Tashi Dorji
Tashi Dorji is a Bhutanese-born, Asheville-based experimental guitarist whose fiercely intuitive improvisations have carved out a unique space in the contemporary avant-garde and improvised music. He has toured widely for many years, recently in August 2025 opening for Bonnie “Prince” Billy on an east coast US tour. He has also supported Godspeed You! Black Emperor on their European tours since 2015, bringing his raw improvisation to massive audiences.
His expansive discography includes deeply felt solo works like Stateless (2020), We Will Be Wherever the Fires Are Lit (2024), and his newest album Low Clouds Hang, This Land Is on Fire (2026) on Drag City. Dorji is one half of MANAS, the dynamic improvising duo with drummer Thom Nguyen, and a founding member of the free jazz trio KUZU, alongside saxophonist Dave Rempis and drummer Tyler Damon. His collaborators span a wide spectrum, from Mette Rasmussen, Susie Ibarra, and Joe McPhee to more recent partnerships with Tony Buck, Terrie Ex, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Steve Noble.
Across his solo and group projects, Dorji’s playing is rooted in alternate tunings, prepared guitar, and spontaneous gesture which articulates an aesthetic of resistance, deep listening, and collective transformation.
“A particularly potent chapter in Tashi Dorji’s ongoing re-writing of possibilities for the six-string... those ‘incorrect’ chords, buzzing and hammered repeatedly, eradicate hegemonic Western notions of authenticity while insisting on music’s equity.”
