Ross Clowser is a professional guitarist, composer, producer, DJ, and educator from Des Moines, Iowa. After starting guitar lessons at the age of 9, Ross became interested in blues, soul, and jazz music, leading him to participation in a number of jazz ensembles and professional gigs in the Des Moines Area. As a student at the University of Iowa, Ross earned his undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies, studying with Damani Phillips, Jon Rapson, and Steven Grismore. After taking a break from school to pursue performance opportunities, Ross returned to the University of Iowa to earn a Master of Arts in Musicology, focusing on ethnomusicology and jazz scholarship, where he also taught music history courses.

As a performer, Ross has worked with numerous artists from a variety of genres during his career including Ohad Talmor, Melvin Butler, Sherane Callister, Charlotte Blu, Steven Antoine Willis, Damani Phillips, Mitch Towne, and more. Ross also writes and performs original music, a blend of improvisation, jazz, and world music, and has been featured in the Feed Me Weird Things concert series, The Englert Stages concert series, and the University of Iowa School of Music programming. Additionally, Ross has worked with other artists to create cross-disciplinary and improvised performances.

In his free time, Ross likes cooking, trying new coffee spots, going to record stores, going to art exhibits, walking in the snow, watching scary movies, going to plays, and sometimes painting. He is new to Minnesota, but is attempting to embrace the chilly winters!