About
Amarrass, comprising the Amarrass Society for Performing Arts and the Amarrass Records label, is a folk-music preservation organisation founded around 2008 by Ankur Malhotra and Ashutosh Sharma. Dedicated to reviving India's roots music, it scouts and records folk masters, supports musicians and instrument-makers on a fair-trade model, and has carried Rajasthani folk to global acclaim.
Inspired by the archival spirit of figures like Alan Lomax, Amarrass began around 2008 and, from 2010, drove village to village across the deserts of Rajasthan recording masters such as the Sindhi sarangi virtuoso Lakha Khan. Building a fair-trade label that even cuts its own vinyl, it launched the Amarrass Desert Music Festival, mentored communities such as the Manganiyars, and formed the Barmer Boys, whom it took from a stage debut to festivals like Roskilde, revitalising interest in India's folk heritage at home and abroad.
Founding & Leadership
Self-funded through record sales, festivals and a fair-trade model that returns value to artists and instrument-makers.
Leadership & Trustees
Cultural Funding
Recognition
[{"name": "Widely covered for its role in preserving and globalising Indian folk music", "year": "", "note": "NPR, Rolling Stone India and others"}]
Amarrass has been a significant force in preserving and revitalising India's folk and roots music, creating sustainable, dignified pathways for rural musicians and instrument-makers and bringing traditions like Rajasthani folk to national and global audiences.
[Atlas Perspective] Amarrass is a cultural operator that supports artists directly, through recording, archiving, festivals and a fair-trade model, rather than a grant-giving funder. Its artist-first, preservation-led approach is exactly the kind of work the ecosystem needs, and it is a natural partner for folk-arts documentation and rural-musician livelihoods.