American Patchwork Quartet
Feb 25th, 2026
7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.

Where:
Alberta Bair Theater
2801 3rd Ave. N Billings, MT

Description:
American Patchwork Quartet (APQ), led by multi-GRAMMY® award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, binds 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. Their debut was recently nominated for “Best Folk Album” at the 67th GRAMMY® Awards.

A southern-born roots music aficionado, Ross is also the founder of the world-renowned Gullah group Ranky Tanky. In APQ, Ross intertwines with other Grammy-winning artists: Falguni Shah, an eleventh-generation Hindustani classical vocalist, Yasushi Nakamura, an internationally acclaimed Issei jazz bassist, and Clarence Penn, a drumming protégée of Ellis Marsalis whose fibers were honed by African American church traditions.