Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer with Chao Tian - Three Rules of Discipline

RADIO ADD DATE July 9, 2024

“Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention”

An advance single from the forthcoming album From China to Appalachia

all lyrics clean 3:20

(Traditional, Arrangement Cathy, Marcy, Chao, 2 Spoons Music, ASCAP)

GRAMMY® Award winners and multi-instrumentalists Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer have joined creative forces with Chinese hammered dulcimer virtuoso Chao Tian for their upcoming folk, global, and roots music project, From China to Appalachia (radio add date August 6, 2024). Appropriately enough, the advance single “Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention” comes from both Chinese traditions and Pete Seeger. "Chao grew up with this melody, but brought it to the trio when she heard a Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie recording from 1975 performing this song and getting the whole audience whistling along," Fink explains. "We did many concerts with Pete and needless to say, he was an early practitioner of Cultural Diplomacy, plus a banjo hero, friend and mentor. Our live audiences were recorded in Piedmont, Virginia during 3 concerts with schools and community members. We hope you’ll sing along too."

The trio, who met through Strathmore, an acclaimed D.C. area arts and education center and performance venue, 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.

The much-anticipated album, From China to Appalachia, builds on that engaging and successful stage show – which received a 2024 Wammie Music Award from the Washington Area Music Association for Best World/Global Artist-Group – and demonstrates the many cross-cultural connections between and vibrant folkways behind these roots music styles. 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 as well as traditional Chinese songs (like “Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention”), 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

“From China to Appalachia brings together disparate musical traditions in the spirit of thoughtful inquiry and free artistic collaboration.” Greg Reisch, PhD, Director, Center for Popular Music, MTSU