Biography

RADIO PROMOTION BY Art Menius Radio
art@artmenius.com https://artmeniusradio.com

American Patchwork Quartet (APQ), a collective of award-winning musicians from across artistic and cultural backgrounds led by multi-Grammy award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, celebrates shared joys across cultures on their self-titled debut album. They have filled American Patchwork Quartet with fourteen tracks that build upon and expand the rich, diverse resources of American traditional music, revealing its relevance to the contemporary world. Binding timeless American folk songs with jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation, APQ’s sound is a masterful confluence of tradition and innovation, transcending culture, politics, and ideology.

With a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American roots music, the group reinterpret the country’s centuries-old folk songbook by uplifting its underrepresented voices - infusing these standards with elements like classical Hindustani vocal work or traditions from the Black churches of Detroit. These are songs synonymous with the American experience, updated by APQ by incorporating their own American voices - which, in many cases, are voices that wouldn't have been incorporated when these songs were first popularized. Throughout the album, we find potent symbols of unity in diversity, exploring universal truths through a range of musical languages and cultural lenses - themes like longing, heartbreak, desire, fulfillment, tranquility and love...ultimately revealing the joys, sorrows, and unwavering hope of a nation crafted by shared dreams and diverse histories.

American Patchwork Quartet features vocals from a pair of recent GRAMMY winners - Clay Ross (a recipient of two Best Regional Roots Album awards since 2020 with Ranky Tanky) and Falu (Falguni Shah, the first Indian-born female singer-songwriter to win a Grammy and a nominee for a third time in 2024). APQ’s dynamic rhythm section of go-to jazz bassist Yasushi Nakamura (Cecile McLorin Salvant, Joe Lovano, Kurt Elling) and drummer Clarence Penn (who’s played on two GRAMMY-winning records, won a Juno Award, and was mentored by Ellis Marsalis) galvanizes their sound. Far from being a haphazard collection of musical scraps, APQ is a deliberately designed homage to America's past and a showcase of its dynamic present. It beckons listeners to meditate upon our shared identity and relish in the musical threads that bind us. APQ resonates as a potent symbol of unity in diversity. It stands testament to the notion that, from a collage of varied backgrounds, a coherent and beautiful whole can be fashioned. Mirroring America's cultural mosaic, APQ stitches together a story that’s both intricate and resilient. The fabric of their music is genuine—it neither feigns tolerance nor presents an overly-embellished image of unity. Instead, each carefully chosen piece dives deep into America's patchwork soul and shares the joys, sorrows, and unwavering hope of a nation crafted by shared dreams and diverse histories.

"American Patchwork Quartet's debut is a symphony of cultures, harmoniously woven together to create a musical tapestry that speaks to the soul. In the spirit of '60s folk revivalist bands like the Weavers or the Byrds, this 21st-century take on traditional music brings the welcomed lens of American diversity to center stage. Truly, a groundbreaking work that's as myriad and intricate as the nation it represents. Dive in and let the melodies of the past usher you into a brighter future." - MarySue Twohy, Program Director, SiriusXM