E-Paper
Ear and there: One Indian musician’s journey from desi to country
What’s an Indian doing on a country music reality show? Dhruv Visvanath is showing the world that the Nashville genre is really a state of mind
Strap: What’s an Indian doing in a country music reality show? He’s showing the world that Nashville is really a state of mind, says Dhruv Visvanath
It all started one winter night in 2021, when Dhruv Visvanath received an email with bright red letters spelling out the words “This is not spam”.
The 31-year-old Delhi musician thanks God for that. Because he almost deleted the email that informed him he had been selected to audition for Apple TV’s new competitive music show, My Kind of Country, with country musicians Jimmie Allen, Mickey Guyton and Orville Peck as the judges or scouts.
“It was strange as it was in the middle of the Covid waves,” says Visvanath, who would head to Nashville, Tennessee, the home of country music, in January 2022. “It was 11 pm and I just screamed before telling my mom.”
A major key
Visvanath, a fingerstyle-guitarist and musician, was seven years old when his mother enrolled him for piano lessons. Seven years later, he taught himself the guitar via the internet. In 2015, he quit his job and became a full-time musician, releasing his debut album, Orion. This was followed in 2018 by the album The Lost Cause.
In his near decade-long music career, Visvanath had only sometimes auditioned for competitions. This opportunity felt right. My Kind of Country was being made by Reese Witherspoon’s studio Hello Sunshine, the same one that made The Morning Show, Daisy Jones and the Six and other popular series.
“What was really important was being heard and seen,” says Visvanath. “I wanted to be seen by world and I wanted the world to see what I am capable of. When I met the producers, it felt like the right opportunity. So I never thought of it as a competition but an experience or boot-camp, where I got to work with amazing vocal coaches and musicians.”
Fine tuning
The competitors for the 12 places on the show auditioned over Zoom, going through rounds of video interviews, sending in videos, and only getting to watch all of it when the show finally aired late last month.
During the show, there were six rounds of eliminations, each accompanied by a workshop and a performance. These included a debut showcase with music director Adam Blackstone, where Visvanath performed Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. Then there was a collaboration round with Allen, Visvanath’s scout, in which Visvanath worked with Mexican artist Ale Aguirre to play Brooks & Dunn’s Neon Moon.
Guyton did an authenticity workshop, at which contestants explored the concept of personal meaning in music, and Visvanath sang his original number, Write. In the final workshop, Peck explored visual storytelling, and Visvanath performed Billie Eilish’s Bad Guy.
For the final, four contestants – Visvanath, Chuck Adams (US), Ale Aguirre, and Micaela Kleinsmith (South Africa) – prepared originals, covers, and ensemble performances. Visvanath took a stab at Style by Taylor Swift and played his original, Dear Madeline.
Though Kleinsmith won, Visvanath says that just making it to the final made him feel fortunate.
“Musicians always have this general sense of imposter syndrome,” he says. “The most satisfying part was that I knew I could do it and I proved it to myself. I think I grew up a bit.”
He also congratulated Kleinsmith on Instagram. “You [Micaela] came in there and just knocked it out of the park, every night, you broke out of your shell and killed. Bless you for existing and I’m so proud of you!” he wrote.
He added, “I feel like a winner in many ways already, and to go all the way to a final and get *this* close is such a huge accomplishment. I hope I’ve done our scene proud, I hope this little journey pushes you to follow your own path. This is why you let your kids follow their dreams.”
Back home
What is country music in India, though?
“It’s very hard to define. Country music comes more from vocal texture than lyrics. Any singer-songwriter can be a country artist depending on how they tell the story musically. Since there’s no definition, it leaves the book wide open,” says Visvanath.
He first watched a live performance of country music years ago, when he performed at Rodeo restaurant in Delhi’s Connaught Place, and guitarist Bobby Cash got on stage after him. After that, even in Nashville, Visvanath never attended any country music performances.
Since the show’s release last month, Visvanath has been getting messages from long-lost friends and fellow musicians. “I am happy I followed my path. And if it makes others feel as though they can follow theirs too, that would be a big win in my book,” he says.
Later this year, he has an EP release and a pan-India tour, which he hasn’t done since 2016.
Did he dream of being part of such a big show a decade ago, when he was pursuing his B.A. (Hons) in geography at Delhi University? He laughs.
“I wouldn’t consider myself a country artist,” he says. “But when bigger country artistes look at me and say my playing makes them think of a few things differently, I do think about what that college student would think. He’d think this is mad.”
