American Patchwork Quartet w/ Gina Chavez

American Patchwork Quartet plays Paramount and Stateside Theatres on Thursday, October 8, with Gina Chavez as special guest. The quartet is led by Clay Ross, a South Carolina native and multi-GRAMMY award-winning guitarist and vocalist who also founded the Gullah group Ranky Tanky. Their debut album earned a nomination for Best Folk Album at the 67th GRAMMY Awards.

What they do is a bit of a reach across borders: they take timeless American folk songs and weave in jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation. It's a wide net, and the lineup reflects it. Ross is joined by Carnatic vocalist and violinist Harini Raghavan, Issei jazz bassist Moto Fukushima, who co-leads House of Waters, and drummer Koleby Royston. Ross himself has toured as a U.S. State Department Cultural Ambassador and collaborated with Gregory Porter, Snarky Puppy, and Bobby McFerrin.

Opening the night is Gina Chavez, a Latin Grammy nominee and 16-time Austin Music Award winner. Her bilingual songs explore her Latin roots and her life as a married, queer Catholic in Texas. Like Ross, she also tours as a State Department cultural ambassador, and she co-founded Niñas Arriba, a college fund for young women in El Salvador. Between her and the quartet, there's a lot of ground covered before the first note is even played.

Doors open at 7 PM at Paramount and Stateside Theatres on Thursday, October 8.