Gurung was a rising star in the Nepali adhunik scene, until he left for the US in 2007. Many of his songs, such as Yaha Yestai Chha, Malai Chaadi Najau and Reshamiko Pachhauryi, were mainstays on the local radio and TV stations, and the songs were both popular and critically acclaimed. Thus it had come as something of a surprise to the music fraternity here when Gurung decided to stay back in New York and get into the restaurant business.

Gurung first started out in New York as a bar singer at Yeti Nepal-Japan, a fusion restaurant in Jackson Heights, and then went on to buy the restaurant outright, after having worked in the place for five years. He then remodelled it and renamed it Malingo Restaurant—as a sister establishment of the restaurant where he’ll be performing live this week. After taking over the restaurant, he continued hosting music nights and even invited Nepali artistes to come over to the US to perform at his place.

Gurung’s upcoming performance at the Malingo Restaurant here was scheduled to mark the release of his fourth album, Sambandha. The album marks Gurung’s re-entry into the adhunik sphere, after taking a 10-year hiatus from studio work. Gurung, who had strayed into pop territory during his stay abroad, says that over the years he came to realise that the folk-inspired adhunik genre was his true calling and the performance thus marks a return to his roots. Gurung will be performing numbers from his new album, his hit songs from the past and covers of Narayan Gopal’s classics.

The performance begins at 7 pm. Tickets are Rs 1,000 apiece