MUMBAI: Mumbai-based folk singer/songwriter Vernon Noronha, along with his bassist/manager Nathan Patra and local brewery crawl organisers, Almost Indian, have created a live music property called ‘Songwriters Unplugged’. The new live event will kick off its first edition on Thursday, 25 June at The White Owl in Mumbai.

“The main reason to start this IP was to bring the concept of singer/songwriters into the limelight,” explained Noronha. He added, “People are not completely familiar with the term ‘singer/songwriter’. Many times, when singer/songwriters approach venues to perform, they are asked to name their band.”

“I have quite a few friends who write their own songs, however, they are seldom credited as songwriters. But, that has changed over the past couple of years. Slowly, people are opening up to the idea of singer/songwriters. To get more people to start accepting singer/songwriters, Nathan and I decided to develop ‘Songwriters Unplugged’,” the 26-year old musician said.

Noronha also stated that Thursday’s gig would be the first in a series of ‘Songwriters Unplugged’ events. “However, where we go from here and what we do next depends on how we take it forward and convince live music venues on encouraging lesser known singer/songwriters to come out and perform,” he added. He also said that there are plans to take ‘Songwriters Unplugged’ to smaller cities like Pune and others in the future.

It all started when Patra met Almost Indian founder, Sanchit Gupta, last year. Soon after, Gupta, Patra and Noronha got together and discussed the development of ‘Songwriters Unplugged’. Noronha said, with the help of Gupta, Patra and he were able to narrow down a few venues to conduct the first edition of the event.

Noronha also said that the reason they decided to not have the event on a weekend was because weekend party-goers mostly prefer electronic/dance music. “Showcasing a line-up of lesser known singer/songwriters on a Thursday night and that too, at a brewery, is very experimental, and we are waiting to see how the event fares,” said Noronha.

The line-up for this Thursday’s event consists of 16-year old singer/songwriter Rohini Maiti, indie act MizzConceptions frontman Mizael De'rosario and Joel Padikkal, vocalist of blues rock band The Tripp. When asked about this particular line-up selection, Noronha said, “Rohini is just 16 and has about 30 brilliant original songs on SoundCloud; and I love Mizael’s style, he has a very Jimi Hendrix kind of vibe. Joel is a part of The Tripp, which is a really good band.”

‘Songwriters Unplugged’ will majorly be marketed through social media, with digital media being the main target, revealed Noronha. The singer, who performed at NH7 Weekender in 2012 along with Bombay Bicycle Club, Alien Chutney, and former Indian Ocean member Susmit Sen, will also soon release his debut EP ‘Closer To Home’.