Joel Veena

Press kit - Raga blues

Combing the masterful and unique guitar styles of Joel Veena and Ryan Lee Crosby, the RAGA BLUES is a fresh musical manifestation rooted in culture and the oral tradition. Joel Veena plays the 20-stringed Hindustani slide guitar, fusing two decades of traditional study of North Indian music with contemporary sensibilities. Ryan Lee Crosby plays the 12-string and slide guitars in the rare Bentonia Mississippi Blues style, having honed his skill directly with the living masters in the southern United States. They are accompanied by range of percussion styles, including tabla and the calabash gourd.

"The blues is a lot like its own raga," explains Joel Veena, "There's a scale, an ornamentation style, a strong mood and atmosphere...And I've studied a bit of the blues and Ryan has studied North Indian music on the slide guitar as well. We share an aesthetic in a lot of ways: richly atmospheric, driving guitar music..."

Audiences can expect to be treated to a rooted and dynamic musical evening from artists who are deeply authentic: each traveling to receive and transmit their music directly from the source while simultaneously interpreting it for global audiences.

From deeply introspective and beautiful ragas to hand-clapping, jump out of your seats good times: a RAGA BLUES show is fuel to ignite and energize.

FOR BOOKING INQUIRES CONTACT:

joel@rootcellarsound.com
+1 802-275-2044

Past Performances of RAGA BLUES:

The Parlor Room, Northampton MA USA - June 2026

“Gritty and rough-hewn, just right for the feeling...A loose, down-home juke joint vibe, with a North Mississippi-meets-Bentonia groove...It kicks in all gears because these guys can really play...His own compositions are all strong.”

— Frank Matheis, Living Blues Magazine, July 2025

“The late great George Harrison may have brought this musical spirit into the Western mainstream, but Veena takes Indian guitar right back to its roots, sharing the cathartic charm of North Indian ragas with global ears.”

— A&R Factory

More about the artists

Hindustani slide guitarist

Hailing from a small village in southeastern Vermont, Joel 'Veena' Eisenkramer is one of the foremost exponents of the 20-stringed Indian slide guitar. His music defies categorization as he presents meditative classical ragas that blossom into blistering duets with tabla virtuosos in the same set as beat-driven original songs with live-looping and poetic lyrics. A study abroad trip to Delhi, India during his college days set him on a path of deep study in the oral tradition of Hindustani (North Indian) classical music, learning from and eventually performing alongside celebrated artists of the style. Recognized by the government of India in 2023 for his contribution to Indian music on the global stage, Joel's music seeks to heal and empower his audiences to "do the needful" in terms of facing the every day challenges of the modern world and the nourishment of our interior worlds.

Joel Veena is the only North American performer of the Indian slide guitar to tour regularly in India and his concert tours have brought him all across the country, headlining shows in most of the major cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, as well as tours in the USA and Europe. His album CARDINAL, released in 2025, was his 12th self-produced release, widely praised for its innovative and authentic blend of styles. His music has been featured on Radio New Zealand, Shemaroo Entertainment, and MyGov India.

Joel's performances have been noted for their welcoming and explanatory quality; pieces are presented with their cultural and historical context so as to open the door for new audiences unfamiliar with Indian classical music. His original compositions, often inspired by the ragas he's studied, have been praised for their use of classical theory and aesthetic while creating toe-tapping, memorable melodies approachable by all. He has presented lecture-demonstrations at a number of schools and universities around the globe (including Smith College, the California College of the Arts and Delhi Public School Sonepat).

(full bio here)

(What's with the name 'Joel Veena'?)

Fee support for Joel Veena may be available to nonprofit organizations through the New England States Touring (NEST) program of the New England Foundation for the Arts. Visit www.nefa.org for more information.

Listen to Joel's Music

Ryan Lee Crosby

Bentonia Blues

Ryan Lee Crosby is currently based in Rhode Island, but his musical heart is in Mississippi. He has released numerous albums, toured internationally and is a leading practitioner of the Bentonia School of rural Delta blues, as well as a world music explorer. Smithsonian Magazine praised his ability to "bring influences from Africa and India to the Bentonia sound."

Crosby's new album "At the Blue Front" (featuring Grammy nominated bluesman Jimmy “Duck” Holmes) offers a haunting, hypnotic meld of Bentonia and Hill Country blues. Recorded on reel to reel tape over two afternoons at Holmes’ iconic Mississippi juke joint, the album was produced, recorded and mixed by Crosby, with a selection of original compositions, traditional repertoire and fully improvised songs.

Crosby finds deep inspiration and spiritual refuge in Bentonia, where he has been mentored for six years by Holmes, the man who is widely regarded as the last living master of the style. Blending reverence for tradition with a modern, trance-inducing approach, Crosby's process is informed by diverse influences that include Indian raga, ambient music and post-punk rock. For Crosby, all these seemingly disparate threads weave together through the meditative power of the blues.

Full length bio at https://ryanleecrosby.com/press-kit

Listen to Ryan's Music