American roots music is a mix of Western European and African traditions. As a musician of Japanese and Chinese descent with a love of folk music, I’ve been wondering what songs my Chinese ancestors brought to the U.S. when they emigrated during the gold rush, and what songs my Japanese ancestors sang while working the sugar plantations of Hawaii. I wonder about the arduous labor of the Chinese who built the railroads, and wish I could hear their work songs. Why didn’t their music become part of the landscape?

My music imagines what it would sound like if elements of Japanese and Chinese music had become a natural part of American roots music.

I am so excited to be working on my first album, Daughter of the West. Co-produced with Grammy-winning engineer and producer Marc Whitmore, the album features a country band layered with erhu, pipa, shamisen, guzheng and Chinese percussion.