 As Kindred Spirits was founded in 1998 by Gaura Vani and Shyam Kishore to bring kirtan, a genre of spiritual music from India, to the United States.The music "combines traditional Indian kirtan music with Western elements such as 12-string guitar, gospel choruses, and hip-hop rhythms".Gaura Vani was born in Los Angeles, but at the age of six, moved to Vrindavan, India to study sacred music at a gurukula.