放飞梦想，没有不可能

夜神◕_̯͡◕

My story fits the same pattern. I met Woodie when he repaired a guitar for me. He heard I was a longtime editor for Guitar World magazine and became very interested in chatting, which quickly led to jamming together; the same news would have induced a shrug from a good guitar repairman back in the states. Saxophonist Dave Loevinger, who is the U.S. Treasury Department representative in Beijing, played for years with the great Washington, D.C., party band Jimi Smooth and Hittime. Had we met at home, it's unlikely he would have been interested in forming a band, but newly relocated to Beijing, he was excited to find a musical outlet.

我的经历也很相似。我与Woodie是在他为我修理吉他时相识的。他听说我是《吉他世界》(Guitar World)的资深编辑，于是就饶有兴趣地与我攀谈起来，而且我俩很快就打成了一片。而如果在美国，一位好的吉他修理师在知道我是谁后恐怕只会耸耸肩。美国财政部驻华代表洛文杰(Dave Loevinger)是位萨克斯演奏家，他是华盛顿特区的著名老牌乐队Jimi Smooth & Hittime的元老。假设我俩是在美国相识，他是不大可能有意和我组建一支乐队的，但由于他最近刚被派驻到了北京，他很高兴能找到音乐上的知音。

夜神◕_̯͡◕

When a nearby restaurant asked me to host an open mic, the three of us got together, with an initial repertoire consisting of whatever I could sing without cringing. We've come a long way since then, thanks largely to my growing confidence -- the other guys were already good. We have a unique sound, with most of the solos coming from Dave's soulful sax and Woodie's mournful lap steel guitar, an unusual instrument which figures prominently in American country and blues music. I have always loved slide guitar, but it never occurred to me that my first chance to play with a great lap steel player would come in Beijing, with an amiable Chinese guy bearing a tattoo of Stevie Ray Vaughan, one of my favorite blues guitarists.

后来附近一家餐馆邀请我主持一次歌会，我们三人就一起在这次“处女秀”中大大方方地唱了所有会唱的歌。在此之后我们取得了很大的进步，这主要是因为我的信心越来越足，而其他人本身就非常优秀。我们为观众营造了独一无二的音乐氛围，独奏部分主要由洛文杰深情款款的萨克斯和Woodie委婉忧伤的钢棒吉他演奏组成。钢棒吉他是一种非同寻常的乐器，在美国乡村乐和蓝调音乐中的地位举足轻重。滑音吉他一直是我的最爱，不过我从未想过自己与一位伟大钢棒吉他演奏家的首次合作竟然是在北京，同台的还有一位和蔼可亲的中国小伙子，他身上纹着史提夫•瑞旺(Stevie Ray Vaughan)的刺青，而瑞旺正是我最喜欢的一位蓝调吉他演奏家。

夜神◕_̯͡◕

We played with a couple of different bassists and drummers before settling on the young, easygoing Chinese pros who play with Woodie in another band as well. Since adding them, we've become more and more of a real band. In two weeks we are headlining one of Beijing's top rock clubs, and we're talking to an agent about booking some out-of-town festivals.

我们先后与好几位贝斯手和鼓手搭档过，最后定下来的是两位随和的中国专业乐手，他们还与Woodie合作为其他一些乐队演奏。随着新成员的加入，我们越来越像一支真正的乐队了。两周后，我们将在北京最火的一家摇滚俱乐部里担纲主演，而且现在我们正同一家经纪公司预约有关参加外地音乐节演出的事宜

夜神◕_̯͡◕

Pretty soon, we may even live up to the bragging motto I made up for our posters and Web site: 'Beijing's premier blues and jam band.'

不久之后，我们可能真的能实现我在海报和网站上放出的豪言壮语：“北京优秀的布鲁斯乐队”。

夜神◕_̯͡◕

Though it feels like the most natural thing in the world, our mix of Chinese and expat musicians is unusual; most bands around here feature one or the other. In fact, Woodie used to play regularly with most of the current members of a popular band, but when they formed this group they made it clear that they felt they could get better gigs if they had no Chinese members.

虽然看似水到渠成，但像我们这样由中国人和老外“混搭”的乐队却不多见。我们周围绝大多数乐队要么是清一色国人，要么是百分之百老外。实际上Woodie过去曾和某支流行乐队的多数成员有过定期合作，但当后者成立这支乐队时，他们明确表示如果没有中国人在内乐队会磨合得更好。

夜神◕_̯͡◕

It's their loss; not only are they missing out on a great guitarist but also on moments of unforced cultural exchange that can be hard to come by. I have gained a new understanding of the lyrics of songs I've sung for years by explaining their meaning to my band mates, two of whom speak no English. And one of the unanticipated benefits of the band has been an opportunity to get a little deeper into local life, sharing meals, beers and downtime with my new Chinese friends and their wives, girlfriends, cousins and buddies.

对那些人来说这绝对是个损失，他们不但错过了一位优秀的吉他手，也与那种纯粹自然状态下的文化交流失之交臂，而这种机会实在是可遇不可求。以一首我之前已经哼唱多年的抒情歌曲为例，在我向队友们解释这首歌曲的意思时，我对歌词又有了新的领悟。组建这支乐队还有一个原来意想不到的好处，那就是我们可以更深入地了解中国人的生活，我与这些新朋友，还有他们的妻子、女友及朋友兄弟们一起吃饭喝酒，共享快乐时光。

夜神◕_̯͡◕

Dave wants us to change our name and it's true that the humor doesn't really translate to a Chinese audience, but they view it as a straight-forward description: the Woodie and Alan band. It is also a reminder of our humble beginnings. Something can be funny without being a joke, and this band will never reach the point where I don't see the humor in it.

洛文杰建议我们把乐队的名字改一改；中国本地听众的确是无法真正理解其中的幽默，不过他们觉得“伍迪和艾伦乐队”相当直白：就是伍迪和艾伦的乐队呗。这个名字也时刻提醒我们，这支乐队一开始是多么不起眼。有些东西即使不用玩笑的方式也会让人觉得开心，而这支乐队会永远带给我快乐。