JERO

In the hyper-traditional world of Japanese enka singing, there isn't generally a lot of room for change -- in the lyrics, in the music, or in the singers and audiences themselves. In an odd twist, however, an information sciences graduate from Pittsburgh won a karaoke contest (his competition itself stemming from an appreciation of enka from a Japanese grandmother's record collection) and made his way into Japan as an essentially traditional enka singer. Though Jero (born Jerome White) wears his own urban styles (complete with chains, cocked baseball cap, bandana, etc.) and in...