The backwaters of Kumarakom rippled with some good music by the Bengaluru-based band, Mud Road, this weekend. The live performance was brought to town by the event curators, The Purple Crayons.
By 8:00 pm, the dance lights were on and people were ready to groove to the music at The Zuri Kumarakom. Soon, the place echoed to the beats of 'Sweet Home Alabama' by Lynyrd Skynyrd, 'Stumbling In' by Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro, 'Take it Easy' by Eagles etc.
Mud Road has influences from Country to Blues to Rock ’n Roll. The band's versatile repertoire is groovy and eclectic. It has Sheridan Brass and Jerusha Verghese on vocals, Daniel Selvaraj on drums, Joshua Selvaraj on acoustic guitar and vocals, Blesswin Immanuel on lead guitar, Aashish Paul on bass guitar and Joshua Costa on keyboard.
The band started as a four-member acoustic harmony team in 2016. “Then, we didn't even have a full drum kit. All four of us sang and over time we evolved into a band with 7-10 members. We added electric guitar and the full drum kit over time, but our core remains the same. We focus on harmony and making people happy,” says Sheridan.
The team has been practising for a while for the gig. “We do it at least thrice every week. But on the day before our performance, we relax. We do the sound check, indulge in some local food, pray and have one drink before we get on stage,” he explains.
This was The Mud Road's first performance in Kottayam. “We were expecting a lot of dancing and it was nice to see our audience enjoying themselves. We relate a lot to the crowd here. People here are well-traveled and well-read, so they connect to the kind of music we sing. We cannot wait to come back and enjoy the energy of the crowd once again,” he concludes.
