What's Up - Your guide to what's happening in Fayetteville, AR this week!
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FEBRUARY 13-19, 2022 WHAT'S UP! 5 Musical Melting Pot Roots music seasoned with international flavors BECCA MARTIN-BROWN NWA Democrat-Gazette O h Shenandoah, I long to see you, "Away, you rolling river. "Oh Shenandoah, I long to see you, "Away, we're bound away "Across the wide Missouri." Close your eyes and listen, and American Patchwork Quartet's version of "Shenandoah" could have been recorded around a campfire when French Canadian traders were plying America's rivers and settlers from Germany, Scotland and Ireland were moving from Pennsylvania into the Appalachian hills. Open your eyes, and you'll discover what makes this foursome utterly unique in the wide world of roots music. American Patchwork Quartet features Grammy-nominated vocalist Falu Shah, raised in Bombay, India; Grammy-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, a native of South Carolina; three-time Grammy-winning drummer Clarence Penn, born in Detroit; and bassist Yasushi Nakamura, born in Tokyo and trained at Berklee School of Music and Juilliard. This is not your grandma's Americana quartet. "It's not an accident that the four members of the group, each with a thriving solo career, came together to start reinterpreting American roots music," Montana Public Radio posits. "The quartet's goal is purposeful: to unleash music's magic to help counteract pervasive prejudices around "First and foremost," says Clay Ross, "we want our audiences to have a fun and transcendent experience. For us, playing music is sheer joy. That joy connects us as artists, and that joy is what we aim to conjure every time we perform as a group. Also, with utmost humility, and by our very existence as a group, we are aiming to counter pervasive prejudices around the issues of race and immigration. We hope our music inspires audiences to reflect on the notion that as Americans we must acknowledge our differences to discover our commonalities, that we must recognize the realities of racism and prejudice in order to build authentic and lasting bonds across cultures and color lines, and that while we are not responsible for our country's past, we are accountable for its future. At our best, I think we can be an example of meaningful, cross-cultural collaboration in America today." (Courtesy Photo/APQ) FAQ American Patchwork Quartet WHEN — 7:30 p.m. Feb. 19 WHERE — Starr Theater at Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville COST — $33 & up INFO — 443-5600, waltonartscenter.org FAYETTEVILLE See Roots Page 6