HBCVibes Artist Spotlight: Zaib Khan

I’m starting to notice a pattern, the Monday Night open mics in New York City seem to be when all the best talent pops up.  I’ve written a couple of posts in the past few months about various artists I’ve seen take the open mic stage but last Monday at the Sidewalk Cafe in the East Village, I saw some truly jaw dropping talent.

It almost feels strange watching someone who should be, and likely will soon be big, sing a two song set amongst the rest of us.  But Zaib Khan, the Atlanta native singer/songwriter gave us a full eight minutes of soulful intimate music, with nothing but a guitar and his voice to deliver it.  I was so moved by the performance that I felt compelled to go up and ask the only thing I could think of, “do you have an album?”  The good news for myself and anyone who appreciates good soulful singer/songwriter music is that he does, in fact you can find it here.

Zaib Khan and his brother/manager were up in NYC playing open mics all over town trying to get his sound out there.  To their credit, the Sidewalk is a great place to start and notorious for being the birthplace of a lot of successful music careers.  There was a ton of talent in the room that night but Khan stood out, bringing a blend of jazz, soul, and country to a stage that rarely houses such a sound.  With a voice reminiscent of Amos Lee and some very clear proficiency with a guitar, he shut up the often hard to impress crowd at the Sidewalk.  What I was most impressed with, was the uniqueness of his sound, he wasn’t playing covers, and it didn’t seem like he was copying or sticking to strongly to any one person’s influence, it was a new experience hearing him play.

Khan is one of many extremely talented musicians out there trying to make a name for themselves.  Playing open mics in new towns or cities is a great way to do it and I’m extremely excited that I was in the right place at the right time to make this discovery.  For those of you who are looking for a video to get to know this artist’s sound, look no further.  This tune is one of my favorites off of Zaib Khan’s debut self-titled album.  It’s called “The Wind,” enjoy.

-Ryan Schmitz