[jackbl]

The Englishman who sings Vietnamese
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Lee Kirby is not new to many young Internet users in Vietnam and it is clear why the English man has captured many Vietnamese hearts. He now plans to sing his way down the country.


He speaks Vietnamese well, and sings Vietnamese’s all time favorites even better.

From the iconic “Diem Xua” by the legendary Trinh Cong Son, to a more contemporary “Uoc Gi” by pop singer My Tam or a touch of folk songs with “Beo Dat May Troi,” Lee has proved music can be a powerful channel to approach a new culture.

In 2002, the Londoner made his first trip to Vietnam and fell in love with the country’s melodies and language.

He went back and learned “Song Ve Dau” by Trinh Cong Son, his first Vietnamese song with a Vietnamese student studying A-level at Ashbourne College, where he still works.

Lee has been back and forth ever since, traveling around the country and even performing at some upscale cafes in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

His favorite venues, however, are in the streets of Hanoi’s Old Quarter, its beautiful Hoan Kiem Lake or Saigon’s large parks and myriads of street cafes where he loves wandering around with a group of friends and his acoustic guitar.

Not surprisingly, the hang-out habit seems to have inspired Lee’s most recent plan to engage his talent to a wider audience.

“I am going to travel from North to South from July 15 to August 15, and I will sing along the trip and everywhere I can,” Lee said.

He said he is ready to sing Vietnamese at the park, on the bus, the rice paddy fields or under a tree’s shadow, adding that bringing simple joy to people he comes across on his way makes him happy.

“I used to sing for people I just met in the countryside where I traveled before. We gathered under a tree and sang together. I am happy that I can share interesting moments with these people I met for the first time, who all lead very hard lives and seldom have any form of entertainment.”

Four of Lee’s Vietnamese friends will join him in this trip and they too will sing popular songs.

For him, apart from Trinh Cong Son and Tran Tien, he is perfecting folk songs as well as Le Cat Trong Ly’s and Nguyen Duc Cuong’s, young composers that are taking the music scene by storm.

Until now, Lee’s collection boasts more than 20 Vietnamese songs, all sang with precise and emotional pronunciations.

“It takes me only five hours to be able to sing a Vietnamese song, but singing well and with emotions require a lot of work. I am not afraid to do what I love, to try new things and not care too much what others may think.”

His favorite motto is, “Do what you love before you get old and have no time left.”

He said he is considering quitting his job at Ashbourne, which belongs to his father, to move to Vietnam.