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Lift the ban on YouTube: Artists in Pakistan speak outLift the ban on YouTube: Artists in Pakistan speak out

Posted By Emily McManus

As a young musician in Pakistan, TED Fellow Usman Riaz learned to play in the percussive guitar style by watching YouTube videos of Kaki King and her influences, including the founder of the technique, Preston Reed. Now, Riaz is among the artists and musicians calling for Pakistan to lift its seven-month-old ban on YouTube. Talking […]

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Young musicians who’ve shared a stage with their idolsYoung musicians who’ve shared a stage with their idols

Posted By Kate Torgovnick

When 21-year-old guitar whiz Usman Riaz was growing up in Pakistan, he often found himself entranced by videos of Preston Reed, one of the pioneers of fingerstyle guitar. As a longtime admirer of Reed’s unique rhythms and plucky sounds, Riaz calls the experience of actually sharing a stage with him at TEDGlobal 2012 “very surreal.” […]