Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer (ft. Chao Tian) -- From China to Appalachia

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer have a number of achievements:

1. They've performed with Pete Seeger and

2. that they write children's songs.

Which is a pretty good introduction to how eclectic their latest album, From China to Appalachia, is. I went in expecting something more like 12 Girls Band, with a more unified approach to fusion, but that’s not how these two roll.

Their first track "August Flower" begins with delicate notes of the dulcimer, a style familiar with anyone who has ever dipped their toes into classical Chinese music before the banjos invade and turn this into a proper jig piece, which was the thesis statement for this whole album.

While all songs have some Chinese and American elements, they usually lean more heavily in one direction then another compared to the balanced intro. For the ones that lean more heavily into Chinese tradition, we have “White Snake Song,” “Three Rules Of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention," and “Nan Ni Wan" as songs with vocal components.

This brings up one issue I have with this album: the lack of album notes (at least on their Bandcamp). Those familiar with Chinese folklore know the White Snake legend and “Nan Ni Wan” is mentioned to be a lullabye in passing on their notes as the album as a whole. But there is no direct translation of the lyrics. Since we have lyrics for the English songs, this seems like an oversight. The only one with a translation is “Three Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention” which is translated as part of the song.  The song is presented as a learning song aimed more at children than adults. (Adults who, if they are like me, promptly fell into a compilation about the Red Army’s idealistic beginnings to the horrors that were, are, and still to come, and about how nothing gold can last.) I also would’ve loved to learn more about collaborator Chao Tian’s thoughts on the various songs picked for the album.

For the more American pieces, they are the folk, bluegrass, and occasional blues-influenced pieces that you are probably expecting, though they have a few surprises in there. “Mary Don’t You Weep” has an instrument that I can't identify but sounds like a rattle of some kind. It has a dark and earthy quality that makes me think of "The Same Old Man” by Scythian who introduces this song at concerts talking about how in Applachia if you leave the windows open, songs as old as the hills come rolling into your dreams. I would bet this song might have also rolled down from the hills.

Part of the mission statement of this album is a sense of homeyness and "Pig's Ankle Rag" captures it perfectly for me. A collection of half-remembered familiar tunes in a rag-time style creates a nostalgia for a non-existent but happier time.

With this album, its great strength and great flaw is that if you hear one song, you won’t hear others like it.

Given that this is the beginning of Spring in 2025, it will leave you with words from their last song. “Hold Each Other Up”:

We’re gonna hold each other up

We’re gonna lift each other high

We’re gonna love each other better than before

This old world will keep on turning

And our hearts will keep on yearning

For each other when the world is so unsure

Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer – Official, Bandcamp, Instagram (Cathy Fink), Instagram (Marcy Marxer), Spotify