Ashesh and Nekhvam, a blues rock sensation from Nepal has just returned from its 70-day New Spirit Europe Tour 2011 in Norway, Scotland, England and Germany.

Ashesh and Nekhvam is the first Nepali band and the first blues rock band from Asia to play in the biggest festival and venues like Fabrik in Germany and Edinburgh. They also performed at the Blues and Balance in Husvaer, Norway, It's All Gravy Festival in England and the Remember Jimi Festival in Germany.

Their numbers like 'Leeches Blues', 'In Search of Freedom' and 'Sound of Innocence' got rave reviews from European fans. 'Sound of Innocence' was composed and written in Norway and was dedicated to the victims of the 22 July terrorist attack in Norway.

The exotic Nepali band got lots of media coverage with critics calling Ashesh 'the Jimi Hendrix from Kathmandu'. 'Last year it was a big surprise for Fabrik because of the amazing performance by Ashesh and Nekhvam,' wrote the German media, 'and this year again it's been one of the greatest surprise �the band from Nepal has amazing energy.' In Fehmarn in Germany, the Nepali band also played tributes to Jimi Hendrix to loud applause and shouts for an encore.

The Kathmandu-based band was started 17 years ago and has Ashesh Dangol on guitar and vocal, Pujan Shrestha on bass, and Rajiv Tuladhar on drums. New Spirit, the group's third album, fuses blues with rock.

The band's Norwegian sponsor is Jon Gandal, who first heard Ashesh in a Thamel bar and brought him to Norway for a concert in tribute to his mountaineer twin brother who drowned in a tragic accident.

Says Gandal: "Ashesh is an amazingly passionate blues player and you can sense his passion that harks back to the original African-American roots of this genre of music."

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