Listen up: Wei Cool

CHINESE MUSICIAN-TURNED- DETROIT-INDIE- PERFORMER DRESSES UP
METRO MUSIC SCENE

by sharon macdonell | photo by daniel lippitt

Xiao Dong Wei (“she-ow dong way”) thrives on variety.

When she plays Chinese music on her erhu (“are-who”), a two-stringed Chinese violin,Wei is dressed in delicate silks, her back rigid, her face peaceful. But catch her at the Magic Bag in Ferndale and you might think you’ve stumbled upon her wicked twin sister. As her leather-mini-skirted, garage-band persona Madame XD,Wei rakes furiously at her erhu while rapping in Mandarin.

“Music is my personality, and there are many sides of me,” says Wei, 39, of St. Clair Shores.

She’s no novelty act. In 1990,Wei graduated as an erhu master from the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. After freelancing, then performing with the Chinese Motion Picture Orchestra for four years, Wei wanted something different. She accepted a translating position at an American trading company.

Traveling between China and the United States, she performed occasionally, and cut a solo CD on a Chinese label. In 2005, she married her boss’ nephew, Ken Hottmann, an automotive engineer from St. Clair Shores. Becoming a suburban housewife was tough. “When I first moved here, I thought about leaving all the time,” she says. But her husband, a former bassist for an indie band himself, suggested she try performing. Doubting anyone would like erhu music, she reluctantly played a coffee house.

“I was surprised,” Wei remembers. “They loved it.”

Since then, Wei has taken every chance to expand. She’s performed with the DSO and built four projects of her own, including the band XD Wei, which plays world music with an occasional Led Zeppelin riff. Hottmann is involved, too, co-writing songs, playing bass for Madame XD, and designing her eye-candy graphics.

“Everyone is so into music and so supportive here, ”Wei says of her new hometown. “Detroit has been really good to me.”

What Wei is listening to:

Led Zeppelin – “My husband is having so much fun showing me stuff. I listen to Led Zeppelin a lot. There are so many awesome sounds. It’s a band you can’t copy.” Favorite song: Dazed and Confused

Björk – “I heard her in China and didn’t like her. I thought she didn’t know music. I started liking it here. You never know where her music is going, but it’s very exciting and rebellious. It’s very fresh for me, her whole attitude.” Favorite song: Jóga

The Clash – “They rock!” Favorite album: Combat Rock

Johnny Cash – “He is very sincere, and I like his voice. It’s very real.”

Upcoming performances

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, July 19
What: Madame XD (Chinese pop/world music) performing at the Concert of Colors (16th annual free diversity music festival, Thursday-Sunday, July 17-20)
Where: The Diversity Stage, Max M. Fisher Music Center, 4711 Woodward Ave., Detroit
Contact: www.concertofcolors.com

When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday, July 20
What: Madame XD at the Southside Blues & Jazz Festival
Where: Lincoln Park, 2800 N. Blvd., Port Huron

When: Sunday, Aug. 3
What: XD Wei (Chinese/Detroit rock)
Where: Sunday Café at Campus Martius Park, Detroit
Contact: Details to be determined. Check www.myspace.com/xdwei

When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 5
What: Bach, Beijing and Beethoven, Xiao Dong Wei (classical Chinese) with the Southern Great Lakes Symphony Orchestra
Where: Flat Rock Community Auditorium, 28100 Aspen Blvd., Flat Rock
Contact: 734.246.2890, www.sgls.org

To hear samples or for more information on performances and CDs: www.myspace.com/madamexd www.myspace.com/xdwei

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Article in Ann Arbor Web
Category: Music

http://www.arborweb.com/reviews/0806_xiaodongwei-review.html

Madame XD Gorgeous pastiche

I first encountered the music of Xiao Dong Wei two years ago, on a beautiful June morning. I'd ridden my bike down to the end of Maple Road to find Huron River Drive all blocked off with traffic cones. I stopped. No cars, no nothing, just a lithe and graceful woman with long, dark hair who was seated on a chair in the brush and weeds alongside Huron River Drive. Next to her were two men, one with a guitar, one with a mandolin. Amid a riot of birdsong, they began to play — bluegrass with a strange and haunting twist. The instrument Xiao Dong played was not quite a fiddle, though I couldn't exactly tell what was different about it. She sang, in both English and Mandarin — in a haunting, powerful, nuanced voice.

Soon an odd, pounding rhythm could be heard. I looked west and saw a tall, dark man running down the road, his feet slapping the asphalt. He was very fast. By this time the music was filling the air, but he didn't seem to notice. Along came another runner — then another and another. (This was, I soon realized, the Dexter-Ann Arbor Run.) Soon there were throngs of runners, and they heard the music, turned, smiled, and shouted, "Thank you!" Xiao Dong nodded and smiled and played on.

Born in China, Xiao Dong began studying the erhu (that thing that was not quite a fiddle) with her father at the age of five. At eleven, she was accepted to the prestigious Central Conservatory of Music and made the 1,200-mile move to Beijing, where she went on to earn her degree and graduate as a "master" of the erhu, with a minor in classical piano.

She went on to a varied professional career before moving in 2005 to Detroit, where she reached out to explore and embrace the music of the area. How do bluegrass, folk, rock, and punk interact with the erhu, and with traditional and not-so-traditional Chinese songs? You never know until you try.

Her avant-garde quartet XD WEI was a fascinating experiment that combined erhu — and the elements of classical Chinese music — with American instruments like mandolin, guitar, bass, banjo, saxophone, and percussion. It's a gorgeous pastiche that, once you hear it, seems to make all the sense in the world.

For her latest incarnation, a new band called Madame XD, this tireless, inventive artist teams up with her husband (and frequent collaborator) Ken Hottmann — long a fixture on Detroit's music scene — and other musicians. The two clips I heard veered from sweet, atmospheric folkiness to bratty in-your-face rock 'n' roll. Xiao Dong makes the erhu fit right in, turning that sweetness to all kinds of crazy mischief.

Madame XD is at the Top of the Park on Sunday, June 22.

—Whit Hill

[Review published June 2008]

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Ad for Concert of Colors 2007. Metro Times 7/18/07:

XD Wei — “Few instruments give a sound as otherworldly as a skillfully played erhu, a traditional two-string Chinese fiddle. Played by classically trained Xiao Dong Wei, it's at the heart of this quartet of Detroiters with their eclectic repertoire. Diversity Stage, 2 p.m., Sunday.”

 Line-up for Metro Times’ Blowout  2007. Metro Times 3/1/07:

XD Wei- “Lovely Xiao Dong Wei plays an erhu and the guzheng in a multi-culti classical mashup. Bjork’s a fan. Stunning.”

 “Wei theory” C&G Newspapers Detroit 2/10/07

Local band XD WEI strikes distinctive chord in music scene

“There is a fairly new band whose unique sound is sweeping metro Detroit’s music scene.

But it’s that sound — a blend of traditional Eastern music and Western flavor — that makes it nearly impossible to classify XD WEI into one genre. Even the four members of the band can’t.

Lead vocalist and erhu master Xiao Dong Wei said it doesn’t matter where the band plays, whether it be locally or clear across the country, XD WEI experiences a large following of fans with a wide array of musical interests.

“Sometimes it’s hard to classify us in one category,” said Wei, a native of China who immigrated to the United States in 2004 and currently lives in St. Clair Shores. “There is Western and Eastern music, and nothing sounds like that. People, those who like hard rock, tell me they enjoy my music, and people who like country music tell me they enjoy my music.”

Read the full article at this link:

http://www.candgnews.com/Homepage-Articles/2007/02-14-07/AE-XDWEI.asp

Weekend line-up. Metro Times 3/1/07:

“Offering exotic respite from a likely Christmas music overload, Xiao Dong Wei comes to Ferndale just in time. With the help of her erhu (Chinese violin), Wei performs original music that echoes sounds and styles from all over the map: Middle Eastern, prog-rock, punk, traditional eastern music, etc. Wei, who now lives in Michigan, is a graduate of the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing and plays her unusual instrument with haunting beauty.”

Festival of Arts line up. By Johnny Loftus. Metro Times 6/0/:

XD Wei — “their sound travels easily between ancient, contemporary and dusty front porch. ‘Evening Fragrance’, for example, unfolds like an old-time parlor waltz, but for the erhu’s pristine warble, which gives the piece a striking exoticism. But their penchant for covering Western pop songs also gives their sound an unbuttoned feel of a kitchen table jam session. On “Immigrant Song”, Xiao Dong’s erhu emulates Robert Plant’s caterwauling vocals.”

Review of “Best Bands I Hadn’t Seen Before” (out of 250) playing Metro Times’ Blowout  2007. by Rachel May for the Detroit Free Press 3/12/07:

XD Wei- “Led by Xiao Dong Wei who plays Erhu and sings in English and Mandarin, this classical fusion group was a refreshing stop on a Thursday night filled with breakneck rock. Mellow, but tastefully done.”

Article for show. “East meets West” by Bill Chapin in the Port Huron Times Herald 3/9/07:

XD WEI- “Try to name another group that combines such diverse elements as traditional Asian music, punk, bluegrass, jazz and prog-rock. Try to name another band fronted by a classically trained erhu player. This quartet makes music you won’t hear anywhere else”.

XD WEI- “String Theory” CD review in Girlistic Magazine – Summer 2007 edition.

“Eclectic in every sense of the word. In XD WEI’s debut album “String Theory”, hints of Chinese, Celtic, South east US, and many more seemingly incongruent sounds converge in a gorgeous display of string virtuosity. But there’s more than just string instruments making up this 13-track album – woodwinds, qyteli and vocals also make appearances.

…Xiao Dong, along with her talented band mates, create a masterful album that encompasses many world sounds, mixing into a rich broth of musical ambrosia.

…For any fan of world music and fused sounds at their finest, this album is a required addition to the collection.”