Opinion     

Keeping time with 'International Country Music Day'

China.org.cn, September 17, 2014

• September 17 is International Country Music Day. With my early years spent in both the U.S. South and Midwest, I was reared on U.S. country-western style music. Hank Williams, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Marty Robbins, Grandpa Jones, Willie Nelson and all their friends could often be heard singing their hearts out on our home stereo and on the car radio as we travelled on family vacations through the heartland of the South on our way back to Kansas to visit my grandparents.

  Given China's unique and ancient culture, music is very much part of the society's DNA.

  
  
  

  Country music continues to gain in popularity, not only in the United States, but internationally as well. Country music has gained an increasingly wide following overseas (e.g., Germany, the Ukraine, Poland, Scotland, Australia and several South American countries). There is also a growing interest in country music in Asian countries. In China, this is evidenced by the biennial International Country Music Week in Zhangjiajie, the next of which is scheduled for 2015.

  Country music has not only influenced music, but has also popularized various fashion trends, such as boots and denim jeans, jackets, shirts and skirts, as well as cowboy hats.

  One can speculate about the reasons for this popularity. Simple messages, compelling ballads, empathetic stories and themes highlighting the problems of the "common man" no doubt play a part in this popularity. Country music has also been inclusive of many styles, and a new breed of younger stars such as Taylor Swift, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes have spread the country message to younger generations while generating crossover appeal among devotees of other music genres.

  Chinese history also explains the popularity of certain stars associated with country music, notably John Denver. In my first semester of teaching at China University of Political Science and Law, I was approached by a group of student leaders who asked me to join in the tradition of professors singing at their December holiday party. I chose to sing John Denver's hit, "Take Me Home Country Roads," and in doing so discovered that the song is well known throughout China. Denver sang at the White House during Deng Xiaoping's historic visit to the United States and was subsequently invited to tour China in 1993, which he did with great success. Given the fact that China remains one of the most rural Asian countries, it is understandable that Denver's message of the qualities of country life and the beauty of the natural environment resonate with many people all across China. Interestingly, both Deng and Denver (53) died in the same year.

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