Now in its seventh year, Songlines Encounters Festival is back with leading artists on the world music scene. There are some compelling collaborations, unusual instruments and two exciting UK premieres. This year’s line-up includes talented musicians from Portugal, India, Senegal, Norway, Lithuania and the UK.
‘Songlines Encounters gives us a superb opportunity to present artists we are enthusiastic about and we know will appeal to a musically curious audience. Ricardo Ribeiro sings fado in the traditional, but totally captivating way, Kefaya like to shake things up a bit and World Music Network’s former Battle Of The Bands winners Solo and Indre give people the chance to encounter the Senegalese kora and Lithuanian kanklès, possibly for the first time. Bollywood Brass Band with Jyotsna Srikanth and the Vindauga / Wind Eye project are both exciting new creations – one colourful and spectacular, the other powerful and intense.’ – Simon Broughton (Songlines Editor-in-Chief)