Ivan Singh: The Argentinian Bluesman with an Indian Lineage

Ahead of his debut gig in India at the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai this weekend, we caught up with U.S.-based Argentinian blues artist Ivan Singh and talked to him about his country winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, how he got into blues music, his India connect and more. Read below.

Before I get into your music, I wanted to ask you about your thoughts on your country’s big achievement this past December.

I wasn’t there, but I know how it was. It was a party and was something that Argentina needed so badly. Argentina is nothing but football. It’s not been great years. The last 10 years of the country, our economy and politicians… at some point it might be one of the reasons why I looked for a better place. I was just traveling around the world too before I got to Chicago. Things are not getting better [in Argentina] and for one day or two days or something, people can forget about everything. Everyone was hanging out on the street. Five million people got out to celebrate Argentina as world champions and I think of how [Lionel] Messi inspired the people after trying four times in 16 years to get this cup and keep persevering, keep going even when the people say don’t play for Argentina. He keeps going. He gets his family straight to the stage. I love [Diego] Maradona too, but I’m happy the Argentinian kind of male idol idea changed too because he’s [Messi] inspiring. We all can be Messi in our life, we just need to try to keep going and do the best we can, and don’t let things get you down. Just try to become better and work as a team. I think Argentina this time had a good team. There was not only Messi. It was happiness and I think it was a bigger message for the perspective of life. So, I’m super happy Argentina are world champions.

How did your interest in the blues come about?

It starts with mom. Blues is pretty big in Argentina. In the Nineties when I was born there was a boom of blues in Argentina, not only because [American blues legend] B.B. King was visiting the country two or three times a year, [but also because] Buddy Guy was down there and everyone was visiting Argentina. So, a lot of bluesmen from Argentina singing in Spanish become super popular, even on TV shows. My mom loved Argentinian blues and she also loved [blues legends] Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, and B.B. King. I’m so proud I get the chance to stand next to these masters. My mom, a doctor in Argentina, she was a single mom. She raised me by herself and life was kind of complicated. I think I believe in music as a healing [process] and she was always bringing it home like that — playing some B.B. King, playing some Buddy Guy and we enjoyed it and connected from that side. That’s how I fell in love with blues and started playing guitar when I was five. I used to put B.B. King on and try to figure out what he’s doing.

What is the current blues scene like back in Argentina?

It was super big in the Nineties. Every 20 or 30 years, in music and fashion things go back. Things are cyclical. It’s getting back now, there are still a lot of great artists. There are blues venues, blues jams all over Argentina. I’ve seen Buddy Guy and Jeff Beck perform in front of thousands of people in Argentina. So, the blues is still there in Argentina and it’s a country of future blues players. 

Your self-titled debut album was released in 2019 – what can you tell me about that record?

Well, it was just the beginning. It was just a necessity to express what was happening to me in Argentina until that moment. Because I put out this album just two weeks before I left Argentina, because I was traveling, I was like, ‘I want to go to see the world and I need to get an album out before.’ That’s all in Spanish, mostly original songs and this kind of R&B with some blues guitars. I bring some salsa vibe to the blues music I make.

You also have an India connection. What can you tell me about that?

This is so crazy to me and so special. Three generations before me, my great-grandpa from my mom’s side was from Punjab. He left India looking for a better life 130 years ago. It was a crazy trip for him to get to Brazil and he walked from Brazil to Argentina for three months. Then he stayed in the north of Argentina, met a Spanish woman and started a family. For all these years I’ve always had this connection with India and when I decided what my artist name will be, I said, ‘Singh,’ because I knew I was the last one in my family who will get the name, Singh. But this is crazy. I would never think that I would come here. My first big dream come true, but everything might be written in the stars, you know. No one in my family has come to India. My great-grandfather never found out when his mom died. He always talked about India like he wanted to get back but it was different times, six months in a boat or whatever. He never made it and I’m the first one from my family to come here with this opportunity. My life is blues and guitar and this brings me here. I will never forget this experience. This opportunity to play [and share the lineup] with Buddy Guy, Taj Mahal and Kingfish, if it was happening in Germany or Texas it would not be the same. This is forever a [lifetime’s experience] for me, I will never forget it, it’s so special for me. 

What plans do you have for the rest of the year?

Right now this year is just all about putting music out. We already recorded a live album at the end of last year, now we need to mix it. I’m looking forward to see if I’m going to work with record labels or put it out by myself. This is a big hand Buddy Guy gave me — the chance to show myself to the world, and I hope producers and artists give me a hand to now put my things out. But I definitely want to put out one album this year. It might be two, let’s see.