Devendra Banhart was born in Houston, raised in Venezuela, and named for Indra, the king of the Hindu pantheon. (His middle name is Obi.) He returned to the U.S. and planned to study art in San Francisco but found himself spending more time busking than studying. He wasn't searching for the big time, but recording companies quickly realized that his music wasn't like anything else out there. People called it psychedelic folk, freak-folk, or New Weird America, by analogy with Greil Marcus's "Old Weird America" term for the more fantastic branches of the folk tradition. Devendra began touring internationally in 2002 and quickly gained a cadre of devoted fans. His new album "What Will We Be," is a sunny, breezy affair with the artist's characteristic low-tech style. It's his sixth full-length release and his first for the Warner Brothers label, and Devendra Banhart's Ark debut is cause for a celebration in itself!