Building the momentum in what’s been a very busy year, Sahej Bakshi, aka electronic producer and guitarist Dualist Inquiry has just announced his tour schedule for November.

The Independence “I-Rock” Rock festival is back in its 26th year with lots of changes, including a new name – MTV Independence Rock. The music fest also will be broadcast on national television (MTV and VH1) for the first time. Additionally, Epiphone Guitars will be on board as guitar partner with the festival this year. Winners stand to win an electric and bass guitar from Epiphone.

The Asian Awards 2011 honored sitarist-composer Ravi Shankar and singer Asha Bhosle among other South Asians. Ravi Shankar won The Fellowship Award for pioneering work in bringing Indian music to the West and singer Asha Bhosle was awarded with the Kingfisher Airlines Lifetime Achievement Award.

Keith Richards has tossed out some hope to fans wanting to see The Rolling Stones reconvene next year for a 50th anniversary tour. In a just-published interview with GQ, Richards said down-time from the Stones is a bit like “being in purgatory.” “Next year is sort of up for grabs,” he said. “It’s almost an overwhelming power – it’ll be 50 years. So there’s that sort of pressure. If I can pull them together, I’m there.”

Gibson Guitar has announced Gibson Through the Lens, a world-class photographic exhibition featuring 60 vintage and rare photographs. This unique exhibit will be open to the public at The British Music Experience in London’s O2 Arena from Monday, November 7 through January 31.

Delhi-based Hindi rock act Sifar recently uploaded their debut album 1 for 2,000 of their fans to download for free. The resulting rush caused a traffic overload on the website’s server, forcing a temporary shutdown.

Veteran guitarist and the man behind the Axe-Tortion series of gigs, Chandresh Kudwa is ready with his second solo album Conqueror. The album will be launched at the next Axe-Tortion gig on November 1 at Mumbai’s Blue Frog.

Gibson Les Paul legend guitarist Slash has completed the first recording session for his second solo album at Barefoot Recording in Hollywood, California, with producer Eric Valentine. Joining Slash in the studio are the members of his touring band: vocalist Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge), rhythm guitarist Bobby Schneck, bassist Todd Kerns (ex-Age of Electric) and drummer Brent Fitz (formerly of Theory of a Deadman).

Times Music has released a tribute album to honor ghazal king Jagjit Singh who recently passed away at the age of 70 after being admitted into a hospital for brain hemorrhage. The album is devotional in nature and is titled A Spiritual Journey. The two-disc set contains a compilation of his bhajans, chants and sankirtan. The album contains chants including “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna”, “Om Jaap”, “Jai Shri Ram Surmala” and “Arogya Mantra”.

Indian band Euphoria have finally launched their fifth album, Item, five years after their album Mehfuz released. The album was launched at Hard Rock Café, in Mumbai under the Universal Music label. Sonu Nigam, Shamir Tandon, Wajit, Manasi Scott and Mukti Mohan attended the launch where the band performed a few of their popular songs.