Most of you are on this list because my music has impacted you in one way or the other; either you've attended one of my concerts or workshops, found my music on the internet or through videos, and/or I know you personally from the various communities that I'm a part of. This is the time of year when some of us are looking back and assessing our journey and it occurred to me that the vast majority of you have no way knowing about all of my efforts as Joel Veena; it's about so much more than workshops or concerts, albums and streaming. This is my life in service of music and in general adding color and joy to our existences. So I thought to create a "Joel Veena Impact Report" to share with you, my dear supporters, mainly to let you know how far-reaching your support of me and my music can be...
In 2025, Joel Veena performed in 12 concerts or workshops.
Of these, 6 were community events, free to the public (like Life Aid for Palestine, Community Ragas at Broad Brook Center..) and included 2 workshops for the public about Hindustani classical music (History of the Indian Slide Guitar online and Understanding & Appreciating Indian Classical Music at the Valley Guitar Academy)
Of these 14 events, 5 were at venues that at never before hosted Hindustani music. One venue, the New Marigny Theatre in New Orleans, has gone on to host additional events after I connected them with the local Indian music community there.
I had my first artist residency at the Church of Arts & Sciences in New Orleans. This included 2 concerts, a recording session, a children's tabla workshop, an interview, lessons and meetings with area musicians and presenters.
I produced and released 3 albums of my music, Cardinal, Ragas & Sagas (live) and Kaa's Hunting, Live at the Kipling House with Gordon Korstange & Vidhi Salla.
In addition, I produced 3 live concert recordings for my patronage hub, plus the interview with Music Inside Out from New Orleans.
I produced CDs, limited edition cassettes and vinyl records of Cardinal (still waiting on that vinyl shipment...)
Cardinal was written about and reviewed by at least 10 media outlets, including SevenDaysVT and the Brattleboro Commons, my favorite quote was from an online blog called Groover City:
"Joel has said, “My music is an offering and a process at the same time.” I believe him. You can hear it. Every plucked note, every trembling sustain, carries that double meaning – a gift outward, and a practice inward. That’s what makes Cardinal hit differently. Not designed to sell you an image. It’s Joel sitting with the vast weight of human tradition and saying: here’s how I can carry a piece of it, here’s how I can share it."
Tracks from Cardinal were played on radio shows in 10 different countries, including USA, Netherlands, Canada, India and Switzerland.
My music was streamed in at least 43 different countries around the world. The top 5 were India, USA, Brazil, UK and Spain.
I started a free community concert series with my record label, Root Cellar Sound, at the Broad Brook Community Center in Guilford, VT. I presented two free concerts there this year, my own and Ryan Lee Crosby w/ Flume.
As director of the Global Music Institute at Halcyon Arts New England, I produced 7 concerts of world music in South Hadley, MA. 3 of these were concerts of Indian music, my own as well as sitarist Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury with Pt. Arup Chattopadhyay on tabla and Maitreyee Chakraborty's Tagore, Me and You program of Rabindra Sangeet. Almost all of the events featured chai brewed by me or Vidhi.
In addition to my official capacities at HARTSNE, I volunteered around 35 hours for the organization; mainly promoting our concerts.
Root Cellar Sound also administered the creative works (IP) for 5 different artists on its roster (NL Dennis & the Thunderballs, Joel Veena, Peter Eisenkramer, Dan DeWalt and Buddhadev Dasgupta).
Root Cellar Sound booked and managed the Thunderballs' US tour, they played 22 concerts in the New England area.
In partnership with Reggae Fever out of Switzerland, we re-released the Thunderballs classic hit 'Help I Jah' on vinyl 45rpm along with 'My Twenty-Eight' and 'White Bird Come Down'.
All the while, I'm keeping up with my riyaz (daily practice) and continuing my study of Hindustani classical music with maestro of the Shahjahanpur Gharana of sarod playing, Anirban Dasgupta. I'm now routing my 2026 tour of India and have already confirmed dates in Delhi and Bengaluru.
All of this to say, your support of Joel Veena is far-ranging and deeply impactful. Whenever you purchase a ticket, buy digital music or become a subscriber to my patronage hub, that energy directly feeds these efforts.
Thank you, it's an honor and privilege to do this work and even after all this time, I'm still just getting started...
a patronage hubthat gives you access to everything I make plus full concert recordings, video workshops, a streaming app, and discounts on merch, starting at only $7/month (that really helps, big shout out to my dear patronage hub subscribers!)
