Harvey Edwards

Harvey Edwards is a Chinese based musician. Born in Mississippi, he traveled the United States as a migratory worker, seeking employment in whatever field he could. Harvey sought a career in music, playing delta blues across the country but never made a major name for himself.

The US war with the self-proclaimed Republic of Dixie prevented him from returning home during the span of the First North American War, where he migrated to the west coast working as a laborer in Seattle, Washington. He was one of the American refugees to seek refuge in China during the war with Canada where he was discovered by Chen Yiaoliang and recruited for backup on his band.

Since then, Harvey Edwards has remained in China.

Background
Harvey Edwards was born in Natchez, Mississippi to sharecroppers Adams Edwards and Martha Penn on February 4th, 1935. At the age of eleven he began to play guitar to beg for money on the streets by singing old gospel tunes. By the age of eighteen he left Natchez during the open revolution that swept the South to form the Republic of Dixie.

Migrating the mid-west young Harvey Edwards sought temporary work where he could to pay himself along. On the side he would play in bars and rest stops along the way for an extra dollar. But for his performances he would never gain significant repute.

Harvey would later find himself in Seattle, Washington by 1969 where he worked menial labor to get by. When war broke out between the US and Canada, a Canadian artillery shell or bomb exploded near enough to him that he lost half his hearing during the Canadian assault on Seattle.

Wounded and trapped in Seattle by Canadian forces Harvey eventually got his break when Chinese forces arrived for the Chinese indirect contribution to what is referred to as the North American Airlift. Boarding Chinese aircraft he was flown to China, where he was interned at the American Refugee Camp on Green Island off the coast of Taiwan.

While in the refugee camps he would play to help maintain morale among the souls there as the war raged in America. His performances wouldn't go unnoticed as Chinese musician Chen Yiaoliang picked him up on his visits to the camp to research and learn to perform the distinct American sound reportedly present at the refugee camps. Upon his discovery Harvey was invited to perform in Yiaoliang's backup band, which he accepted.

He was soon registered and offered his permits of residency in China under the auspices as being a musician under Yiaoliang.

Career
Harvey Edward's career in China was a fortuitous change from his former lifestyle of playing trucker bars and way stations and he quickly became a performer of repute within China's pop-music circles. Since his discovery by Yiaoliang he's become an influential figure in the new music circles of Chinese composition and has himself become notable. Largely if by his loud method of playing, which he attributes to his near-loss of hearing.

His notability however hasn't guarded him from controversy and Harvey was a notable figure in the mid-70's conflict the NPN had with Chen Yiaoliang over seditious music styles. Though the conflict drew to a close at the reconciliation of Yiaoliang with the NPN through the work of Zhang Auyi and the ultimate resignation of the NPN's chief director.