Patterson, "Everything was new when I got here, of course; and very grey; black and white I might add. I just wanted one thing in my life here to be more or less the same as back home, something comfortable, and that was music."

Whether these three Beijing-based part-time musicians are gentlemen pur sang, I shall leave in the middle for now, but one thing's for sure: this ain't about country ‘n' western folks -- though their music does have a folksy touch to it. All three men grew up in the countryside on both sides of the pond that is the Atlantic Ocean. Representing the United States, we have John Patterson (26), vocals and tambourine y'all, from good ol' Tennessee and bass player Ashton Liu (27) from, well, basically all over the place. With a U.S. passport to boot, that is. Third (lone) ranger and lead guitar Greg Monk (24) hails from Yorkshire, England. Who? What? Why? How? I had the men face the music, just let me have this one, of my myriad questionnaire. I'm no Rolling Stone employee and cannot tell a Fender from a Gibson, but still I present to you: the Country Gentlemen.

From L to R, we have: Liu on bass, Monk on lead (if you can say that in music terms, check with Rolling Stone) and Patterson doing his opera-trained vocal "thang." Photo by 宋"Siren"陽(yáng)