The traditional becomes modern and the unfamiliar becomes familiar in the acoustic world fusion music by Qiu Xia He and Andre Thibault of Silk Road Music.
The Vancouver-based duo, who combine eastern and western musical styles, are performing at the Grist Mill and Gardens in Keremeos on Aug. 2.
“We’ll be presenting a wide variety of songs and styles: traditional songs, some Spanish, some instrumental music and some Chinese of course. It’s an interesting program. We try and get the audience singing with us,” said Thibault.
READ MORE: Kars Under the K next Sunday to feature roughly 150 antique and vintage vehicles
He plays a traditional Chinese pipa, or lute, mixed with a wide variety of other world instruments: flamenco guitar, Indian flute, Middle Eastern oud and world percussion.
About 30 per cent of the performance next Friday includes traditional Chinese music with Thibault singing lyrics in English while He sings in Chinese.
“This way the audience gets to hear the storyline. It works very well,” he said.
The rest of the program will be a mix of genres and influences, even some blues, French Canadian songs and Spanish music.
“Our music is definitely acoustic music,” he said, adding that their style doesn’t involve using turntables and a DJ mixer to combine sounds. “We are still the old guard of acoustic music.”
This is not the first time Silk Road has visited the Grist Mill in Keremeos. They remember their experience fondly.
“The venue actually brings out this ancient feel,” He said. “I feel like you go back in time. It is unique because you sit there and listen to music (from) all around the world has a long history in all cultures. It’s quite a magical place to play live music.”
Born in Montreal, Thibault is a multi-instrumentalist who specializes in Latin guitar styles.
His rhythms and techniques are distinctive and have made him one of Vancouver’s most popular musicians.
He was born in China and taught the Chinese lute at the Xi’an Academy of Music in Shaanxi, the province in northwest China where she was born.
Since settling in Canada, the well-known virtuoso has performed on many platforms from pipa solo concerts with several orchestras in America and Europe to festival touring around the globe.
He leads the Silk Road Music and is a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
Silk Road Music has twice won best world music album at the West Coast Music Awards.
The duo has been praised for universal vision and nominated at the Canadian Folk Music Awards in 2006 for the best ensemble and pushing the boundaries categories. They’ve also been nominated for a Juno award.
To report a typo, email: editor@keremeosreview.com.
<p<
@KeremeosReview editor@keremeosreview.comLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
