Till the other day I had no idea who Bobby Cash was! So last Saturday when I received an invitation from Guwahati Music Society to attend a musical evening by Bobby Cash, I didn't know what to expect. Small writeups appeared in the local newspapers about Bobby Cash - that he's the only international country music singer from India who has attained worldwide fame, he has particularly received wide recognition in Australia where he participated in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2003 and ever since it has been a success story all the way for Bobby Cash.  As our country's population had just crossed one billion mark, and Bobby was the only person in India making a living by performing country music, he became "The Indian Cowboy...One in a Billion".

All that was fine, but was he really that good? Can an Indian really attain so much popularity internationally in the genre of country music? If he is so good, why haven't we heard about him before? - All these questions crowded my mind while making a plan for the Saturday evening.  Guwahati Music Society has always promoted good western music and we had a lot of faith on their choice. And since entry was free and we had nothing better to do, we decided to attend the program.

Saturday evening came - balmy, cool and clear (after heavy showers the previous couple of days) - when a motley crowd of country music lovers turned up at the venue. The program started a little late than the given time due to a delay in Bobby's arrival. But the moment he walked on to the stage with his trademark cowboy hat, boots and jeans, with his guitar in hand, a hush fell over the audience. And from the moment his fingers started strumming his guitar and his deep sonorous voice filled the shamiana, we just sat spellbound, listening to one song after another, being transported to a world of pure melody and nostalgia. He sang almost all the songs we grew up with - "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Angelo", "Summer Wine", "Anne's Song", "Take me home, country road", "He'll have to go", "It's now or never", "You look wonderful tonight" and many many more. No backup vocals, no backup orchestra - only Bobby and his guitar! He has a terrific voice and on top of that, he is an amazing guitar player. You'll have to see him playing the guitar  personally to know how good he is with the guitar and it's not hard to realise why Australia has welcomed this talented country singer to their fold.

He sang non-stop for almost two hours. In between all the popular country songs, he also sang some of his own compositions. It was really an evening to remember - all the day-to-day rigmarole forgotten, bringing back to our memories the carefree days of our youth when all those romantic songs used to hold special meanings for each one of us! For a magical time as if we each were transported back in time to those fun-filled days of our youth!

Now I've become a Bobby Cash fan for life. I have already visited his website and learnt some more about him. Born in Clement Town near Dehradun as Bal Kishore Das Loiwal in a family where country music played an intrinsic part, Bobby grew up listening to country music. His father used to call him "Babu" which became "Bobby" - and Kishore became "Kish" which eventually became "Cash"! He started his career as a professional musician in Delhi. After briefly dabbling in "Hindi Pop", he returned to his first love country music. A chance meeting with an Australian Producer/Director in 2002 in Delhi took him to Australia in 2003 where he participated in the Tamworth Country Music Festival and since then there has been no looking back for Bobby Cash. Australia has become his second home and he is tremendously popular there.

So, folks, if you ever get a chance to hear Bobby Cash, don't miss it! I can tell you, you'll love his music!