Guo Tao: A northern Shaanxi folk singer from the other side of the mountain

Source: Shaanxi Daily

Guo Tao's natural and flexible singing style is deeply loved by the audience. Photographed by Dai Jikun, a reporter of this newspaper

You're on the other side of the mountain

I stand on this beam

Call a brother you didn't hear

The girl was calculating in her heart

……

In December last year, at the recording site of the 2021 Starlight Carnival Avenue of Stars Spring Festival special program, Guo Tao, a northern Shaanxi folk singer from Yulin Zizhou, sang his masterpiece "Over the Mountain". The program gathers many outstanding singers who have come out of the Avenue of Stars and will present an audio-visual feast for the audience during the Spring Festival.

Since becoming popular on the stage of the Avenue of Stars in 2012, Guo Tao has successively launched songs such as "Over the Mountain", "Who Left a Personal Thought", "Ballad of Time", "Extraordinary Road" and so on, which has won the love and affirmation of a large number of fans with solid singing skills, delicate emotional expression, and national and fashionable singing, and has also made the natural sound of the Loess Plateau - northern Shaanxi folk songs spread farther.

On January 28, the reporter interviewed Guo Tao, who returned to Xi'an to record a new song, and listened to her tell the story behind her own path to acting and her understanding of folk songs in northern Shaanxi.

7 days from the podium to the stage

"Before Singing, I was a teacher in a kindergarten in Xi'an, and I embarked on the road of acting because of an experience of making up for the position and saving the field." Guo Tao said.

One day in January 2012, it was more than 11 p.m. when Guo Tao's mobile phone rang. "At that time, a female director of the Avenue of Stars called me and told me to fly to Beijing the next morning to participate in the recording of the show, and the rehearsal time was only 7 days." Guo Tao said that since one of the contestants temporarily withdrew, the director hoped that Guo Tao could make up for the rescue.

Early the next morning, Guo Tao flew to Beijing with his sister. "After arriving, I was told that the first song I sang was Chang Sisi's "Spring Ballet", which has a lot of difficult sopranos in this song, and it is difficult to master without professional training." Guo Tao said.

On that day, Guo Tao listened to this song "Spring Ballet" countless times, looking for feelings. For a week, singing and dancing were choreographed and practiced by Guo Tao herself, and she hardly slept a good night's sleep.

Finally, when it came to the day of the performance, Guo Tao was dressed in a dignified and elegant dress and was the first to appear. "As soon as I stepped on the stage, I saw my parents sitting in the middle of the audience, and the program team did not disclose it before." Guo Tao said, "I couldn't care less about the nervousness at that time, so I wanted to show my talents to my parents, and it was not easy for me to study in Xi'an from the rural areas of northern Shaanxi." ”

The high-pitched and elegant singing voice, the beautiful and elegant appearance, and the combination of ethnic and fashionable performance style made Guo Tao on the stage stunned the audience and won the unanimous recognition of the judges and the audience. In 7 days, Guo Tao completed the gorgeous turn from the podium to the stage. In the following year, she passed the hurdles and finally stood on the stage of the Walk of Fame annual competition.

On the stage of the annual competition, Guo Tao chose the classic folk song " Yuanliang Liang "YuanliangLiang", and unlike the previous version, she added rap to make this traditional folk song refreshing. At the same time, her youthful and fashionable appearance and dynamic dance performance also impressed the audience, and finally won the title of "Popularity Champion".

Let the folk songs of northern Shaanxi spread farther

After becoming popular on the Avenue of Stars, Guo Tao received more and more invitations, often performing in Beijing, Xi'an and other places, and eventually quit her kindergarten job to devote herself to her acting career.

"Teacher Wang Jiayuan, a singer at the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Center, encouraged me, saying that my voice has its own characteristics, a unique charm nourished by the yellow earth, and I must sing my own songs." Guo Tao told reporters.

Since 2015, Guo Tao has successively launched new folk songs in northern Shaanxi such as "Over the Mountain", "Who Left a Personal Thought", and "Wine Cup". With solid singing skills, ethnic and fashion combination of performance, Guo Tao and her northern Shaanxi folk songs have gained a large number of fans.

"The sky is thick and the soil is thick, and the folk songs of northern Shaanxi are like natural sounds, and some people say that it is a musical masterpiece engraved on the high slopes of the loess soil." Guo Tao said, "Folk songs in northern Shaanxi come from life, and the people in their hometowns improvise, process and sing in life scenes such as cultivating land, grazing, drinking, and celebrating festivals, and one folk song after another tells about the social changes and customs of the Loess Plateau." ”

Taking "That Side of the Mountain" as an example, the first paragraph of the beginning" begins: "You are on the other side of the mountain, I stand on this beam and beam, calling a brother you did not hear, the sister is calculating in her heart..." Vividly reproduced the scene of the loess plateau where the mountain is deep and the young lovers "can't see the upper part of the hand". The last paragraph, "Hug that damn pro-grid egg, you are the sister's heart, liver and liver, oh brother in your heart, oh yo even can be a ride in the middle of the day", singing the sincere feelings between lovers in the authentic northern Shaanxi dialect, straight to the hearts of the people, let people not get tired of listening.

"Guo Tao sang for the times, sang for his hometown, sang for the public, used modern performance means to interpret traditional northern Shaanxi folk songs, resonated strongly with the audience, and found the best way for literature and art to serve society." Wang Jianling, a famous cultural scholar in northern Shaanxi and the inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage "Northern Shaanxi Folk Proverb", commented on Guo Tao.

On December 2 last year, on the occasion of the 71st anniversary of Lu Yao's birth, Qingjian County specially composed the song "Extraordinary Road", sung by Guo Tao, who sang from the perspective of readers about the impact of Lu Yao's book "Ordinary World" on hundreds of millions of young readers, and the gratitude of young readers to Lu Yao. At present, Guo Tao also serves as the tourism image ambassador of Yulin City and the public welfare image ambassador of Liuqing Cultural Park in Wubao County.

"One side of the water and soil to support the other, the thick yellow land of northern Shaanxi has nurtured me, I will adhere to the creative concept of people first, take the sadness and joy of ordinary laborers as the eternal theme of creation, dedicate more and better works for everyone, and let the folk songs of northern Shaanxi spread farther." Guo Tao said.