Mandolinist, guitarist & singer-songwriter based in
Boston & Kathmandu, Nepal.
Zoe Levitt is an Americana singer/songwriter and mandolinist currently splitting her time between Boston and Kathmandu. As a solo artist, she performs haunting originals, while as a mandolinist her recent collaborations include co-founding the Bluegrass & Nepali Folk fusion band Manaslu Blue and the all-female folk band Ama Yangri in Nepal. She currently performs in the US with the newly formed band Himalayan Highway, a collaboration continuing her efforts to bring together Nepali and American folk traditions. Zoe’s direct and powerful songs touch on everyday experiences and personal struggles; she uses as a platform to address social justice issues. With her haunting yet bittersweet voice, reminiscent of Natalie Merchant and Joni Mitchell, Zoe delivers lyrics of hope and resilience accompanied by gorgeous melodies.
Zoe grew up playing bluegrass with her father in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She graduated with a degree in geology from MIT and moved to Nepal to pursue music -- her journey was recently profiled by MIT News. She has performed at venues across the US and Nepal including at Club Passim, Moksh, MIT, and Berklee. She has collaborated with many well-known Nepali bands including Kutumba and Kanta dAb dAb. As a social justice songwriter she has performed at Nirbhaya’s Women in Concert, the Boston Area Rape Crisis Center’s Walk for Change, and the MIT Monologues. When not performing, she can be found jamming with friends, hiking to look at rocks, or baking.
Himalayan Highway
Nepali-American Folk Fusion Band
Sweet Nell (US) & Bajho Khetma (Nepal)
Man Chade (Nepal) & Squirrel Hunters (US)
From geology at MIT to music in Nepal
Fieldwork campfire jam sessions and geology lessons helped inspire senior Zoe Levitt to pursue songwriting full time.
“I was always really driven by the melodies of compositions, but I never really paid attention to the words,” says Zoe Levitt, who is pursuing songwriting full time after graduation. “I was going through a pretty tough time and ended up starting to write songs to process what was happening.” -- Paige Crowley, MIT News
Read the full article here