The Big Hillbilly Bluegrass Band will play at Bishkek’s main ex-pat bar on Tuesday. Their regular gig is at Madam’s Organ in D.C., which besides being know as one of the best bars in town was also Euan Blair’s favorite hang out while an intern in Congress. Clearly this means the Big Hillbilly’s have some connections in high places, besides their official ones as State Department-sponsored cultural ambassadors.
But seriously, having personally railed many times against assumptions that bluegrass is the same as generic “country,” I can attest that the genre comes from a culture born in the American mountains. Could mountains be the best way to connect with the Kyrgyz? Bluegrass has worked for politicians before, as in Virginia’s 2001 gubernatorial race were Yankee telecom millionaire Mark Warner won with the rural vote. His campaign song was sung by the Bluegrass Brothers and included lines like: “Mark Warner’s a good ol’ boy from up in Novaville. He understands our people, the folks up in the hills.” It went on to detail how folks should shout his merits from the coal mines to the stills of Southwest Virginia. Is it possible that with a little word play, a Kyrgyz version could induce similar goodwill from Kumtor to the kymyz chanach?
