Across Oceans / Ross Hammond & Poly Varghese

A collaboration across continents and traditions. Across Oceans pairs Ross Hammond ( Sacramento-based slide guitarist and lap steel player ) with Poly Varghese, a student of Hindustani classical musician Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and a master of the mohan veena, the instrument Bhatt created by modifying a Hawaiian guitar in the mid-20th century. The two musicians met when Varghese was on tour in Sacramento, recorded the entire album in a single three-hour session with no prior discussion, and captured everything in one take. The result is an album about space, listening, and the shared emotional core that connects musical traditions across the globe. Released on Gold Lion Records.
The design leans into the album’s themes of fluidity and global connection. A circular crop of water photography — treated in shifting tones of teal, blue, and rose on a sage green field — suggests both the literal ocean and the idea of two distant musical worlds finding a common current. The circle format carries through to the back cover, where the tracklist and personnel credits are set in clean, minimal uppercase type against a deeper teal rendering of the same water image.