Aldoush

Aldoush, who started singing at 16 and picked up the guitar at age 22 -- he's in his mid-40's -- was initially attracted to Western music.

Ironically, he gravitated toward Persian music after he left Iran in 1978. "In 1987 I returned home. Upon entering Iran I became a child within a dreamleand.

I was drenched in a waterfall of beautiful music and culture that had previously been invisible to me during my youth," he says.

Aldoush has married Persian and Western music in a way that is neither out of place nor artificial. He is true to both cultures. Although his music is not for everyone -- some may find it repetitive and at times dragged out -- he has proved that you can make great music away from home. Maybe the key is to be at peace with the fact that you now have a new home and appreciate its great culture and music along with your own.