Aayushi Karnik grew up in perhaps the most untraditional place for a blues guitarist: Surat, India. Despite that, the 29 year old Karnik sounds like a young Stevie Ray Vaughn or John Mayer. On her debut album “Troublemaker,” she showcases her generational talent alongside two New York City veterans, Todd Turkishir (drums) and Gregory Jones (bass). Karnik originally hails from a town called Surat in Gujarat, Western India. As she describes, “It is a dry state, so there are no night clubs to perform. I was mostly a bedroom shredder imagining that I'm playing on a stage.” Despite the limited exposure to Western music, Karnik started out playing a lot of acoustic guitar, singing, and songwriting, but her musical trajectory began to change when she attended blues festivals in Mumbai, which included acts like Buddy Guy, Derek Trucks, Eric Gales, and homegrown Indian blues artists.