USA: Chinese music sensation Twelve Girls Band hit the road in North America

As they build a musical bridge between East and West, Twelve Girls Band from the People's Republic of China return to North America with their second album, 'Romantic Energy'. Drawing upon more than 1,500 years of traditional Chinese music, the group blends that legacy with classical, folk, and contemporary sounds. The women, not girls, mostly aged in their early 20's, weave an original landscape that finds kinship in the orchestrated Celtic pieces, such as Riverdance, and the haunting strains of Eastern Europe, while also offering a new vision of today's pop music. The Twelve Girls Band name, which was originally chosen for reasons having to do with ancient mythology and numerology, actually now has thirteen members. "It is true there are now 13 members in our band but our name is the Twelve Girls Band. It is also more lucky to have people. 13 always us to have more flexibility to switch our instruments" said Lei Ying, who performs the yang qin (dulcimer) in the Twelve Girls Band. As the group released its American debut, 'Eastern Energy,' in 2004, they received favourable reviews from critics for their renditions of Coldplay's 'Clocks' and Enya's 'Only Time,' calling it folk techno-fusion. "We want to be able to play all kinds of music when we picked Coldplay we thought it was something that everyone would know and like and it is easy to relate to and 'Take Five' we actually played before last year it just depends on what comes up," said Zhang Shuang who playa the pipa (guitar), in the Twelve Girls Band. But, in their home country of China and even somewhat in America, group member hear fears are diluting traditional music. "The older generation are more traditional so they are not as open to hearing new kinds of music like ours. Since a lot of people like our music I think it also it shows that people like new things," said Ma Jing Jing who plays the erhu (violin) in the group. Each member of the Twelve Girls Band ensemble is classically trained, with backgrounds that include the China Academy of Music; the Chinese National Orchestra; and the Central Conservatory of Music. Skilled multi-instrumentalists, they perform on traditional Chinese instruments that include the zither-like gu zheng with adjustable bridges, and as many as 25 strings. Some of the instruments used to credit the unique sound are a squared-off hammered dulcimer called a yang qin; the erhu, which is a two-string violin; the pear-shaped, four-stringed pipa lute; and the bamboo dizi and vertical xiao flutes. A multi-platinum selling act all over Asia, the Twelve Girls Band fill arenas at home, and are now back on their second North American tour, playing larger venues since tickets to their shows sold out so quickly last time. The aptly-titled 'Romantic Energy' is a two-disc CD and DVD collection that follows-up the group's 2004 U.S. arrival, 'Eastern Energy,' which entered at Number 62 on the Billboard 200 album chart. Their charting marked the highest debut in Billboard history by an Asian recording artist. The album also debuted in the Top 10 on the Internet Album Sales Chart, keeping company with names such as Tim McGraw and Usher. In Japan they sold out 32 arenas in 10 minutes, and selling more than two million records plus appearing in TV ads for chocolate and cell phones, among other products.

ITN Source | November 10, 2005

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