By 2012 more than 20 pieces had been recorded at Troubadour and The Still in Austin, culled from older repertoire that had never been recorded and new songs, which the band shaved down to 9 for this forthcoming CD release. Hints of flamenco, qawwali, thumri, rock, reggae and jazz are all flawlessly woven into the record. The band enlisted the talents of Naga Valli on Indian vocals, Uzbeki master percussion virtuoso Abbos Kosimov, renowned jazz fusion guitarist Fareed Haque and chorus singers from Les Petits Chanteurs of Haiti.