About PLAY IT BY EAR

PLAY IT BY EAR is a weekly essay from Sandy Asirvatham (aka Sandhya), American writer, singer-songwriter, pianist, composer/arranger, producer, occasional bookkeeper, and novice mixologist.

Reviewing her fierce new art-rock album, INNOCENT MONSTER, Splice Today calls it "an absorbing mix of lyricism and cynicism, displaying unflappable resilience amid somber contemplation...laced with the caustic humor, leavened with experience, and sliced into tuneful packets." And Rolling Stone India notes its “irreverence…in sonic styles and witty lyrics.”

In the late 90s-early 00s, she wrote a provocative column for the now late, great Baltimore CityPaper called UNDERWHELMED, twice the recipient of Maryland Journalist Association awards and a well-remembered piece of Charm City culture. This blog is essentially its reincarnation.

Sandhya has been recording and performing both original and cover music since 2007, albeit on the attenuated timeline required by parenthood. Now with her one son fledged, and the new fuel of middle-age ambition, she’s going all out for big love, world concert-tour domination, and an endless supply of Luxardo cherries.