Orlando duo Ghost Peppers’ bold release blends South Asian and Western folk sounds

While many artists dare to cross genres, few cross worlds like new local band Ghost Peppers. With a founding concept that blends South Asian music with Western folk, their inter- sectional sound is a bridge that’s simultaneously conscious and novel.

Although technically fusion, the most remarkable thing about Ghost Peppers’ music is its deemphasis on the seams. On their brand-new debut EP, Red, lead singer Amrita Ghosh and multi-instrumentalist Kevin Meehan tap into the folk veins of these music heritages to forge fresh, unexpected connections between traditions as far apart as classic Indian Tagore songs and Americana.

Ghost Peppers’ duality is upfront, with bilingual titles for all three tracks on their EP (“Jao Cheray/Waiting for Goodbye,” “Ek Dhaaga/The Calling” and “Azaadi/Liberation”). But even with multiple languages in each song, there’s continu- ity of soul. While the words slip back and forth between Bengali, Urdu and English, Ghosh and Meehan sing from the same emotional place.

The result is a space of lovely symbiosis rather than clunky collision. Like culturally studious and astute acts like Khruangbin, Ghost Peppers strike more gold in the in-between than at the poles of their perspectives.

Released on Sugar City Music, the Red EP now streams everywhere. Locally, Ghost Peppers’ release party is this weekend at Winter Park folk-art haven Maya Café Lounge & Gallery, where they’ll perform the EP live along with songs that’ll be released later this year on a full-length album. (7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 14)

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This article appears in Feb 12-18, 2025.