Around the age of thirteen, Shivadam heard Classical Indian music for the first time in a movie entitled, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad. His mother, who had accompanied him to that showing, was able to identify the music, wherupon she subsequently purchased for him two Ravi Shankar albums. The sound of the tamboura and the movement of raga's alap particularly impressed him deeply at that time.

After some years endeavoring to play the sitar, initially advised by American sitar player, Barry Evans, Shivadam met Pt. Ravi Shankar at one of his concerts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in 1988. When Shivadam showed him the blister on the tip of his index finger, evidence of his attempts to study from the maestro's autobiography, My Music, My Life, Panditji reminded Shivadam that one needs "a real teacher" to learn properly. Shortly thereafter, Shivadam undertook sitar study at the Ali Akbar College of Music under Ustaad Ali Akbar Khan-saheb, where he had the additional privilege of taking vocal instruction under Pandit Jasraj. At the same time, he enjoyed apprenticeship with the AACM’s master repairman, Brian Godden. Shivadam continues to offer repair services for sitar, tamboura, and harmonium, as well as lessons for these instruments.

Over the ensuing years, and currently, Shivadam provides tamboura accompaniment for Classical Indian performances, including the following: Viji Krishnan and Smt. Sowmya, 1994; bansuri flute maestro Pt. Hariprasad Chaurasia at Arizona’s Scottsdale Center for the Arts main auditorium in a concert benefiting "CRY – Child Relief and You", July 13, 2001; a special concert, "Janyam," featuring the Carnatic father/son team of the legendary Sri RK Srikantan and Sri RS Ramakanth, as well as for Smt. Shubhangi Sakhalkar, both in 2002; the master sarodist, Pandit Rajeev Taranath, February 2003, and in April of that year, for Pandits Rajan & Sajan Misra; tabla maestro Anindo Chatterjee and his son, Anubrata, along with the sarodist, Stephen James, in a bhaitak (private house concert); Pt. Manilal Nag and his illustrious daughter, Mita in a sitar duo concert at ASU; Sri MaaRishabh Pandit Naik, senior-most disciple of Pandit Jasraj, along with tabla virtuoso, Jyoti Prakash. He played taanpuree in "Notes for Hope," an ASHA Arizona benefit concert with sarode Ustaad Amjad Ali Khan and his brilliant sons, Amaan and Ayaan and tabla master, Sandeep Das, September 11, 2005. Shivadam accompanied with his tanpura the illustrious Carnatic vocalist, Syam Krishnan, in a private bhaitak. On September 11th, 2008, Shivadam provided tamboura and other Indian instruments to Steve McCarty's new recording of his platinum hit song, "Wild Mountain Honey," in a live, internet broadcast.

In October and November of 2001, Shivadam returned to India in the role of "head musician" as part of a Peace Delegation Pilgrimage with the group Tara Dhatu to assist Tibetan refugees living in exile with His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama, at Dharamsala, as well as those in Katmandu, Nepal. During this, his second trip to the sub-continent, he had the great privilege of accompanying on tabla Varanasi's sarangi master, Ustaad Fayaz Ali Khan of the Mian Tansen Saini Gharana, as they performed Anahata Iradah's music with and for a number of Tibetan nuns, monks, and lamas, including His Eminence the 17th Karmapa, Tai Situ Rinpoche, government dignitaries, and both small and large audiences of laity and local folks.

His travels to India have included visits to the cities of Varanasi, Agra, Delhi, Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chandighar, Dharamsala, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu, as well as residency for brief periods in Mumbai.

For over two decades, Shivadam has studied many other facets of Indian culture, ranging from classical literature and Sanskrit to various yoga forms and even Her culinary arts. Currently studying Sanskrit under the Ramakrishna Mission's Swamiji Atmarupananda, he is able to read, write, and recite the Devanagari alphasyllabary, as well as some Sanskrit translation, and to converse in Hindi, which he has studied under private tutors in India and independently.

Shivadam has most recently drawn an image of the Mahatma Gandhi, as well as a large and highly detailed charcoal rendering of Lord Ganesha, and his earlier charcoal image of Nataraj has been displayed in association with a number of concerts held at Arizona State University. Shivadam served as stage manager and/or sound engineer for some of these concerts, such as a Bahauddin Dagar rudra veena concert.

Shivadam continues to study raga, most recently under the illustrious vocalist, Srimati Shanti Sharma. He currently studies the dilruba and continues to give basic lessons on the sitar, most recently having studied under the able tutelage of the late America sarode master, Stephen James, whom a number of Indian masters had regarded as the best non-Indian sarodist. Stephen was a discliple of Pt. Ravi Shankar and Vasant Rai. Shivadam has also studied the tablas from Daniel Hirtz, himself an Austrian-born student of Anindo Chatterjee, Abhijeet Banerjee, and other great masters.

Shivadam regularly leads bhajans, kirtans, simple qawwalis, and aartis with and for bhaktas, providing vocals over the harmonium, at area temples and private gatherings. In these settings, he also provides tabla support to other kirtan leaders. He has twice provided percussion support to kirtan-wala, Krishna-Das. In Mumbai, he has had the joyful privilege of leading a sangha of ISKCON devotees in chanting the Maha-mantra, and he has led bhajans at both the Phoenix and the Tucson Arizona ISKCON centers.

His spiritual mentor, Pir Shabda Kahn, is an accomplished non-Indian khayal singer. Pir Shabda achieved great musical advancement during his long-term tutelage under the renowned Indian master vocalist, Pandit Pran Nath. His spiritual tradition follows in a lineage that stems from the master veena player and Indian mystic, Hazrat Inayat Khan (1882-1927), of a Chisti Sufi heritage. In service to and practice in this lineage, Shivadam serves as Dance Leader and "Musicians Coordinator" for area Dances of Universal Peace gatherings. Shivadam's primary yoga practice has been Integral Hatha yoga.