Beverly Band Gets Music Grant

BEVERLY, MA – Awaaz Do, a Beverly Hindie Rock band, was one of 25 musicians to receive a grant from the Passim Iguana Music Fund earlier this month. According to a press release, the band plans to use the grant to record their second studio album.

More than $40,000 in grant was distributed to musicians and music groups in the organization's ninth year of funding local artists. The Iguana Music Fund was launched in 2008, after an anonymous donor raised the idea of a program to help local musicians with Passim. Passim is a nonprofit in Cambridge dedicated to building the arts community in New England.

Awaaz Do is made up of Saraswathi Jones on vocals and guitar, Sapan Modi on guitar and dhol, Leilani Roser on drums and vocals, Jagdeep Singh on guitar, and Maanav Thakore on bass, per their July 2016 album credits.

Awaaz Do is literally translated to "make some noise," according the band's website. Grants ranged from $500 to to $2,000, in areas like recording, publicity, equipment, songwriting retreats, and more.

A free concert showcasing the work of the 2016 Iguana Music Fund grants recipients will take place at Club Passim on April 10, at 7 p.m. Club Passim is in Harvard Square at 47 Palmer St., Cambridge. Free tickets to the Iguana Music Fund showcase at Club Passim are available online at www.passim.org, by phone at 617-492-7679 or at the box office sixty minutes before the show begins.

Image via Passim