Philip Acquah leads Patch Bay at Millennium Excellence Awards

Over the years, the Patch Bay band has backed many top Ghanaian artistes, performed at many notable events and has been the go-to band for organisers of popular music reality shows.

In recent years, in addition to playing at top corporate events, the band has added playing at social events to their gigs.

On Saturday, May 10, in Kumasi, the band has been booked to perform at the awards and dinner ceremony, which climaxes this year’s Millennium Excellence Awards.

The event, which is organised by the Millennium Excellence Foundation, is targeted at distinguished humanitarians whose leadership and innovations are geared towards empowering the youth while making a positive impact on the African continent.

Activities highlighted for the three-day event are a Business Summit at the Lancaster Hotel today, and a trip to the Manhyia Place on Friday.

In an interview with Graphic Showbiz last Monday, the Music Director and Leader of Patch Bay, Philip Acquah, said they were ready to serenade guests with a selection of music suitable for the event.

“We are coming with very good arrangements, something different from what we have done in the past. We are going to make nice arrangements to enhance their performances of the artists. We will add very beautiful touches to their already produced songs to suit guests at such a high-profile event,” he said.

The current members of Patch Bay are Dominic Quarchie  (guitar), Nana Yaw Safo (drums), Benjamin Nii Armah (percussion), Bright Sarpong (keyboard), Yaw Moore (sequencer) and Beryl Stephenson and Frank Amankwaa, known as Kwaku Future, as lead vocalists.

Mr Acquah, a bassist, was named the TGMA Instrumentalist of the year in 2017 with his bandmates Quarchie and Nana Yaw Safo also winning that same award in 2018 and 2021 respectively.

In 2017, they won the Best Band Honour at the Ghana Music Honours event organised at the National Theatre by the Musicians Union of Ghana (MUSIGA).

Asked how the band had survived the changing musical scene over the years, he said it was passion for what they did and discipline which had kept them relevant.

“We take our work seriously, like people in the corporate world do. If we have events, we rehearse for long hours to ensure that we come up with something new for our audience. There are days, we rehearse for six hours, and this is only possible because my team is dedicated and disciplined,” he explained.