At the peak of Y2K mania, Aki Kumar left his home in Mumbai for the USA with the intention of working as a software engineer. Then he discovered the blues, and his life changed dramatically. Kumar quickly steeped himself in the genre and became a fixture in blues clubs throughout Northern California, honing his stage chops and ultimately developing his visionary "Bollywood Blues" sound.

Today, this harmonica player, soulful vocalist, band-leader, drummer and producer is one of the most prolific artists in the SF Bay Area. A veteran of the San Jose music scene for two decades, Kumar has been hailed as "...King of ‘Bollywood blues’ music" by SJ Mercury News (2022) and received the Metro Silicon Valley Gold Award for Best Band (2024).

When he first began performing, Kumar attempted to downplay his ethnicity and only performed straight, Chicago-style blues. “I wanted to make a statement that I was a traditional blues musician, so I wanted to be playing blues and have nobody even wonder where I came from.” Kumar's debut album "Don't Hold Back" (2014) was hailed as "one of the best new artist new releases of 2014" (Blues Blast Magazine) and showcases his classic blues stylings. He quickly followed it up with "It Takes Three" (2015) - a collaboration that celebrates three generations of South Bay Blues harmonica, including the legendary Gary Smith and renowned blues harmonica teacher David Barrett.

His approach to music changed over the years, and with his Little Village debut, "Aki Goes to Bollywood" (2016), he began integrating elements of retro Indian music into his musical and visual presentation, making for a unique, electrifying, multi-cultural mash-up that sounds like no one else, yet never loses touch with its blues-inspired foundation.

That stylistic mix of East and West reached a new creative high on Aki’s second Little Village album, "Hindi Man Blues" (2018), which proudly features liner notes by veteran blues  harmonica legend Charlie Musselwhite. In 2020, Kumar made a major splash with the world-wide launch of his album "Dilruba" on Sony Music. "Dilruba" is an Indian Pop record that showcases his signature sound on a number Hindi and bilingual number. In 2021, Little Village released Kumar's uplifting reggae-inspired single "Zindagi" (Life).

Kumar has made multiple appearances at The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, San Jose Jazz & SF Jazz Festivals, and has been featured on PRI “The World,” KQED Arts and CBS Bay Area. He has also toured extensively over the years, including in Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Australia, India and South America.