The banjo and the traditional Chinese yangqin sound like they were made to be played together. The banjo colors each song with a bit of Appalachian flair, as the yangqin dances between notes, adding an ethereal element to each lively tune.
From China to Appalachia originated this unique blend of instruments, creating a one-of-a-kind cultural collaboration. The band consists of Grammy award-winning artists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, joined by classically trained Chinese virtuoso Chao Tian.
On April 7, the band hosted a free engagement in the Fisher Student Union for students. Later that evening, they performed in Kenan Auditorium as part of the Kenan Presents performance series for the 25–26 season.
Together, they explore how aspects of Appalachian and Chinese folk music can come together to create something new. Their performance includes traditional Chinese instruments such as a yangqin, which shares the stage with traditional southern folk instruments such as a ukulele, banjos and acoustic guitars.
“We’re really… creating a whole new sound,” said Fink.
Fink works as an advisor and mentor at the Music Center at Strathmore, a performing arts center in Maryland. In 2017, Tian was chosen as one of Strathmore’s artists in residence. From there, a partnership began to blossom.
During Tian’s residence at Strathmore, Fink invited Marxer, Tian and a few others to join in a jam session. Tian, misinterpreting the invite, thought the jam session had something to do with food. She was surprised when everyone began pulling out their instruments. As it turns out, the jam session consisted of improvising — something Tian had never done before.
“We said, ‘why don’t you play something?’ She goes, ‘Well, where’s the music?’ And we said, ‘It’s in our heads. We’re not reading music.’ And this interesting moment happened for her, where she started joining in and improvising,” Fink shared. Through this experience, Tian discovered she had a real love for improvising. “As it turns out, with her classical training, she became quite a good player by ear,” Fink said.
As the trio continued experimenting and improvising together, they discovered that the sounds of American old time string band music could beautifully meld with Tian’s traditional Chinese instrumentation.
“After doing a handful of performances together, we said, you know, this is really unique. We’re doing something that goes beyond just hanging out with somebody who plays some different music,” Fink said.
As their collaboration evolved, the band began posting their new hybrid Chinese-Appalachian folk songs to social media. The reaction was immediate. Their video, Glory in The Meeting House, went viral. Now, their largest video has 6.1 million views on TikTok. They’ve even gotten a mention from Brittany Broski, on her show The Broski Report.
Through their popularity on social media, the trio has garnered an enthusiastic young fan base. “Sometimes they bring their parents, they bring their friends,” Fink said. “We did a festival last summer, and there was a posse of TikTok fans, and they had created their own dances to our songs.”
Many fans have shared their appreciation for this particular blend of musical styles. “On TikTok, there’s a lot of people who comment and go, ‘Oh, my goodness, I’m Asian American, and I didn’t know anybody played music just for me,’” Fink said.
Fink stressed that cultural collaboration is central to their approach to music. “When Chao teaches us a Chinese tune, she’s not hoping that we’ll learn how to play it like a Chinese classical instrument,” Fink said. ”She’s hoping that we will run it through our own sensibilities and musical backgrounds, and create something new with it. And the same thing when we’re showing her a piece of music. There are mysterious and wonderful ways where they intersect.”
At the center of From China to Appalachia’s mission is to get people engaged and to showcase how joyful the intersection of culture can be. “At a time when we are living in a very divided world of people who are trying to stand in different corners, we’re sitting on the same stage, sharing what we have in common and learning from each other about the things we don’t have in common,” Fink said.
“Right now, we need a lot more engagement from college campuses. And hopefully, music and the arts are one of those ways of engaging,” Fink shared. “We all live in the same world. Let’s figure out how to do that.”
