A Nepali-American Folk Fusion Band
Hailing from Kathmandu, Nepal, Himalayan Highway (formerly Manaslu Blue) is a folk fusion band that is reimagining timeless melodies by melding the infectious harmonies of American Bluegrass & Old-Time with the vibrant sounds of Nepali Folk Music. Zoe Levitt, an American mandolinist, and Prince Nepali, a fourth-generation sarangi player, found an instant musical connection with their shared love of traditional music when they met in Kathmandu. Together, they formed Himalayan Highway to explore the surprising tonal similarities between Nepali and American folk music and the exciting possibilities generated by fusing these two genres from across the globe. With their infectious harmonies and groovy beats, Himalayan Highway brings a unique and innovative collaboration to the contemporary global music scene.
The band features Prince Nepali on sarangi, Zoe Levitt on mandolin, Anish Tamang on guitar, and Yuson Maharjan on percussion (dhime, madal, tabla, cymbal, and chimes). They made a splash in the Kathmandu music scene in the fall of 2022 when they received a tremendous response for their debut performance as the featured band at the Namlo Music Hub festival. Their subsequent concert at Moksh received rave reviews from both the Himalayan Times and the Nepali Times. The band is looking forward to sharing their captivating music with audiences worldwide and is excited to begin recording their debut album later this year.
Meet the Band!
Prince Nepali
Born into the Gandharba folk music tradition of Nepal, Prince Nepali is the fourth generation in his family to play the sarangi — a unique bowed instrument from Nepal. He began playing music at the age of four with his father, renowned sarangi player Shyam Nepali, and quickly developed a style of his own. Prince has brought the sarangi to many different styles of music including jazz, irish fiddling, folk music from Azerbaijan, and accompanying Nepali-Indian singer-songwriters. He performs regularly with internationally known artists such as Bipul Chettri, Ani Choying Drolma (UNICEF National Ambassador) and Deepak Bajracharaya. He has performed on stages worldwide including in Australia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Japan and many more.
In addition to performing, Prince is a sought-after sarangi instructor and music educator. He has taught sarangi to the musical troops of the Nepali army, currently teaches early music education at the Kevin Rohan Memorial Eco Foundation (a renowned Waldorf school in Nepal), and is the founder of Sarangi Ghar, an initiative to share sarangi music worldwide.
Zoe Levitt
Currently based in Kathmandu, Zoe Levitt grew up playing bluegrass and folk music in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She began writing songs in 2020 while studying with Celia Woodsmith of Della Mae and in 2022, after graduating from MIT with a degree in geology, she decided to pursue music and songwriting full-time – her journey was recently profiled by MIT News. She received Passim’s Iguana fund scholarship at MIles of Music camp and was awarded an MIT Eloranta Fellowship for her project Healing Through Song. She has performed at Club Passim, MIT, Berklee College of Music, and Sofar Sounds Kathmandu. She teaches mandolin guitar and singing, including as an instructor at the Grey Fox and Joe Val Bluegrass festival kids academies.
Anish Tamang
A rising Multi-Instrumentalist, producer and session artist in the Kathmandu music scene, Anish Tamang is a self-taught musician who started playing the guitar at the young age of 5. Anish plays a variety of genres, including Korean Classical, Jazz, Gospel, R&B, Indie, and many others. He has performed with renowned artists such as Shyam Nepali, Ani Choying Drolma and Anil Shahi. He has also contributed as the Music Director and Audio Engineer for Psalms Unplugged, a Nepali Christian project built on cooperation and collaboration with Nepalese Christian worship leaders, vocalists, worship team, and bands.
Yuson Maharjan
Yuson Maharjan is a passionate and experienced percussionist whose playing incorporates many different percussion instruments including the Indian Tabla, Nepali Madal, Dhimey, and Khin, and Western cymbals. Yuson has brought the percussions to a broad range of music styles including Classical, Jazz, Folk, Arabic, Latin etc. He currently performs with Vairabi, The Triplets, Ashish Maharjan's Essence and is a former percussionist in the band Lakhey. He has collaborated with many reputed national and international artists including Albatross, Diwas Gurung, Underside, Tropic Greens (a Jazz band from Singapore), Souls Band (Bangladesh), and Emad Gabra (Egypt). He has performed on many national and international stages including in India and Germany. Yuson received his Masters in Tabla performance from Tribhuvan University. He is a sought-after percussion instructor and music educator who has taught music students and enthusiasts from all over the world (including the UK, Malaysia, China, and Taiwan).
