American folk standards like "Shenandoah" and "Wayfaring Stranger" have been covered a thousand different ways. But American Patchwork Quartet has managed to make these cherished but familiar songs sound new again.
Falu Shah is a classically trained Hindustani vocalist. It was during a conversation with Clay Ross, now a fellow member of American Patchwork Quartet, that the idea of fusing traditional American folk songs with the sound of Indian classical music first happened.
“He said, why don't you try to sing 'Pretty Saro'," said Falu. "And he brought 'Pretty Saro' in, which is such a beautiful, melodious song. And I started singing with an Indian spice in it, because that's what I do. And he just said wait, there's something here. This is interesting. Both of us are Americans. We're both citizens, and when we exchange our ideas, and when you teach me ragas from India and I show you folk songs, there is a beautiful dialog that's going on that the world should hear.”
The quartet blends more than just American folk and Indian classical. Grammy-award winning guitarist and vocalist Clay Ross brings his experience in folk music to the group. Yasushi Nakamura is a Japanese jazz fusion guitarist, and jazz drummer Clarence Penn plays rhythms that were honed in African American churches.
For Falu, exploring traditional American roots music just reinforces the timeless appeal these songs have for so many.
“The melodies of folk songs of America are so universal. It is any culture can sing it," said Falu. "They are so universal, and they are so beautiful in nature. And I think that's where my resonance and love for folk music started.”
The group has been touring worldwide, bringing American folk music to global audiences that experience these songs for the first time, but in a way that is familiar to them.
“Every time I sing 'Shenandoah; with a complete South Asian audience, which is 500 people of South Asian desert descent, they feel like, what is this? This is so gorgeous,” said Falu.
Falu’s approach to songs like "Wayfaring Stranger" draws on the ornamentations and rhythms of Hindustani classical music.
“The ornaments, the nuances, the embellishments of how we go from one note to the other, has a lot of microtones in it and that's what my contribution to American patchwork has been is bringing those Eastern nuances, microtones into the folk music of America, which is so inherently melodious that a little bit of ornament from East, just adds a little oomph to it. It's like ah, I feel it even more.”
American Patchwork Quartet will perform Saturday evening at 7 p.m. at the Schorr Family Firehouse Stage in Johnson City.