It is rare for me to introduce a new artist with a live album of theirs, but this is how I discovered Varijashree Venugopal. In 2024, Varijashree released ‘Vari’, a personal independent album after scoring documentary films, releasing her own music, and performing in and with other bands and collaborations. ‘Vari’ is her true solo debut album, though, merging together what she called “Carnatic Scat” with all kinds of musical influences into her traditional Indian world. Carnatic singing requires exacting precision to melody and rhythm – you don’t stray from it. Varijashree Venugopal takes that idea and strays into her own world with it on ‘Vari’.
Having been a child prodigy, learning 40 ragas at the age of one-and-a-half, and over 200 ragas by age 4, she quickly progressed into musical education and training. Varijashree is part of the Bangalore group ‘Chakrafonics’ who mix traditional classical music with other genres, and this no doubt has informed her rich musical tapestry for ‘Vari’. This translates into her forthcoming album ‘Vari The Live Sessions’, which is a seven track set that showcases both her and her band’s musical prowess.
This is where I discovered Varijashree Venugopal. Her live performance of ‘Jaathre’ blows me away. The showmanship, especially of the various percussion and string players, is exemplary. Enjoy the live version of ‘Jaathre’ captured by GroundUP Music, who are releasing the record on the 20th June 2025. The set translates an already sweeping and vast sound palette into a bombastic six piece band, and I’m looking forward to hearing the rest of the performance when it releases.
More information is available on Varijashree Venugopal’s website.
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