How 12 years in India changed this Boston musician’s sound

From street performers to world-class musicians, the Boston music scene is alive and well — and it’s springing back to life.

GBH’s All Things Considered loves to showcase some of the incredible and abundant talent that fills the city. One of them, Boston native and Berklee alum Zachary Ray, joined host Arun Rath in-studio to perform his new song “Cloud 9” with guitarist Santiago.

Arun Rath: The first thing I’ve got to ask you about is: you’re a local musician, but your music career has taken you all across the world. And I’ve got to ask you, being Indian, you spent some years in Mumbai?

Zachary Ray: Yes. So a good portion of my years were in Mumbai and in the city of Kolkata. I went to visit, and then, 12 years later, I’ve been there for 12 years. So it kind of went by pretty fast.

Rath: Mumbai, I actually don’t know very well. But Kolkata has so much culture — bursting at the seams. When people think about Indian music, they probably think about classical or Bollywood. But there’s a lot of the music that you play, as well.

Ray: I’ve had the privilege to work with musicians and artists that you could put their songs on the radio in the States, and they would do really, really well. It’s an incredible thing to work with musicians cross-culturally and be able to write with musicians. So yeah, I really enjoyed my time there.

Rath: What would you say you picked up during your time in India? I know from your vocal stylings that there’s — well, there’s a way a singer owns a song.

Ray: Actually, I moved to India when I was 24. I’m 36 now, so it’s been a while. I feel like I grew up a lot in India — and especially as a musician, most of my performances have been in India. Most of the songs that I co-write, that I’ve written, have been in India. So I definitely grew as an artist and as a songwriter in India. It’s been an incredible journey to be able to do that.

Rath: What’s one of the most remarkable experiences you’ve had? One of your best experiences performing?

Ray: Years ago, I was able to go to a small village outside of the city of Kolkata. It was called Shantiniketan.

Rath: That’s a magical place.

Ray: It really is. And Rabindranath Tagore —

Rath: India’s greatest poet and songwriter.

Ray: We went there for a weekend, and there’s a community of musicians called the Baul singers. Basically, you go to where they live and perform. You have dinner, you’re watching them perform. And they found out that the group of us that were there were also musicians, so we kind of went back and forth with songs that we wrote, songs that they’re singing. That was an incredible experience to be able to do that, because there’s so much history with the Baul singers in West Bengal and in Kolkata.

Rath: Yeah, they’re incredible folk singers, and it’s just ecstatic, just blissed-out, wonderful, beautiful singing that really comes from the heart, so I could see how that could appeal. Tell us about the song that you’re going to perform for us.

Ray: This is a song called “Cloud 9.” I actually wrote this in Seattle, Washington.

Rath: On a cloudy day?

Ray: Yeah, on a cloudy day, a rainy day. And I didn’t release it; I kind of kept it in my computer, and I brought it with me back to India. I brought all the stems, all the recordings of all the instruments. I have two friends that are actually on the original. We actually recorded this song in Mumbai. So we recorded their vocals, recorded my vocals. There’s a singer, Shreya Bhattacharya — she’s actually from Kolkata but now lives in Mumbai — and then a friend of mine, Bernard, and they’re both featured on it.

It’s a cool song because it’s a collaboration with artists, but I also wrote it in the States, brought it back to Mumbai and recorded it in a studio in Mumbai. It’s a fun song. I released it just a few months ago, and it was a fun song to work with other people on, too.