Mark out May 24-26 in your calendars, especially if you live in the furnace that is guaranteed to be North India at the height of summer. Solace is just a few hours away in the pleasant Himalayan foothills of Naukuchiatal. The sixth iteration of the annual multi-stage Escape Festival is scheduled to take place on those dates.

Indian Idol is back, this time to bring talented children to the forefront. Over a thousand children took part in the first round of auditions at the Nokia Expo Center, and auditions are covering over thirty cities across India.

Kailash Kher and his band Kailasa will be teaming up with Malwa, Madhya Pradesh-based Padmashree award winning folk singer Shri. Prahlad Tipanya for an album. They will be singing Kabir vani in a Sufi style.

As reported by OK Magazine, the hook-up occurred at the city’s Ambassador Theatre in London during a concert staged by McCartney’s son, James.

Bangalore 4 April, Thursday: Indigo Children @ Hard Rock Café 5 April, Friday: Singer Songwriters Night feat. Michael Dias, Alexis D’Souza, Siddhant Shukla, Deepak Raghu @ BFlat 6 April, Saturday: Jekyll & Hyde Loud & Clear EP launch @ BFlat

The second edition of the Area79 Music And Arts Festival, set to take place at Blue Frog’s Delhi outpost on April 13, recently announced its line-up of artists.

Headbanger’s Kitchen, for those not already in the know, is Indian metal vet (and accomplished chef) Sahil Makhija’s online metal cooking show. And by ‘metal cooking show’ we mean Makhija (or The Demonstealer, as he’s popularly known in metal circles) prepares metal-themed dishes – ‘Undying Meatzza’ and ‘Voodoo Mutton’ are two examples – and then interviews metal musicians.

Always ready to align with social causes, Bangalore folk-rock act Swarathma were invited to be part of urban think tank BMW Guggenheim Lab when it traveled to Mumbai in December last year. That involvement resulted in collaborative song inspired by the city of Mumbai titled ‘Iss Sheher’ that Swarathma wrote and recorded specifically for the project.

Top gigs in India including Indigo Children and Bomb Thursdays.

Given that guitarist/producer Keshav Dhar started Skyharbor as a bedroom project just two years ago, the band’s progress keeps hitting impressive new highs. In this time, Skyharbor has expanded from Dhar’s bedroom into a full-fledged progressive metal act with members in three different continents. Skyharbor’s debut album Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos has inspired a devoted fan following across the world and has enabled the band to score massive gigs like opening for Lamb Of God in India and the Euroblast Festival in Germany.