Abigail Washburn is a singing, songwriting, Illinois-born, Nashville-based clawhammer banjo playerâis every bit as interested in the present and the future as she is in the past, and every bit as attuned to the global as she is to the local. Her music ranges from the "all-g'earl" string band sound of Uncle Earl to her bi-lingual solo release Song of the Traveling Daughter (2005), to the mind-bending âchamber rootsâ sound of the Sparrow Quartet, to the rhythms, sounds and stories of Afterquake, her fundraiser CD for the Sichuan earthquake victims. Her latest solo release, City of Refuge (2011), written with collaborator Kai Welch, takes her bold and expansive musical vision to new heights.
Her newest album, a banjo centric collaboration with her husband BĂ©la Fleck is an innovative and intimate musical experience, sharing a slice of life and love for this banjo family.