Eric Shi is bringing the country music and bluegrass sound to China.
This 44-year-old Chinese man is becoming quite the sensation online as videos he’s posted onto his personal YouTube account of him playing bluegrass and country music gain traction. Shi became familiar with the genre while he was in high school, and has always appreciated the energy and sound of country music – so much so that he taught himself how to play it.
Shi now lives in Dali, Yunnan, a city in China that’s over 1,500 miles from his hometown of Zhejiang. He moved there in 2023, and unfortunately left behind the bluegrass band that he had formed while he was there with like minded musicians. He’s now trying to form a new band, which currently consists of his son, Shi Rang, and a bass player named Wang Yifei.
When he talked about his musical journey in a vlog, it seems as though he’s already got the musician life down pat, and invited others who like country and bluegrass to move to his city:
“It’s an ideal place for creating music and art if you don’t have high needs of making money. I sincerely welcome bluegrass and country music lovers around the world to come visit. We can play music or make music videos together.”
Shi went on to say that only a few people know about bluegrass in China, whereas a good number of people are familiar with and enjoy country music as a whole. That’s because a lot of country music has the same pentatonic scale as traditional music in China, which makes it alluring to those in the area.
The Chinese country music sensation says he found out about country music through CDs that were smuggled in and sold at night markets when he was younger. That’s how he says he discovered some of his favorite artists, like George Strait and the Chicks (formerly the Dixie Chicks). He also came to know bluegrass artists like Earl Scruggs and Bela Fleck through a banjo teacher that he had in his 30’s.
It’s sad to think that he left behind the band he had formed in Zhejiang, though they luckily recorded a couple of covers before he packed up his family and left for greener pastures (and more comfortable living). Below you can view the band’s covers of George Strait’s “Amarillo By Morning” and Hank Williams’ “Jambalaya (On The Bayou).”
“Amarillo By Morning”
“Jambalaya (On The Bayou)”
Pretty good right?
Those two videos together have almost 1.5 million views combined, and if you liked them, you’ll certainly be interested in this more recent cover of Alan Jackson’s “Chattahoochee.” Spoiler alert: Shi’s son can play the hell out of a banjo:
“Chattahoochee”
