Russians get attention playing country

NEW YORK -- They're classically trained Russian musicians steeped in Tchaikovsky and now playing Scruggs.

The six young Russians who make up the group Bering Strait are children of scientists and engineers from a once-closed Soviet nuclear city. Now, they've played the Grand Ole Opry, released their first CD, been the subject of a music documentary and been nominated for a Grammy.

Bluegrass and country are "our roots, just the same way classical music is," says lap steel guitarist Sasha Ostrovsky.

Bering Strait is rising faster than a Bill Monroe mandolin riff.

Nearly five years after they came to Nashville's Music Row, the sudden flurry of attention is dizzying, and most welcome, group members say.

"We've been waiting and hanging together for such a long time and we've been through a lot. Now it is time for something to happen," said banjo player Ilya Toshinsky.

For many Russians, bluegrass is the same thing as country music. Before the collapse of the Soviet Union, both were about as easy to find as Western newspapers -- not very.

That was especially true in Obninsk, a city 60 miles southwest of Moscow that was left off Soviet-era maps because of its top-secret research institutes.

But with a classical guitar teacher's encouragement, 11-year-old Toshinsky discovered the flying fingers on Earl Scruggs' banjo classic "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in 1988 and began playing the instrument. Ostrovsky picked up the dobro, and a bluegrass band was formed.

"It's a nice addition to classical training -- it definitely improves your skills, though it takes a long time to learn," said Natasha Borzilova, now 24, who joined the group when she was 11.

An American art dealer, Ray Johnson, saw the group perform in a Moscow restaurant and helped them move to Nashville in 1998.

Known in Nashville as "the Russian kids," they have developed an enthusiastic local following. They have opened for country star Trisha Yearwood, performed at the Grand Ole Opry five times and appeared recently at New York's B.B. King's Blues Club and Grill. Their self-titled CD was finally released in January on the Universal South label.

Nearly all the songs on the "Bering Strait" CD are written by Nashville songwriters, but two songs that have received the most positive attention are "Bering Strait" and "Porushka-Paranya." The first -- a bluegrass instrumental -- was nominated for a Grammy for country instrumental performance. The second -- an upbeat retooling of a traditional Russian folk song -- jerks audiences out of their seats with a whirlwind of music and Russian lyrics.

Can the Russians forge their own identity on the country music scene?

"That's the ultimate question," Seavey said.

"Will country music allow them to be who they're meant to be?"

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