Annex 1

CAST LIST

Yang Yi

Hang Tian Band

Vocals / Guitar / HarmonicaHang Tian

Guitar / ErhuGao Fei

GuitarCui Xudong

Bass GuitarJi Geng

Video DesignHosono Ken

Programme CuratorMu Qian

PROGRAMME

Yang Yi will perform a selection of songs,composed and written by him (unless otherwise stated), from the following list:

  • SmallTown
  • Let’s Go My Friend
  • Painting The Fan Covers (Northern Shaanxi folk song, rearranged by Yang Yi)
  • The Lonely Lady Standing At The Crossroads
  • My Feelings At That Moment
  • Vegetable Vendor
  • We Can Do Anything
  • Baked Sweet Potatoes
  • Nothing To Be Excited About
  • Lady Zhen Li (Truth)
  • Embroidering A Silk Purse (Northern Shaanxi folk song, rearranged by Yang Yi)

The Hang Tian Band will perform a selection of songs,composed and written by him, from the following list:

  • We Are All Happy Cows and Sheep
  • My Heart Is A Fried Bean
  • Don’t Think Too Much
  • Cold Water On My Head
  • Everything Is Alright
  • (I Also Had)A Dream Return To The Tang Dynasty
  • It's Yours
  • Tribute To The Curly Haired Singer Bob Dylan
  • Tribute To The White Haired Old Man Toshiro
  • Go Go Bus Blues
  • Back To My HomeTown
  • Five Character Poem About The Young White Collar Worker In The Capital
  • Tears of April

Annex 2

BEIJING FOLK ROCK

Life in Beijing is not a bed of roses, yet people from all over China keep streaming in, bringing with them their dreams, dialects and folk songs from their hometowns.

Hailing from a small town in northern GuangdongProvince, Yang Yihas been performing his distinctive Bob Dylan-inspired folk music on the streets for over ten years. He composes songs about Chinese common folk on his guitar, belting out heart-wrenching tunes about vegetable vendors, farmers, workers and the homeless.

Born in the countryside of ShandongProvince, Hang Tian grew up in a mine in HebeiProvince and empathises with the hardships faced by the Chinese. His poignant lyrics often have an uplifting quality, expressing encouragement to his fellow countrymen. If Yang Yi expresses the heaviness of life in a simple form, Hang Tian's music is more optimistic. After all, he is crazy about the blues, which has blessed him with a spirit of "seeking joy amidst hardships."

Though both Yang Yi and Hang Tian have adopted the Western style of folk rock and blues, the essence of their music is undoubtedly rooted in China. They constantly use music to depict reality.

Beijing folk rock is the contemporary form of Chinese folk songs. Just like the city of Beijing, it carries both traditional and modern elements.

Annex 3

BIOGRAPHIES OF ARTISTS

Yang Yi

Born in 1969 in a small village in the mountainous region of northern GuangdongProvince, Yang Yi began his career as a modern minstrel in 1992, busking outside the ChinaNationalArt Museum in Beijingevery winter. Firmly believing that busking is a form of art, Yang has refused contracts offered by record companies, preferring to make his own CDs for sale instead. His original compositions are inspired by his frequent travels into the countryside around China and distinctively combine the spirit of 1960s’ American folk songs with the voice of the working class.Known as the “people’s musician”, Yang Yi was invited to the Frankfurt DiebrotfabrikCultural Centre and Cologne in 2001, and performed at the Hong Kong Arts Festival in 2003.

Hang Tian

Hang Tian was born in a rural village in Shandong, moving to Tangshan, Hebei when he was nine years old. He discovered his love for blues and rock music when he entered a business school in Beijing in 1992. After graduating in 1996, he decided to become a musician instead of a businessman and began performing in local Beijing bars with two foreign students in 1997 under the banner of Hoo Tone Blues Band. My Heart of Blues, his first album, was produced in 1999. He subsequently performed on CCTV, in the MIDI music festival, and at the Xidan Arts and Music Festival. In 2002, he released his second album, titled Cold Water on My Head.

Gao Fei

Guitar / Erhu

Gao Fei was born in Beijing in 1981 and began playing the erhu (a two-string bow instrument) at the tender age of eight. As a member of the Chinese ensemble of the Chinese Activity Centre for Youths and Beijing Children’s Palace, Gao Feihas participated in a number of exchange programmes, including one with the SingaporeMahaBodhiSchool’s guzheng(a Chinese zither) group when it performed in Beijing, and participated in a programme by Beijing Television to celebrate the Hong Kong handover. Gao Fei, whohas been showcasing his talent in Beijing bars since 1999, picked up the guitar on his own when he was in high school. He joined Hang Tian’s band in June 2000, joining in the recording of Hang Tian’s second album,Cold Water on My Head.

Cui Xudong

Guitar

Born in 1983, Cui Xudong enrolled in a city arts school and studied guitar with an erhu teacher in 1997. He joined the All-purpose Youth Hostel band in 1998, and went to a provincial arts school in 1999. He met Hang Tian in the spring of 2002, contributed to the band’s compositions in 2003, and began playing in the band in 2004.

Ji Geng

Bass Guitar

Born in 1981, Ji Geng co-founded the All-purpose Youth Hostel band in 1996,playing the bass guitar. In 2000, he studied English in a university in HunanProvince. On finishing school in 2003, he started composing for Hang Tian’s band and began to play withtheband in 2004.

Hosono Ken

Video Design

Born in Tokyo in 1968, Hosono Ken graduated in 1993 fromChuoUniversity, Tokyo, with a degree in law, majoring in international politics. In 1995, he went to Chinato research film-making while studying Chinese at the same time. In 1999, he received a post-graduate degree from the BeijingFilmAcademy.

Ken has worked in various capacities with Arcadia Pte Ltd in Tokyo, Beijing Channel V and China Central Television Network, doing production planning, filming, post-production, marketing, and advertising. Ken was involved in the production of music videos, documentaries and live concerts of Black Leopard Band and Chen Lin. Other works include the production of collaborative music CDs featuring music bands from Beijing and Japan. He has managed the band Brain Failure since October 2003.

Mu Qian

Programme Co-ordinator

Born in 1974 in Tianjin, Mu Qian graduated from NanjingUniversity after majoring in English and literature. He has been a journalist with the China Daily since 1997, and has published over 100 music reviews. Mu Qian has been studying for a post-graduate degree in musicology at the China Conservatory in Beijing since 2002.