"A product of the rough and tumble New York social and musical melee that is New York's Lower East Side, Swati Sharma wrings textures from her acoustic electric Alvarez Yairi 8-string that transition from sweetly chorused chords to nasty blasts of wildly distorted, low octave enhanced metallic mayhem" - Guitar Player Magazine
Swati (‘birth of a star’ in Hindu) is a New York City native. Swati’s early exposure to music came via the classical world when she was awarded an academic scholarship to study trombone. Her performing debut at Carnegie Hall, however, resulted in abandoning the classical world in favor of exploring her own singing, songwriting and guitar playing. Swati immersed herself in the city’s music scene at a young age, managing the popular club Nightingale’s. This put her in touch with the fertile music & arts scene in Manhattan’s lower east side. Before long Swati was performing and creating a sensation there, attracting musicians and record company exec’s alike and securing a spot at Lilith Fair.
Swati approaches songwriting and performing as catharsis: a way to expose her inner self and connect with others. “Onstage,” she says, “it’s the optimum place I can be in my head. When I see a stranger who feels what I feel, the emptiness and loneliness are completely gone. I’m completely content.” As a guitarist, Swati’s technique is simultaneously percussive and dreamy, revealing elements of her Indian heritage. Using a twelve string guitar fitted with eight strings, she employs open tunings ala Joni Mitchell and plays through an assortment of effects pedals. The result is remarkable. Swati doesn’t sound like anyone else and no one sounds like her; rarely has a solo guitarist sounded as muscular and delicate or gotten such an enormous sound from a simple acoustic instrument.
After years of experimentation with different musicians and producers, Swati teamed up with producer Duke McVinnie (Shivaree, Joan Baez) and producer/engineer Brandon Mason (David Bowie, The Secret Machines) to make her independent debut album at Allaire Studios. From the opening guitar salvos of “Big Bang” to the timely lyrics (“Whatever happened to honesty, whatever happened to respect?”) of “Dodge,” Swati has created a solid work that touches and resonates with people. The record completed, she has been taking to stages throughout the U.S., exposing listeners to what was previously heard only in Manhattan. Influential tastemakers KCRW in LA and Reg’s Coffee Shop.com have championed Swati, helping spread the word in the US and from Australia to Britain as well.
Swati’s songs are direct, honest and powerful and delivered with disarming humor. In the crowded singer/songwriter universe, Swati stands out as a particularly distinct star.
“Acoustic guitars must fear Swati…banging out riffs like a punk flamenco player. Swati’s introspective lyrics are a gritty reflection of New York’s lower East Side.”
– DC Denison, Boston Globe
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