Abigail Washburn

Abigail Washburn is an American folk singer and clawhammer banjo player from Evanston and Nashville, born in 1977. She performs as a solo artist and also appears in several collaborative projects, including Uncle Earl, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet and The Wu Force. She also records and performs as part of the duo Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn with her husband Béla Fleck, and as Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn.

Career

Washburn does not describe herself as someone who set out to become a songwriter or recording artist. Her work is rooted in old-time Appalachian mountain music, and she is known for singing and playing banjo in that style. In 2005 she is heard performing in Chinese in a Beijing club, presenting Appalachian material to a local audience. Around the same period, the Wall Street Journal describes her as a serious folk performer with a soulful approach and notes the strength of her voice and the quality of her songs.

She meets KC Groves in Tennessee in 2000 and later spends five years touring with Uncle Earl, an old-time band. While touring with the group, she releases her first solo album, Song of the Traveling Daughter, a bilingual recording issued by Nettwerk. She then performs internationally with cellist Ben Sollee and, in 2005, tours China and records as Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet with Béla Fleck on banjo and Casey Driessen on fiddle.

Collaborations and other projects

Washburn’s collaborative work extends beyond those projects. In 2006, the US State Department and the American Center for Educational Exchange ask The Sparrow Quartet to return and lead the first official tour by a US band in Tibet. She also appears in The Wu Force, whose first show takes place at Yugong Yishan music club in Beijing in late 2011, before the group comes back together in early 2014. From August 2013, she performs and records as the duo Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn. In 2020, she releases an album with Wu Fei under the name Wu Fei & Abigail Washburn.

Selected recordings

Washburn releases Song of the Traveling Daughter in 2005 and City Of Refuge in 2010. These recordings sit alongside her work in bands and duos, which make up a large part of her career.