‘Common Roots’ a virtual platform brings life to quarantine

With the pandemic across countries affecting the artiste community, Common Roots is an effort to connect audiences through an authentic and relevant engagement.

While most of us have been going crazy stuck between screens and walls during the lockdown, Common Roots, a virtual platform brings some momentum and a feeling of life in the time of social distancing.

The virtual platform has been enabling artistes worldwide to come together for a Virtual Music Festival which kicked off on May 9 and ends on May 30. Common Roots Online Concerts have been live on Instagram every Saturday with 30 artistes performing from 2 pm to 2 am.

With the pandemic across countries affecting the artiste community, Common Roots is an effort to connect audiences through an authentic and relevant engagement.

“Common Roots attempts to address that feeling of normalcy by giving an opportunity to be moved by our favourite performers or entertainers streamed live to be social and enjoy our usual sense of community through arts and the diverse genres within it,” explains Bonny Fernandes, co-Founder, Common Roots.

The Virtual Music Festival will target all genres ranging from jazz, rhythm and blues, sufi and fusion to even rock and Indie artists and bands. The festival saw around 100 artistes perform through the month spanning four weekends with 30 artistes performing every Saturday.

Each of these artistes were encouraged to showcase 20-30 minutes of any composition that feeds their spirit. Some artistes include Grammy Award Winner Ricky Key, contemporary folk musician Raghu Dixit, internationally acclaimed sitarist Ustad Chote Rahimat Khan, Al Parkinson from Australia to name a few.

“The artistes who performed are from around the world as so we had the virtual concert from 2 pm to 2 am. So people from around the world can witness at least one show considering the time differences,” says Mustafa Parvez, another co-Founder of the virtual platform.

The platform have gently persuaded to get people to donate for a good cause. Currently, the cause is focussed on supporting three fundraisers – daily wage workers through GiveIndia; Artists & Researchers through India Foundation for the Arts (IFA), and Dog sanctuary, rescue and treatment through The Voice of Stray Dogs (VOSD). The audiences are referred to the link leading to the websites of these NGOs to make a donation.

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