I'm doing some research for an article and am interested to know more
about Hmong popular music around and prior to 1975. If you have
thoughts to share or know of people who might be willing to talk with
me, feel free to contact me on or off list. Based on my initial
impression, there seems to be an explosion of cassette tapes along
with the mass migration of Hmong refugees to Thailand. It is unclear
if there was much of a popular music industry prior to this time (even
an informal one). My suspicion is that the war and its aftermath
concentrated certain populations of the Hmong Lao moreso than in the
past (for example, Long Cheng or Ban Vinai), allowing for a critical
mass of interest in producing popular music in the Hmong language
(along with the time and resources to make it). Then again, maybe
there was Hmong popular music in urban Laos prior to this time (or if
large Hmong centers in places like Wenshan, China) that had influence
on this music.

Thanks very much for any advice or thoughts that you can share. If you
are interested, I maintain a website that features some of my research
(including videos and a music glossary): www.poss.ws.

Nick Poss
PhD Candidate - Ethnomusicology
The Ohio State University