Sisters with a yen for folk!

These four sisters are bringing folk music back into our lives. The sisters who hail from Nagaland, are famously known to music lovers as the Tetseo Sisters. With one of them busy enjoying motherhood — Azi, it’s the other three Mercy, Kuvelu and Alune Tetseo who have been touring all over India. They have been doing gigs to huge applauses across the country. “Music has always taken us to different places,” says the trio.

The sisters have so far performed at multiple cities including the NH7 2014 in Pune. They have also performed at the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo 2014 in Scotland. But what is most cherished by these Nagaland girls is when they sang the national anthem  at the ProKabbadi League Match 2015. “We also sang at the Lakme Fashion Week in February,” says Mercy.

Having parents who have always been into both choral and folk music was the perfect foundation for these crooners, and that is where they cultivated a love for these genres. “Our Sunday evenings were mini concerts in the family living room and so much fun with new songs, dancing and storytelling sessions with cousins and extended family as the audience, and participants as well,” says Kuvelu.

While a feather in their cap is being awarded Trailblazers 2013 in music in Nagaland and also the Eastern Panorama Award for excellence in music in the Northeast 2014, theirs is a journey that has just started.

The Tetseo sisters do more than just folk music as they believe that their songs talk about life, love, nature, relationships, history, people and mostly happy things that reflect on a meaningful life! About the challenges along the way, Mercy optimistically says, “Every gig is a logistical struggle and so much work goes into each show. We feel that we have to prove ourselves every time we go onstage. Yet, we look forward to connecting with our audience and to let the music create the magic intended but for that to happen many things need to fall into place — so many things happen behind the scenes! However, when the music is real and from the heart, you find people who root for you and make things happen.” Even though music is their bread and butter, their passion and life, they still do other things which keep them occupied, Alune gives us details about her sisters, “Mercy loves writing and enjoys photography. Kuvelu is a fashion blogger and social media influencer.” Alune is pursuing studies while Azi’s forays into motherhood have totally taken up all her time. “In our free time, we watch movies, travel, read and write, cook and spend time with our parents and chill with our little nephews,” adds Alune. A bright future awaits these girls and as for where they see themselves in a couple of years, Kuvelu says that they want to, “Play at as many venues as possible — national and international. Record and release more albums and build on our body of work as well as explore more collaborative projects.”