From China To Appalachia

Washington Area Music Awards Grammy® Award winners and multi-instrumentalists Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have joined creative forces with Chinese hammered dulcimer virtuoso Chao Tian for their upcoming global, and roots music project, From China to Appalachia. The trio, have toured across the United States with their one-of-a-kind stage show that combines roots music styles from the Southern U.S., China, and around the globe. From Wintergrass Festival to the Library of Congress to universities and arts councils– plus a mega viral TikTok video – Fink, Marxer, and Tian have brought their singular combination of styles to thousands of listeners and music fans. Together, the three world-class instrumentalists showcase a broad repertoire and a wide variety of instruments, including yangqin (Chinese hammered dulcimer), gourd banjo, five-string banjo, ukulele, guitars, dumbek, cello-banjo, and mandolin. Utilizing traditional songs from the U.S. old-time and string band canon (“High on the Mountain” by Ola Belle Reed, “Ruby Are You Mad At Your Man” from Cousin Emmy) as well as traditional Chinese songs (like “Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention” – known stateside from Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie – “Nan Ni Wan,” “Yongjun Yangko,” and more), the album is proof positive of the sonic, cultural, and vernacular interconnections between people from opposite sides of the world. "Fink and Marxer have constructed every facet of their lifelong careers with community building centered – that’s how they connected with Tian, after all, when she participated in a fellowship program at Strathmore Arts Center nearby their home in Maryland. When the three began making music together, they realized the seamlessness of their musical and cultural vocabularies almost immediately." – The Bluegrass Situation

CD

1. August Flower
2. High on a Mountain
3. The White Snake Song
4. Pig Ankle Rag
5. Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention
6. Yongjun Yangko
7. Mary Don’t You Weep
8. Glory in the Meeting House/ Leader’s Glory
9. Ruby, Are You Mad At Your Man
10. Nan Ni Wan
11. Little Betty Ann/Kitchen Girl/Midu Mountain Song
12. Beautiful Grassland, My Home
13. Hold Each Other Up