The backwoods of American music may be the last hidden realm of exotica left in
the world. Brian Eno collaborator Leo Abrahams, Beck producer Tom Rothrock,
ambient artist Kaya Project and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell have all tapped into
a bucolic Americana, from country to rural blues, Appalachian banjo music to
bluegrass fiddle cadences. But few have embraced this concept more than
Fernwood, a band led by multi-instrumentalists Gayle Ellett and Todd Montgomery.
They play stringed instruments from around the world whether it's a dilruba or
banjo, sitar or guitar.

On their debut Almeria, they established the template for a global Americana
music, mixing banjo and bouzouki, sitar and mandolin into a soundscape that's as
sweet as a country fiddle tune and as beguiling as a raga. In a way, they're the
American version of Iceland's Amiina, creating a gentle, slightly surreal sound
like a music box with Indian tines being cranked in the Ozarks. Sangita takes a
while to work its charms. Melodies are embedded in an intricate interplay of
strings, like the strumming mandolins of "Mistral," which are topped by a melody
that alternates between sitar and fiddle. Indian ambiences, Appalachian picking
and an elegant European nostalgia converge on "Cimarron," which sounds like a
Nino Rota soundtrack for Fellini, played by a bluegrass band.

Sangita is like an undiscovered musical tributary, a meeting of the Ganges River
with the Swanee River. It's a CD full of sonic details and plaintive melodies.