Sheram

thumb|Sheram on a 2007 Armenian stamp Sheram (, born Grigor Talian; 20 March 1857 – 7 March 1938) was an Armenian composer and bard (ashugh or gusan). A native of Alexandropol (Gyumri), the center of the Armenian ashughs, he received no education and was a self-taught musician. He was one of several Armenian folk musicians who introduced simpler and lighter forms of music and lyrics. Many of his songs remain popular to this day.

==Biography== Sheram, whose birth name was Grigor Talian, was born in Alexandropol (modern-day Gyumri, Armenia, then part of the Russian Empire) on 20 March 1857. In the 19th century, Alexandropol was the center of the Armenian bard community, known as ashughs or gusans. His grandfather, Kyamali, was also an ashugh. Grigor's father died when he was ten years old, after which he was apprenticed to various craftsmen. He made his own saz and tar and taught himself how to play. He began composing songs at the age of twelve or thirteen. He joined the itinerant trio of the kamancha player Chungur Hago, traveling to Erivan (Yerevan), Tiflis (Tbilisi), Baku, Astrakhan, Shusha, Kars and other cities where Armenians lived. He also started his own music group.