Strings Attached: Love and Music—Sustaining Both w/ Kiran Ahluwalia & Rez Abbasi
What does it take to sustain both a marriage and a creative partnership—without one overshadowing the other? In this long-awaited conversation, we sit down with Kiran Ahluwalia & Rez Abbasi, a powerhouse couple who have built extraordinary solo careers while seamlessly collaborating as partners in both life and music.
From navigating creative differences to maintaining individuality within a shared artistic vision, Kiran and Rez open up about the complexities of working side by side in an industry that often blurs the line between personal and professional. We explore how they challenge traditions, support each other’s artistic evolution, and continue to create a sound that is both deeply personal and globally resonant.
We also dive into the challenges of navigating social media as artists—how they balance authenticity with the pressures of visibility, and the impact it has on their creative process and well-being.
Additionally, we discuss the risks artists take in pursuit of their craft. Kiran shares her experience of suffering a major accident while filming a music video, highlighting the dedication and sacrifices that often go unseen in an artist’s journey.
About Our Guests:
Kiran Ahluwalia is a two-time Juno Award-winning vocalist known for her contemporary take on the great vocal traditions of India and Pakistan. With roots in Sufi, Qawwali, Ghazal, and Punjabi folk, she masterfully weaves influences from Mali, rock, R&B, and jazz into a sound that defies boundaries. Leading a dynamic 6-piece ensemble, she crafts music that is at once reflective, groovy, and deeply human—what the Seattle Times calls “a transnational sound as fresh as tomorrow.”
Rez Abbasi is a Guggenheim Fellowship-winning guitarist and composer, widely regarded as one of the most original voices in modern jazz. Voted #1 Rising-Star Guitarist in the DownBeat Critics Poll, he has been ranked alongside greats like Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny. Born in Karachi, Pakistan, raised in Southern California, and deeply influenced by jazz, classical, and Indian music, Rez creates a sonic landscape that is as intellectually profound as it is emotionally stirring.
Together, Kiran and Rez embody the beauty and challenge of being hyphenated global artists—shaping their own artistic identities while constantly inspiring each other.
Tune in for a heartfelt, insightful discussion on love, music, and the delicate dance of sustaining both.
(Want more? The full, unedited version of this conversation—including behind-the-scenes moments—is available exclusively to our members. Membership is free! Sign up here to get access).
Connect with Rez Abbasi:
Website: www.reztone.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Rez-Abbasi-71229228740
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reztone/
Connect with Kiran :
Download my FREE 'Artist Mindmap'. A one-page mini-masterclass for independent musicians.
Music and Audio Production: www.everynowheremusic.com
Episode Notes / Text : www.tlwrites.com
Kiran Ahluwahlia
Kiran Ahluwalia had a small epiphany as she wrote what eventually became the title track for her latest album: The eruptions of intolerance and violence plaguing societies around the world had to be directly countered. Yet the focus on divisions and differences neglected a central fact, that we are all united in our difference and uniqueness. “There are seven billion of us now on Earth and every person has their own unique perspective and set of experiences,” she reflects. “We each have our own way of dealing with things, of hearing things, of moving through life.”
Ahluwalia, with over nearly two decades of music making that took her from Punjabi folk and Indian classical music to refreshingly original borderless songs, has found her own way on 7 Billion. (Six Degrees: May 4, 2018) Touching on the need for tolerance and boldness, the songs on 7 Billion encompass all Ahluwalia’s myriad musical fascinations: the guitar twang of Mali, the heavy heartbeat of Southern soul, the gorgeous nuance of Subcontinental sounds.
Rez Abbasi
Guitarist/Composer
Voted #1 “Rising-Star Guitarist” in 2013’s DownBeat Critics Poll and successively in the top-ten guitarists alongside luminaries Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny, guitarist and composer Rez Abbasi is among a rare breed of artists that continue to push boundaries while preserving the traditions he has embraced.
“Abbasi is living, breathing proof that jazz music can be as vital and boundary-pushing as ever.” AllAboutJazz.com.
Born in Karachi, Pakistan, migrating at the age of four to the vastness of Southern California, schooled at the University of Southern California and the Manhattan School of Music in jazz and classical music, along with a pilgrimage in India under the guidance of master percussionist, Ustad Alla Rakha, Abbasi is a vivid synthesis of all the above stated influences and genres. Making New York home for the past 25 years, he has developed a unique sound both as a composer and an instrumentalist and is considered by many to be one of the foremost modern jazz guitar players the world over.
With fifteen albums of mostly original compositions, Abbasi continues to forge new ground with his many multi-dimensional projects. From his 2005 organ trio recording Snake Charmer that features Indian vocal sensation Kiran Ahluwalia, to his recent Behind the Vibration (2015), he captures provocative sounds rarely heard in jazz. Abbasi’s sixth album, Things To Come (2009) features a star-studded group of Vijay Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Dan Weiss, Johannes Weidenmueller and Ahluwalia and was included in DownBeat’s “top CD’s of the decade” along w… Read More
T.L. Mazumdar
Musician/Educator, Founder: Holistic Musician Academy
Indian-German Producer/Singer-Songwriter T.L. Mazumdar grew up on 3 continents and 4 countries.
Mentored by a series of iconic musicians like Kenny Werner, Kai Eckhardt, Dr John Matthias, and the late Gary Barone, his artistic journey has aptly been described by Rolling Stone magazine as one that ‘...personifies multiculturalism’.
Time Out Mumbai has referred to him as ‘’...amongst a handful of Indian (origin) musicians who don't have to play sitars or tablas''
He has been nominated for German Music awards
Bremer Jazzpreis and Future Sounds Jazz Award, and been called ''...a major talent'' by Jack Douglas (Producer: John Lennon, Miles Davis, etc.). .
