Touring with Ragleela

In mid-August, I had the pleasure of touring with the Indian-fusion group, Ragleela. During the past seven years, I have performed on-and-off with this group as needed. I was delighted when the called me to go on a small Eastern-Canada tour with them. The group is led by sitarist Uwe Neumann, accompanied by guitarist Jean-Marc Hébert, violinist Marie-Soleil Belanger, percussionist Eric Breton, with myself on tabla.

First stop on the tour was a 5am (!) sunrise performance at the beautiful Parc Forillon in Gaspé, which is right at the eastmost tip of the province of Quebec. The festival was aptly named Festival Musique du bout du monde (edge of the world). It was quite something, leaving the hotel at 3:30am for a 4am sound check. We weren't sure how many people would show up for such an early performance. As we did the sound check, people slowly trickled onto the site, and by the time we were performing, an estimated 250 people were in attendance! wow!

Needless to say, the scenery was just amazing, and the vibe of a sunrise performance is quite unique. Luckily, someone also posted a short video!

We then went on to perform again on Gaspé's main street later that afternoon.

Special thanks to the Festival Musique du Bout du Monde for the incredible photos of our performance.

We then continued on to perform at DANSpace in Halifax, Nova Scotia. I unfortunately don't have any photos of this performance. Next, we embarked on a long drive across Prince Edward Island, and took the five-hour ferry to the Iles-de-la-Madeleine. Amazing scenery all around; I definitely need to get back there when I have the chance. We performed for two nights at the Vieux Treuil. (NB: The soundman there is incredible!!!)

Overall, an amazing tour. I am now a full member of Ragleela, and am looking forward to many more performances in the years to come! :)