A spinal injury in 1993 has kept the invitations unanswered. Backache and a crippled left leg have tormented Chen for the past 13 years, making him unable to stand or sit for too long. “For 15 years till I was 39, I would stay up all night from 11pm to the dawn working on the music with a bottle of Kaoliang liquor (高梁酒) at my side … . And that’s probably why my body got so messed up,” Chen said.
But Chen is not the kind of guy who feels sorry for himself. He has taken up the role of record producer and songwriter for TV commercials, which Chen said is a good way to support his musical career and the folksy Tamsui River Band (淡水走唱團), who support him in concert.
“I used to borrow musicians from Wu Bai’s (伍佰) China Blue for performances, but sometimes they were too busying doing their own things. So one day Wu Bai just said to me ‘go get yourself a band,’” Chen said with a laugh.
So Chen did and the Tamsui River Band (淡水走唱團) was formed in 1996. A couple of changes of line-up later, the band now consists of Chen and four visually impaired musicians. It’s a group that lives up to Chen’s life motto: go wherever your heart leads you and have fun.
“I remember one time we had a touring performance in Kaohsiung. When we got there, our bassist said to us ‘you know what, I forgot to bring my bass.’ With these guys, you just have to go with the flow,” Chen’s wife and assistant Wang Si-ying (王思穎) said with a chuckle.
The never-on-schedule, going-with-the-flow attitude of Chen may explain why the musician issues his solo albums at such infrequent intervals. “Many of my songs take years to complete. Sometimes the lyrics are done, but the music comes a decade later. I won’t publish the song until I feel the right moment has arrived, and it usually means a few years have gone by,” said Chen.
For Chen, music is made with his feet. Each year, the genial musician travels around the island several times to pay visits to friends and musical teachers, immersing himself in the pulsing beat of the land, and singing the sometimes long-forgotten stories of the island. “You can’t write music in the studio. You have to go out there, to feel and get inspired by people and the land,” Chen said.
Back home in Beitou, the 50-year-old musician can often be spotted scribbling on pieces of paper when the creative stream hits during his daily six-hour stroll around the neighborhood. These strolls are a form of therapy for his leg.
Hopefully, Chen’s perseverance will pay off soon since the guitar virtuoso’s only wish is to cure his backache so that he can embark on a world tour, taking Taiwanese folk tunes onto the international stage. “Imagine Kimbo Hu (胡德夫), Samingad (紀曉君) and I drifting from town to town like street musicians playing our island’s music. Oh, won’t that be great! We would have such fun,” said Chen, excited as a little boy who has just been granted his greatest wish.
It may or may not be a premature dream, but one thing can be sure: the living folk legend will continue his odyssey deep into the musical realm until the curtain of life falls.
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