American Patchwork Quartet | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Genres | |
Years active | 2024 - present |
Members | Clay Ross Falu Shah Clarence Penn Yasushi Nakamura |
Website | http://americanpatchworkquartet.com. |
American Patchwork Quartet (APQ) is an American musical group that reinterprets traditional folk songs with multicultural influences. Founded by guitarist and arranger Clay Ross, the group blends elements of jazz, Hindustani classical music, and Americana to explore themes of immigration, identity, and unity. [1] [2]
American Patchwork Quartet's core repertoire consists of classics like The Wayfaring Stranger and Oh Shenandoah, given a unique twist by the inclusion of musical elements not typically associated with American folk music. Their debut album AmericanPatchwork Quartet, released in 2024, features 14 tracks influenced by Appalachian folk, gospel, and Indian classical music. [3] [4]
The group first performed at the Grand Ole Opry on June 18, 2024. [5] Montana Public Radio called their music a "modern immigrant dream." No Depression praised their ability to connect diverse traditions. [6] [7] Their first album is currently nominated for Best Folk Album at the 67th Grammy Awards. [8]
In addition to the four core members above, alternate touring musicians in the American Patchwork Quartet include:
The Oak Ridge Boys are an American country and gospel vocal quartet originating in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Since 2024, the group consists of Duane Allen, William Lee Golden, Richard Sterban, and Ben James. The group was founded in 1943 as The Oak Ridge Quartet. They became popular in Southern gospel during the 1950s. Their name was changed to the Oak Ridge Boys in the early 1960s, and they remained a gospel group until the mid-1970s, when they changed their image and concentrated on country music.
Antonio Sánchez is a Mexican drummer and composer. He is best known for his work with jazz guitarist Pat Metheny and as a composer of the film score for the 2014 film Birdman. The score earned him a nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score and BAFTA Award for Best Film Music; he won a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, the Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score, and the Satellite Award for Best Original Score.
Riders in the Sky is an American Western music and comedy group which began performing in 1977. The band has released more than 40 full length albums, starred in a single-season self-titled television series on CBS, wrote and starred in an NPR syndicated radio drama Riders Radio Theater, and appeared in television series and films including as featured contributors to Ken Burns' Country Music. Their family-friendly style also appeals to children, exemplified in their recordings for Disney and Pixar. They have won two Grammy Awards and have written and performed music for major motion pictures, including "Woody's Roundup" from Toy Story 2 and Pixar's short film, For the Birds. The band also recorded full length companion albums for Toy Story 2 and Monsters, Inc.
Porter Wayne Wagoner was an American country music singer known for his flashy Nudie and Manuel suits and blond pompadour.
Charlie McCoy is an American harmonica virtuoso and multi-instrumentalist in country music. He is best known for his harmonica solos on iconic recordings such as "Candy Man", "He Stopped Loving Her Today", "I Was Country When Country Wasn't Cool", and others. He was a member of the progressive country rock bands Area Code 615 and Barefoot Jerry. After recording with Bob Dylan in New York, McCoy is credited for unknowingly influencing Dylan to decide to come to Nashville to record the critically acclaimed 1966 album Blonde on Blonde.
Old Crow Medicine Show is an Americana string band based in Nashville, Tennessee, that has been recording since 1998. They were inducted into the Grand Ole Opry on September 17, 2013. Their ninth album, Remedy, released in 2014, won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Album. The group's music has been called old-time, folk, and alternative country. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs.
The Jordanaires were an American vocal quartet that formed as a gospel group in 1948. Over the years, they recorded both sacred and secular music for recording companies such as Capitol Records, RCA Victor, Columbia Records, Decca Records, Vocalion Records, Stop Records, and many other smaller independent labels.
Joshua Otis Turner is an American country singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to MCA Nashville Records. That same year, his debut album's title track, "Long Black Train", was his breakthrough single release. His second album, Your Man (2006) accounted for his first two No. 1 hits, "Your Man" and "Would You Go with Me", while 2007's Everything Is Fine included a No. 2 hit, "Firecracker". Haywire, released in 2010, produced his biggest hit, the four-week No. 1 hit "Why Don't We Just Dance" and another No. 1 song, "All Over Me". It was followed by Punching Bag (2012), whose lead-off single, "Time Is Love", was the biggest country hit of 2012 according to Billboard Year-End.
Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2003. In June 2010, he received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2011 he was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Arto Tunchboyachyan is an Armenian American avant-garde folk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian descent. He fronts his own group called the Armenian Navy Band, and is also a member of the instrumental quartet Night Ark.
Mountain Heart is an American band, which combines elements of rock, jam band, country, blues, jazz, folk and bluegrass music. Mountain Heart or its members have won or been nominated for multiple Grammys, ACM, CMA, and IBMA Awards. They have appeared on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry
Falu is an American singer whose music blends ancient classical Indian melodies with contemporary western sounds. She has worked and collaborated with a wide array of artists including A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire, Yo-Yo Ma, Philip Glass, Wyclef Jean, her teacher Ustad Sultan Khan, Blues Traveler, Ricky Martin and Bernie Worrell. In 2022, she won the Grammy Award for Best Children's Album for her album A Colorful World. She was also nominated for Best Children's Album for her 2019 release of Falu's Bazaar, and for Best Global Music Performance for her 2023 release of Abundance in Millets.
The Whites are an American country music vocal group from Fort Worth, Texas, United States. They consist of sisters Sharon White and Cheryl White, and their father, Buck White. Sharon plays guitar, Cheryl is the bassist and Buck plays the mandolin. Formed in 1972, the trio has recorded multiple albums and charted multiple songs on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart. They are also known as frequent collaborators of country and bluegrass musician Ricky Skaggs, who is Sharon's husband.
Don't Go Near the Water is the debut studio album by American country music artist Sammy Kershaw. Released in 1991 on Mercury Records, the album produced four singles on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts: "Cadillac Style", the title track, "Yard Sale", and "Anywhere but Here", which peaked at numbers 3, 12, 17, and 10, respectively. Also included is "What Am I Worth", a song previously recorded by George Jones on his 1957 debut Grand Ole Opry's New Star. Jones's style has been cited as one of Kershaw's primary influences. Don't Go Near the Water is certified platinum in the United States.
Allison Russell is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician and activist.
The Black Lillies are an Americana band from Knoxville, Tennessee that was founded in early 2009 by Cruz Contreras. They toured actively from 2009 until their last show on New Year's Eve 2019. Their lineup for their 2018 Stranger to Me studio album included Cruz Contreras on lead vocals, guitar, and keys, Sam Quinn on bass and vocals, Bowman Townsend on drums, and Dustin Schaefer on electric guitar and vocals.
Ranky Tanky is an American musical ensemble based in Charleston, South Carolina. It specializes in jazz-influenced arrangements of traditional Gullah music, a culture that originated among descendants of enslaved Africans in the Lowcountry region of the US Southeast. Apart from lead vocalist Quiana Parler, four of the group's members, Quentin Baxter, Kevin Hamilton, Clay Ross, and Charlton Singleton, previously played together in the Charleston jazz quartet The Gradual Lean in the late 1990s.
Dominique Flemons is an American old-time music, Piedmont blues, and neotraditional country multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. He is a proficient player of the banjo, fife, guitar, harmonica, percussion, quills, and rhythm bones. He is known as "The American Songster" as his repertoire of music spans nearly a century of American folklore, ballads, and tunes. He has performed with Mike Seeger, Joe Thompson, Martin Simpson, Boo Hanks, Taj Mahal, Old Crow Medicine Show, Guy Davis, and The Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band.
Come Back to Me is the first solo album by Ivorian folk musician Peter One, released in 2023. The follow-up to his collaborative works with Jess Sah Bi Our Garden Needs Its Flowers (1985) and Spirit in 9 (1987), this album renewed interest in One's career after several years in obscurity and received positive reviews from critics. Come Back to Me was released by Verve Forecast after a re-release of Our Garden Needs Its Flowers, allowing One to tell personal stories from his period after his 1980s fame.
Sister Sadie is an all-female American bluegrass, country, and folk band that formed in Nashville, Tennessee in 2012. The band formed after the five original members Deanie Richardson, Tina Adair, Dale Ann Bradley, Gena Britt, and Beth Lawrence came together to play one show at the Station Inn in Nashville. They continued to play together as a band, eventually touring and releasing music. Since 2020, they have gone through a few lineup changes and the current band consists of: Deanie Richardson, Gena Britt, Jaelee Roberts, Dani Flowers, and Maddie Dalton.