Story & Lesson Highlights with Vel Lewis

We recently had the chance to connect with Vel Lewis and have shared our conversation below.

Vel, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What do you think others are secretly struggling with—but never say?
Discerning fact from fiction. Nowadays, I see people unsure of who or what to believe. I believe this happened when certain people began using the term “fake” for many things – fake news, AI generated videos, pictures, and propaganda, history and research books and publications being removed from schools, etc. I see many people struggling with what is true versus what is untrue or a lie. However, this is an area of life that many people don’t talk about for fear of being challenged for their opinions on an issue. I believe this dilemma has caused a lot of dissention within families, relationships, politicians, and our overall society.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name is Vel Lewis. I am an official artist of the Hammond Organ Company’s roster of organists and keyboardists. I specialize in Contemporary Jazz (Smooth & Groove Jazz), R&B, and Soul music. I am one of a very few living Jazz organists with current radio hits, and an extensive catalogue of various types of music. My music can be found on all music platforms (Spotify, Apple Music, iTunes, Amazon Music, etc.), on my websites (https://www.vellewis.com and vellewis.live), and many popular social media channels. I recently recorded the first of a series of episodes entitled “Vel’s Stories” that can be found on my YouTube channel (VelLewisMusic), and I am currently working on new music to be released in 2026. I am also the Founder, CEO, and President of a public, charitable, nonprofit educational and performing arts organization known as Faith 2 Form (F2F) Music Foundation, based in the Greater Houston area. Videos featuring young music students involved in F2F Music Foundation programs can also be found on the F2F YouTube channel and on our website, https://www.f2fmusicfoundation.org

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
A few family members (my mom, my aunts, a couple cousins) and a man who lived next door who was classified as being crazy and out-of-his mind by nearly everyone who knew him, including me! The family members I refer to used to tell me how proud they were of me and my accomplishments and attributed the opportunities I experienced to be blessings from God. I was a bit afraid of the man I refer to here, because he was taken to mental facilities from time to time, I saw him up in a tree with only his underwear on one day, he had the worse set of teeth, and used to say some silly things. However, one day he asked me to come inside his house because he wanted to give me some things. I went because I knew his wife was there, and she seemed to be a pleasant, well-balanced person. He gave me some albums to listen to by artists I didn’t know much about, told me that I MUST listen to them, and then tell him what I found interesting about what I heard. When I came back and told him my answers, he said to me, “I know your name will be up in lights some day. I hope that I am alive to see it, but I think that your mother will see this and be very proud of you.” I didn’t see this man much after this happened, but as you can see, I never forgot what he said to me.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Yes. When my debut album/DVD did not become as successful as I hoped it would, I thought many times about ending my pursuit of a career as a professional recording artist. However, I had a few prior songs that I co-wrote which were big hits. I felt in my heart that if I could write hit songs once, I can do it over and over again. So, I prayed then and I’ve continued to pray daily as I continued pursuing my career as a songwriter and recording artist. I have since written many of my own songs that continue to play on radio stations worldwide, gained recognition as a “charting artist” with Top 10 charts around the world, and have had four of my songs accepted for Grammy consideration.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
What really matters to me is being educated. Not just book/school smart, but educated about everything in life. My closest friends know, not to bring up a subject about something without having done some research to speak actual facts instead of “hearsay” or as I call it, refer to the “People Say” book. This is why I founded a nonprofit organization to help young people learn how to concentrate better and learn how to pay attention better and focus while learning music. These skills help youths increase their academic skills and their self-confidence. Once this happens, young people generally apply these skills to anything and everything they deal with – for example, kids speaking with their parents at home about various subjects. Now that their listening skills have gotten better by studying and playing music, many music students show that they’ve absorbed more factual information from paying attention better and can now discern better what is fact and what isn’t.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: What do you understand deeply that most people don’t?
I understand deeply that there is a God in a spiritual realm known as Heaven who is faithful to His Word. I’ve seen and heard that many people do not believe that God exists. Many people believe that if there is a God, He doesn’t care about what happens to us. I say that I understand my belief by faith because I have taken God’s Incarnate Word literally into my heart, my soul, and my daily life. God made it very clear thousands of years ago, about how we can live a fruitful life with His blessings – follow his precepts and His commandments strictly, do not veer to the left or the right, and love The Lord will all our hearts, our minds, our souls, and our strength. Then, love each other as we love ourselves. When we do these things with prayer every day, I say through my own experiences that God will do exactly what he promised in Deuteronomy 28, and in many other places throughout scripture. Again, many people either do not believe this promise, do not want to give God the opportunity to prove this, or think that their lives are controlled by their own actions, plans, and desires. My life is a whole lot better now than it was 40 – 50 years ago because I made a decision back then when my life was a mess, to believe God, trust Him, and follow the teachings of the prophets, the saints, and live by the grace given through the Blessed Mother Mary, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. My testimony is shown in this video from Shalom World that premiered on June 28, 2025: https://youtu.be/JmOhHYHD-ZE?si=lUk67SLC7m8OrFfP

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Kaitlynn Naasz
Warren Hill Photography
Heidi Powell Prera
Lena Ringstad Photography

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