March into Nashville

March into Nashville

A little later tonight, the Grammy Awards will be presented. And one of the nominees 1 in country is a band that calls itself Bering Strait, whose sound is as pure and clean as the smell of fresh cut 1)bluegrass. It’s their first big break after five years of knocking on doors in 2)Nashville. Bering Strait named after the 3)waterway that divides Russia from America, but Bering Strait, the band does the opposite. It connects them.

That 4)straightforward 2 style is the stuff of country music legend. But make way 5)Hank Williams and Patsy Cline make room for Natasha, Sergei, Sasha, Alexander, Ilya and Lydia.

The sound may be down home American, but Bering Strait is pure Russian. Natasha Borzilova is the lead singer. It’s been her steady job since childhood. Ilya Toshinsky is the band’s founding member. He’s been dreaming of making it big in American country since he was 15. The parents all wanted the same things for their kids: good education, rewarding careers and 6)rigorous classical music education. For Bering Strait, that discipline did not lead to bronze, it led to bluegrass.

And in 1998, they came here to the Jerusalem of country music, to Nashville, Tennessee where vast fortunes are made singing of heartbreak and loss.

For half a century dreamers, coal-miners’ daughters have joined the pilgrims on the 7)trek 3, but none of them have traveled quite the geographic 4 and cultural distance as these kids.

Once in Nashville, they thought they struck gold. They got a record deal and it fell through, then another, their timing 5 couldn’t have been worse. Musical 8)boomtown Nashville went into the biggest slump 6 in its history and the child stars from Russia became just one more group without a 9)gig. In five years, four labels picked up the band but collapsed 7 before they could put out a record.

Today a musician, tomorrow unemployed 8. A parental 9 remark as old as time, but so far they’re still working. One reason is raw talent. But like most country bands their biggest kick is playing for that 10)Grand Ole Opry audience. It’s yet another irony 10 of the band’s story that when they do play live the 11)showstopper is not country in western; it’s country in eastern -- an old Russian folk song called “Porushka” set to a bluegrass beat.

Talent and perseverance 11 seem to be paying off-in January 12)the Grammy nomination 12, the release of their first CD and “Bering Strait” the documentary and an invitation to New York and a date at 13)B.B. King’s Club in Times Square. For any band to make it this far is an achievement; for the six kids from Obninsk, win or lose at tonight’s Grammies, they have already hit the 14)jackpot.

向纳什维尔进军

今晚稍迟一些将举行格莱美颁奖典礼。这些获得乡村音乐奖提名的乐队中，有一支名为“白令海峡”的乐队，他们的声音宛如新刈的蓝草那样散发着纯净、清新的气息。这是他们在纳什维尔奋斗五年之后所取得的首次重大突破。虽然白令海峡以那条分隔了俄罗斯和美国的水路命名，但他们做的却正好相反——他们连接二者。

那种坦率真挚的风格是这支乡村乐队中的精华。但是，哪怕是汉克·威廉姆斯和佩茜·克莱恩这些乡村音乐的元老恐怕也要让位于“白令海峡”的纳塔莎、瑟奇、萨沙、亚历山大、伊利亚和莉迪亚。

“白令海峡”的声音或许有很强的美国本土味，但他们是纯粹的俄罗斯人。纳塔莎·波兹洛娃是主唱，从孩提时候起她就坚定不移地唱歌了。伊利亚·托什斯基是乐队的创始成员。自从他十五岁以来，就一直梦想在美国乡村音乐领域成就一番事业。父母们在教育方面对他们的孩子都期待同样的事情，即良好的教育、富有前景的事业和严格的古典音乐教育。然而，对“白令海峡”来说，那种训练并没有把他们引向古典艺术，而是引向了乡村音乐。

1998年他们来到了这里——田纳西州的纳什维尔，乡村音乐的圣地；在这里，歌唱伤心和失落能获得巨大的财富。

半个世纪以来，梦想家们、矿工的女儿们都加入了这个艰难跋涉的朝圣队伍，但谁也没能像这些孩子那样在地理和文化上走得那么远。

在纳什维尔，他们一度以为自己挖到了金子。他们得到一个唱片合同，但未能实现。接着悲剧又一次上演，他们的处境极为不妙。此时，新兴音乐都市纳什维尔进入历史上最萧条的时期，来自俄罗斯的少年明星们又只不过是个默默无名的乐队。五年中先后有四家唱片公司接手乐队，但没来得及推出一张唱片它们就都倒闭了。

今天是音乐家，明天就失业。父母亲的教诲跟岁月一样古老，但到目前为止，他们仍在工作。一个原因是他们率真质朴的才华。但是像大多数乡村乐队一样，他们最大的成功就是在乡村老大剧院进行演出。具有讽刺意味的是，乐队在现场演出时，最受欢迎的曲目不是西方的乡村乐，而恰恰是东方的乡村乐：一首名为《Porushka》的古老的俄罗斯民歌，也是一首蓝草音乐。

天才和毅力似乎正获得回报。一月份他们获得格莱美提名，首张CD和《白令海峡》记录片发行，他们还应邀去纽约，并约好在时代广场B.B.金俱乐部进行表演。对任何乐队来说，走到这一步都是一个成功。对来自奥布宁斯克的六个青年而言，今晚的格莱美奖无论得失如何，他们已经大获全胜。

注释:

1) bluegrass [5blu:7^rB:s] n. 早熟禾；蓝草音乐（一种复调乡土音乐，用未经扩音的弦乐器演奏）

2) Nashville [5nAFvil] n. 纳什维尔（美国田纳西州首府）

3) waterway [5wC:tEwei] n. 水路，排水沟

4) straightforward [streit5fC:wEd] a. 简单的，易懂的

5) Hank Williams and Patsy Cline: 汉克·威廉姆斯，1923年出生于美国亚拉巴马州，他为乡村音乐的发展和流传做出了巨大的贡献。佩茜·克莱恩，1932年出生于美国弗吉尼亚州，著名乡村音乐艺术家，被誉为二十世纪五、六十年代的流行歌后

6) rigorous [5ri^ErEs] a. 严格的

7) trek [trek] n. 艰苦跋涉

8) boomtown [bu:mtaun] n. （美）新兴城市

9) gig [^i^] n. （美俚）活儿

10) Grand Ole Opry: 乡村老大剧院，在田纳西州的纳什维尔市，为乡村音乐的圣地

11) showstopper [5FEu7stCpE] n. 因为特别精彩而被掌声打断的表演

12) 这里指“白令海峡”获第45届格莱美“最佳乡村乐演奏”( Best Country Instrumental Performance )提名

13) B.B.King是二十世纪后半叶吉他领域里的权威人物，是这个时代布鲁斯音乐的领导者之一。

14) jackpot [5dVAkpRt] n. （桥牌）累积赌注，累积奖金