Born in India, raised in Canada and currently living in New York city. From the time she was seven, Kiran immersed herself in Indian classical music and ghazal, a song form based on Urdu poetry In Kiran’s words, “If you take two styles and merge them together and you don't want a simple cut and paste then you’re really developing a new hybrid genre. You’re doing something with no clear blueprints to help you. It’s incredibly invigorating when she feels a connection in expressions from different cultures and then figure out ways to connect them seamlessly in her music. Those moments of discovery are nothing short of sublime. It’s really the essence of everything for her.” Her father would play tapes of Indian music for her on the reel-to-reel and they would also listen to Bollywood on the radio Kiran recalls. “So when a song came on that she wanted to learn, her mother would quickly write down the lyrics for her and she would sing along to learn the melody”. When the family immigrated to Canada she continued her musical training alongside her regular school. After graduating from University of Toronto in the early 1990s, she returned to India where she spent a decade of intense deep study with her classical guru Padma Talwalkar and her ghazal guru Vithal Rao.
Music is love in all its shades - yearning romantic love and Sufi mysticism. Canada and currently living she is a modern exponent of the great vocal traditions of India and Pakistan which she honours intensely yet departs from in masterful, personal ways. Her original compositions embody the essence of Indian music while embracing influences from both the West and Africa - specifically the Sahara. With her 5-piece group of electric and acoustic guitar, harmonium, tabla and electric bass, Ahluwalia creates boundary-breaking songs that invite us to explore the human condition, transcending the self by losing ourselves in love.