Ankur Tewari on His U.S. Tour, Writing ‘Bandwaale’ Series with Swanand Kirkire

On March 14th at South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) in Austin Texas, Mumbai-based singer-songwriter Ankur Tewari got to play his songs in St David’s Historic Sanctuary, a church. He says, “The SXSW performance was a lot of fun. I was a bit nervous in the beginning, because I’d not played to an audience that’s not… it’s been a while since I’ve played to an audience that does not know my music.”

Between Coke Studio Bharat and his album Akela as well as curating, writing and singing music for films like Gehraiyaan, The Archies and more, Tewari is now looking beyond India, with a U.S. tour that kicks off today, April 17th in Los Angeles. While the Canada dates were struck out due to a delay in acquiring a visa, Tewari and his management Misfits Inc. are forging ahead with a five-city tour that includes stops in San Francisco (April 18th), Seattle (April 20th), New York (April 25th) and Boston (April 26th).

Back at SXSW in Austin and a couple of warmup gigs prior in Los Angeles, Tewari describes the atmosphere as “magical.” He adds about the SXSW performance, “I wanted to sing for much longer.” This solo tour has been in the works for more than a year in terms of the cities and dates. Tewari adds, “Our ticket sales are so encouraging – I didn’t think people are going to come and listen to me sing. It’s very exciting, what we did in Austin. It was kind of testing the waters.”

The setlist includes early hits, renditions from his album Akela and everything in between his two-decade-plus career. There are a couple of unreleased songs that are also being premiered on tour. “There’s a new song I’ve been writing, so I’m thinking I’ll play it through the tour, maybe it’ll take shape by the time the tour ends,” Tewari adds.

In addition to support from U.S.-based Desi artists like Abhilasha Sinha, Anusha Savi, Nikhil Iyer and Parijita, Tewari says the U.S. shows will also include a few guests. “There are lots of musicians who have kind of hollered and asked to collaborate during the gig – some friends [will] come by and we’re going to jam together and see what magic we can make live,” he says.

Another project that is reaching the finish line as Tewari’s U.S. tour takes off is Bandwaale, a series written in collaboration with lyricist/singer and actor/filmmaker Swanand Kirkire. The Amazon Prime Video series follows Mariam, “a young poetess in a sleepy town, seeks freedom through uploading her poetry online with help from misfits: a brass band singer and DJ,” according to a description.

Tewari counts Kirkire as a musical collaborator for a while now, but this is the first time they got writing together for screen. He’s also been involved in the making of the music for Bandwaale so Tewari calls it a very different creative experience. “I’ve never written a show before. I’ve written movies, but that’s a very different format. So there was a lot of learning while making the show, it was like going to film school again. Working with a huge crew of people, collaborating with different writers, musicians, directors, singers and actors… it was a full-on PhD in filmmaking. It was very exciting and I’m curious to see how people receive it,” he adds.

With Bandwaale already announced to be out later in 2024, Tewari returns to lead Coke Studio Bharat Season 2. He promises a “really exciting lineup this year.”

Get tickets to Ankur Tewari’s U.S. tour here.