Many people have asked me about the name 'Joel Veena', wondering if it is the name of an instrument or a person, and I am writing this in way of explanation. In winter of 2016 I started to perform under the pseudonym Joel Veena. It was suggested to me by my musician friends in Delhi to take a stage name because my surname, Eisenkramer, is not so catchy and has always given presenters difficulty in pronouncing it (my father is also a professional musician and performed for some time as Peter Michaels). 

The word 'veena' comes from Sanskrit and refers to a plucked stringed instrument, of which there are many varieties and variations throughout history (including the contemporary Saraswati veena in popular use in Carnatic music and the Rudra veena played in Dhrupad music). I decided on Joel Veena as an act of respect for this amazing instrument and music. Rather than changing the name of the Indian slide guitar to reflect my identity and contribution to the music, I thought to change my own name. My deep study of this music and instrument has indeed changed me as a person and altered my destiny so profoundly, I can safely say that many of the great blessings of my life started to come to fruition when I dedicated myself to the earnest study of Hindustani classical music. The name is an acknowledgment that I am transformed: I truly believe that this music has so much to offer us in this modern time and that the Indian slide guitar has a unique role to play. Since the Indian slide guitar is an evolution of the guitar, originally modified from the Hawaiian guitars brought to Calcutta in the 1930s, this instrument is especially accessible and fascinating to a very broad audience of people. While many people in countries outside of India curious to learn Indian classical music find sitar and sarod intimidating, the Indian slide guitar is seen as more familiar. Guitar has become the people's instrument the world over and finding strings and accessories for the instrument is relatively easy to do in countries all over the world. 

I mean no disrespect to any of the pioneers of this instrument who wish to call it by another name that credits their innovation; especially Pt. Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, whose recordings were the first to inspire me to try and learn this instrument. As a college student in Delhi in 2007, I bought a CD 'Classics for Pleasure' and it led me to seek out and study this music. I don't wish to debate the name of the instrument but merely to clarify the reasons and intention behind my own name. 

I continue on this path as a perpetual student and strive to be the best representative of the instrument that I possibly can. I travel regularly from the USA to Kolkata to take taleem from my guru Pt. Alok Lahiri. I promote artists from south Asia in the US and provide a platform for their performance in my locality. I help to connect Indian artists with venues to provide letters of invitation for their tours. I act as a resource for Americans trying to learn Indian classical music in the US, connecting students with teachers in India, arranging for instruments and trying to help western students understand more about the culture of music in India. I help students who cannot afford to import an instrument from India to modify their own guitar so that they can get started and try it out. My performances in the west always have an educational quality to try and increase appreciation and understanding of the music in other countries. My goal in the next 10 years is to create an organization which facilitates the healthy and continuous artistic exchange of Indian classical musicians in the US and in India and south Asia, providing platforms, visa assistance, educational outreach and access to authentic teachers. 

I was not born as this person but have been transformed by the music and the instrument. I have dedicated my life to these pursuits and will continue to do so as Joel 'Veena' Eisenkramer. I offer my humble pranam to the great artists who have gone before and wish to be reported as 'present' in the roll call of those who are serving this music with their all in the 21st century.

- Joel 'Veena' Eisenkramer

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Patdeep is a late afternoon raga, we performed as the snow was settling down and the sun was setting. You can watch the full concert on Shanti Mandir Walden’s YouTube page, all beautifully produced by Dipanshu.

It was a great experience performing at Shanti Mandir - I stayed for the weekend and really enjoyed talking with the everyone there, soaking in that peaceful ambience. Being immersed in an environment where everyone was primarily thinking about spiritual topics and meditation was something special. 

Give thanks for life

Man, am I excited to play an in-person concert or what..! You will also be able to watch as a live-stream on the Shanti Mandir YouTube channel. Looking forward to playing for you!

Happy New Year! 

As a way to say 'thank you' for your support of my music during 2021, and as a general prayer of thanksgiving, I will be performing a short live-streaming concert this evening at 6pm EST. 

It's very last minute, as I just thought of it now, but I hope that you can join us. The event is free. If not, the video will remain on YouTube for you to watch at your convenience. 

Click the video above to watch live, click here or tune in on Instagram. 

If you'd like to be involved with supporting my work in the coming year, go ahead and send a donation or click the link above to learn about my patronage hub. The patronage hub is a really cool service I have set up that gives you access to all the music I make, plus unreleased concerts and recordings, for a small yearly fee. The yearly fees help me to create more art and focus on what makes my music authentic and impactful, instead of chasing $$s. 

My very best to you and yours, 

Joel 'Veena' Eisenkramer

So joyful and cute! Check it out, my song 'The Peacock feat. Suraj Nirwan' featured in the latest kids clothing ad from Fab India. Fab India is a popular clothing brand all across India and the world. Last year, I licensed three of my tunes to them for playing in their 100s of stores. It's been a great experience, friends have told me they've heard 'Bhim' while shopping!

Advertising aside, I really like how the music and images move together and draw a smile across your face. I hope this does a little bit to lighten your day. 

Good job everyone involved. Special thanks to SongDew for setting this up. 

Give thanks for life!

How is everything going? 

It's been awhile since I have been in touch with you all following a brief busy period. I actually had the privilege of playing three in-person concerts recently: the Valley, a private music festival in Putney Vermont, at the Stone Church in Brattleboro and at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York. All three of these concerts I was accompanied by the excellent tabla-playing of my friend Mir Naqibul Islam. 

Above is a video taken from our Stone Church concert. Remember my last email about my brand new original song 'Reminder'? In the studio version, you heard virtuoso jori player Jasdeep Singh's interpretation of my song, now in this live version you can hear how the song sounds with tabla accompaniment instead! (There's also great clip on Instagram of Mir's solo during the song when we performed at Omega Institute) 
 

New music out today! 'Reminder feat Jasdeep Singh' is an original instrumental tune performed on Indian slide guitar and jori. This melody is to remind us that the source of strength is struggle and resistance and to take heart that we can rise to the occasion. 

The song is now available on all digital music platforms. We recorded remotely, me first recording a scratch track and then sending it to Jasdeep bhai @jas.deepsingh in the UK. He recorded his part, then sent it back to me. I then went to my favorite studio @guilfordsound and cut the final take. @dangus_rex made us a great mix. @bionicmastering with the mastering. Photo by @vidhisjukebox . Link in bio. 

So happy to finally share this song with you all. Please let me know what you think, add the track to your playlists and share with your dear ones if you dig it. 

Give thanks for life!

Hi everyone,

I’m pleased to share with you that I have brand new music featured on Right Brain Records’ latest release: Guitar Improv Summit Vol 2. I recorded a piece specifically for this project and am quite pleased with how it turned out. The requirement of Right Brain Records was that all the music on the compilation be completely spontaneous, without any premeditation. Indian classical music is based in improvisation in the first place but I took extra care while recording to try and avoid the typical phrases and approach of the raga I selected. To achieve this, I recorded a few different takes throughout the day, only deciding on the raga just as I was sitting down. The take I selected is an improvisation in the morning raga, Bhairavi.

I hope you check out this great collection of improvised music. Thanks as always for your support.

Listen now on Bandcamp

After what feels like a long time, I’m excited to be sharing new music with you.

Stream and purchase the new track here.

credits

Back in March of this year, I started a weekly live-streaming concert series with my musical compatriot Kees van Boxtel from Netherlands. Our effort we dubbed ‘Peace at Home’ and we performed 10 concerts that resulted in our album by the same name, released in April, 2020. At the time, it seemed like the world was falling down around our heads as we spent long, meandering days cooped up inside. There was no one on the streets, suburban Mumbai was eerily quiet and each day the news was worse. Like many, I felt helpless and generally hopeless. What help is a musician in a global health crisis? The concept of Peace at Home was to offer some moments of respite, calm and strengthening through the wonderful power of Indian classical music. The encouraging and thankful support we received from the public over social media caused me to continue the project with my own weekly series, called Ragas for Peace & Happiness. This started in May of 2020 and continues today.

Since March, I have produced and performed 30+ live-streaming concerts to date. All of these concerts have been made available completely for free, requesting donations from those who are able. Many musicians and peers have asked me why I’m “giving away concerts for free” and expressed that they are worried for me, that because my music is available for free, that no one will pay for my music going forward. This is an intentional choice I have made, rooted in my philosophy of music and life, and I will attempt to explain it here.

My music is an offering and a process at the same time. It’s an offering to the world, to this existence; a reality that has given me life and the power to positively affect people through my art. I am grateful for this life and I wish to spread that vibration. My music is a process in the sense that I am practicing in order to transform myself to be more in tune, more in harmony, more connected, in better relationship with humanity and the natural forces of our planet and universe. My goal through my music is to develop myself so that I can understand and transmute the pain, suffering, and negativity of our collective experiences for the benefit of all beings and energies.

The forces of global capitalism and the free market do not value such an endeavor because the transformation and evolution of our minds and hearts is not a product that can be bought or sold. As musicians, the market encourages us to sell recordings, concert tickets and merchandise. But the monetary values of each are all mixed up and have nothing to do with the energy, intent and efficacy of the art created. One of my albums, over an hour of music you can listen to over and over again for the rest of your life, sells for $9.99 USD on iTunes. A typical concert ticket may cost $20-$30 USD for a two hour concert. These days artists are charging around $35 USD for T-shirts with their likeness or logo on them. What absolute mayhem.

The albums that you can buy of my music online, many of them we spent 50-100 hours of work on and contain original, creative music that you can hear literally no where else. There are expenses for studio time, production, promotion, design and musicianship. In a concert, you’re hearing the spontaneous expression of thousands of hours of collective preparation, study and experimentation. And the T-shirts? Mostly they’re printed and shipped by other companies and have little to do with the artist beyond the graphic design. The point is, a system of capitalism is not capable of rewarding my artistic efforts and it’s naive to think that it can ever be otherwise. The best we can hope for as musicians, is that our art will be valued enough by the market economy so that we can sustain ourselves while we pursue the true purpose of our music.

Simply put, charging money for my weekly series ‘Ragas for Peace & Happiness’ doesn’t match up with the goal of this project and also has limited scope to compensate based on the value of the concerts. The concerts are for morale, for peace and calm and to explore the special qualities of Indian classical ragas that heal and bring connection. Charging money for these would actually diminish the desired effect because I would be narrowing my audience to those who are able and willing to pay for an online concert. I want to reach people who have no idea about classical Indian music. I want to reach people who are lost. I want to reach people who need help and people who just enjoy listening while doing something around the house. I want to reach people who can appreciate and relate to the mission behind the music as well as the sound itself. All are welcome!

I still need to eat and survive myself and when someone financially supports my music they are allowing for my material existence. Just as importantly, when you buy a download, CD or pay for concert tickets, you are sending a message, you are speaking, saying “Yes, this music is important to me and I want the artist to thrive to continue to create this art.” With so many ways to consume music without paying a penny to the artists, it is becoming increasingly crucial to support artists directly. It is most beneficial for the artist and the audience to be directly connected with each other, for the energy and money to flow between them, without anything in the middle. My weekly live-streaming concerts are an attempt at cultivating this relationship with my audience and creating a new channel for how we connect.

In short, my weekly series ‘Ragas for Peace & Happiness’ is available for free because that is the way that it will most effectively achieve its goal: to grow good relationship, to calm, strengthen, inspire and share in music and tradition. When I receive donations during my streams, that gives more power to the endeavor and helps to sustain me materially. Charging a fee upfront however, would be a hindrance to all of this: creating barriers for people who don’t have the means to pay or aren’t willing to pay while not really addressing the issue of fair compensation for all the art anyway. It’s time to transform the way we relate to each other and to music so that we can create the world we want to be in. The concept of Ragas for Peace & Happiness has been carefully incubating along these lines and now has expression. Let it be known.

Last, I want to say, all this time performing from my room has really helped to hone my skill…I can’t wait for you to see my stage shows in 2021! Tatasthu.

— Joel ‘Veena’ Eisenkramer, Dec. 27, 2020