The North East has consistently produced music that is synonymous with brilliance. Besides soloist and groups, several all-women bands are proliferating.2020 saw Mercy Tetseo from the quartet being awarded Women Super Achiever at the World Leadership Congress 2020 and Northeast Young Hero 2020 in Music & Entertainment.

The Tetseo Sisters are a household name that performs traditional Naga music. They hail from the Chakhesang tribe; the sisters come from a small village in a town called Thüvopisü in Nagaland.

The quartet consists of four sisters, Mütsevelü (Mercy), Azine (Azi), Kuvelü (Kuku) and Alüne (Lulu). Their genre is folk – traditional Naga folk songs in particular. They are trained in performing Li songs of Chakesang tribe by their parents who have been actively involved in the cultural revival movement of Nagaland. An ‘a cappella’ style of singing combined with storytelling  and the occasional use of one-stringed instrument 'tati' or 'heka libuh' (mithun horn), their compositions are mostly lores on Nagaland. Some of the folksongs they sing have been compiled in the traditional songbook, ‘Li kukre kutiko’.

The Sisters continue to find and learn Li and also perform folk fusion and a bit of English pop, choral and gospel music, including original compositions too.

Their journey started with learning folk songs to dance to for a cultural dance competition in school and from there on it took off to appearances on local TV, school functions and eventually official state programs, cultural exchange programs and festivals, performing the beautiful folk songs of their land for the world to hear.

Besides a large discography of music over the years, their EP A Slice of Li released in late 2019 features some of their concert favourites. During the pandemic they released 2 singles in English and Chokri Naga, Say yes to life written to commemorate the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Trafficking, and Road to Somewhere their first trilingual rap song about friendship, travel and zeal for life. Latè Ve té ho (Stop! Enough), an anthem of protest against violence especially sexual violence against women.

The Tetseo Sisters often accompanied by their brother guitaristMhaseve, have performed at festivals across the globe including the US, UK and other countries.

Photos: Courtesy of the Artist