From China to Appalachia

From China to Appalachia is a collaboration between Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer, longtime partners in American roots music, and Chao Tian, a player of the yangqin, the Chinese hammered dulcimer. The project sets Tian's classical Chinese repertoire and technique alongside the banjo, guitar and hammered dulcimer traditions of the southern mountains, looking for the places where the two overlap. The hammered dulcimer itself is a useful hinge: versions of the instrument exist in both traditions, and much of the group's material moves between them rather than simply alternating. Performances tend to include spoken introductions explaining the origins of the tunes.