LEWISBURG - Since coming together in October 2008, the band members of Red Baraat have spread their talent all over the world.
And now they are coming here.
The Brooklyn-based band will perform at Bucknell University as part of the kick off celebration for the Weis Center's new season. The performance will take place at 6 p.m. Friday in the Weis Center for Performing Arts.
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The nine-piece band is comprised of Sunny Jain, who plays the dhol (a doubled-sided barrel shaped North Indian drum slung over one shoulder) and is MC; Rohin Khemani, percussion; Tomas Fujiwara, drumset; Alex Hamlin, soprano saxophone; Sonny Singh, trumpet and vocals; MiWi La Lupa, bass trumpet and vocals; Ernest Stuart, trombone; and Ben Stapp, sousaphone.
Jain, who has an Indian-American background, formed Red Baraat with the hope of combining the brass band sounds from the streets in India with the American sounds of funk, jazz, go-go, hip hop and rock.
Jain said Red Baraat originated with the intentions of being an acoustic band that would perform with a wide variety of musical voices and no electrified instruments, simply the sounds of drums and horns.
"It's the guys in the band that collectively make up the sound of Red Baraat," Jain said.
Jain said that the music he grew up listening to was an influence on his compositional process.
Most of the members of Red Baraat have a background in jazz music, which is a crucial component to their original sound.
"There is a mash of global influence entering into Red Baraat's sound and it's something that's just developed organically, as a band playing together a lot," Jain said.
Growing up, Jain faced the challenge of sticking out. In his early days, these experiences manifested themselves in his music.
Jain said that music is magical for him and is part of what he loves about it.
"Expressing myself and communicating with people through sound; translating and sharing a moment; the ability that music has to transcend politics, religion and division and to instead unify people for the sole purpose and sake of a musical adventure, a journey," he said about what music means to him.
Jain said he is intrigued by how other people say they experience Red Baraat's music.
"It is fascinating to communicate with our listeners and hear how they thought the music sounded and how it affected them," Jain said.
The band's debut album, "Chaal Baby," released in 2010, was voted by several music critics as one of the top world and jazz releases of that year. The title track, "Chaal Baby," is used as the background music for the promotional ads for the hit FX television show, "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia."
The band is working on the release of their second studio album, which will be out in January 2013.
Jain said the group is looking forward to touring, performing and building a community of fans that will spread the message of joy, expression and tolerance.
Together, they aim to have a good time when they perform and to give nothing less than 100 percent every time they hit the stage.
Jain said the band believes that is a gift to them to be able to travel and meet so many people along the way.
With their first performance in this area, Jain said the group is "looking forward to bringing our music to a new audience and having a blast together."
