Throughout his life, Prabir Mehta has been on a cultural and musical journey: one that spans continents, genres, and instruments. It has culminated in his recent explorations with his group Prabir Trio, which will be playing a show at Reclaim Arcade on Friday.
IF YOU GO
Prabir Trio, Friday, Nov 14, 8 p.m., Reclaim Arcade, 2324 Plank Rd, Fredericksburg, $15 cover at the door includes games, ages 18+
Mehta immigrated from India to the U.S. with his family when he was 8. He embraced rock music, learned to play the guitar and went on to form several bands. Initially, his style reflected his interest in melodic rock informed by groups like The Beatles and Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
Alongside the rock and roll was a love of Indian music, particularly ragas, the unique patterns of tones and rhythms found in classical music of the subcontinent.
Prabir Mehta. (Photo by Joey Wharton.)
“The first time the Indian influence came in was when I was playing with a band called Goldrush,” Mehta said. “We did a song or two that had these little hints of Indian to them, but they were still very much pop rock songs.”
That merging of Indian and rock music has flourished over the past year. Mehta didn’t have to look far for expert knowledge. His mother, uncle and aunts are all classical Indian musicians.
“I had a lot of random Zoom calls and emails and clips sent back and forth,” Mehta said. “Initially, it was a pretty rudimentary exploratory process. I was coming at it with very little functional knowledge. The few things I knew [were] just from having family members that play classical music growing up in India.”
On one visit to India, Mehta played a concert with his uncle that combined traditional Indian ragas with original songs by Mehta with elements of Indian music. Mehta played guitar, adapting it to the Indian tonality and style.
Mehta has also brought Indian music into the Prabir Trio. His bandmates are fellow musical travelers and have encouraged merging their rock style with Indian elements. Their 2021 album “Haanji” lyrically explores Prabir’s personal story while also adding harmonium, sitar, and tanpura — as well as raga scales and patterns — to the mix.
“I think Kelli [Strawbridge on drums] and Russell [Lacy on bass] were very supportive of this notion of ‘Haanji’ being an immigrant album and make it about the immigrant experience, kind of a life story of moving from India to here, learning about America, watching my parents work endlessly for a better life, learning about rock and roll.” Mehta said.
“I’m just so blessed to have this wonderful musical family. It allows for so much creativity and opportunity to have unique expressive musical moments.”
Their second album, “Long After The Empire,” released in 2024 and leaned heavily into Indian music. Several songs on the album were based on classical ragas. Mehta included the track “Sabarmati River” from the concert he played in India with his uncle.
Mehta compares his expanding musical vocabulary to making new friends.
“It’s cool to learn and it’s cool to love, but really music, for me at least, is my friend,” he said. “I’ve had a lot of friends like G major and A minor and Eb major 7. I’ve got a lot of friends and it’s always nice to make more friends. Now I have these ragas and I’m gaining more friends.
“It’s a slow process. It took a while to get here but now we’re here. I’m glad that we’re here because I feel like I’ve gained so much.”
