Rupa & the April Fishes

• Genre: World Pop
• Hometown: San Francisco
• Rupa & the April Fishes Website

About

Oh, those crazy kids. While most hipsters plumb hip-hop and rock for inspiration, a new generation is turning to Gypsy jazzsters like Django Reinhardt to return life to the moribund underground. A local San Francisco favorite whose star is beginning to rise, Rupa Marya epitomizes the trend. Marya's a natural candidate to cause this kind of hobo/Gypsy/country-folk mayhem: her multinational upbringing ensured she was multilingual and open to all that world music had to offer. Marya had been performing solo with her guitar for some years before the events of September 11, 2001, spurred her to search for alternative ways to reach people. She began composing songs in French and discovered an entirely new musical persona. She assembled a group of accordion players and instrumentalists who shared her carnival-esque vision, and Rupa and the April Fishes were born. When she's not performing for adoring urban weirdos, Marya works as a physician in San Francisco.

- Sarah Bardeen