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Biography
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Infobox musical artist|name = Abigail Washburn |background = solo_singer |image = Fls-abbywashburn.jpg |caption = Abby Washburn at Merlefest 2007 |image_size = |birth_name = |birth_date = Birth date and age|1979|11|10|df=yes|origin = Evanston, Illinois |years_active = |instrument = Singer|Vocals , Clawhammer Banjo |genre = Americana (music)|Americana Old-time music |label = Nettwerk |website = http://www.abigailwashburn.com www.afterquakemusic.com Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1979 in Evanston, Illinois , United States|USA ) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time music|old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet .
Biography
Washburn was born in Evanston, Illinois and spent her elementary and part of her junior high school years in a suburb of Washington, D.C. . She attended high school in Minnesota , then attended Colorado College , where she was the school's first East Asian studies major. Following this, she spent some time living in China , where she had dreams of being a lawyer (having first visited that nation in 1996). She then spent three years in Vermont before moving to Nashville, Tennessee .cite web|url= http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/washburn-abigail-051021.shtml|title=Song of the Traveling Clawhammer Banjo Player |last=Holland|first=Roger|date=21 October 2005|publisher=PopMatters.com|accessdate=2009-01-06
In Tennessee , she met KC Groves , one of the founding members of the band Uncle Earl and she went on to spend five years touring with the band. The "all G'earl" group has released two records on the Rounder Records record label , She Waits for the Night (2005) and Waterloo, TN (2007), which was produced by John Paul Jones (musician)|John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin .
Washburn entered a songwriting contest at MerleFest (a bluegrass music festival in North Carolina ), winning second place for her song "Rockabye Dixie", and gaining the attention of the Nettwerk record label.
Her first solo album , Song of the Traveling Daughter, was produced by Béla Fleck and features Ben Sollee , a cellist, and Jordan McConnell, guitarist for the Canada|Canadian traditional and soul music fusion band The Duhks . Two songs were recorded in the Mandarin Chinese language, which she learned while living in China.
In 2005, Washburn returned to China with a group called the Sparrow Quartet , composed of Sollee, Fleck and Grammy Award nominated fiddler Casey Driessen . The group then recorded an Extended play|EP , Abigail Washburn The Sparrow Quartet.
In 2008, Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet recorded a full-length album, Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet. It was produced by Béla Fleck and composed and arranged by the foursome.
After the release of the album, Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet turned their attention to touring North America , with appearances at festivals including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, MerleFest , Bonnaroo Music Festival , Vancouver Folk Festival and others. They returned to China for performances during the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing . The quartet was later featured on National Geographic Live and, in 2009, each participated in the Clearwater Concert, a benefit concert in honor of Pete Seeger's 90th birthday that featured many of the world's most well-known musicians.cite web|url= http://www.abigailwashburn.com/biography.html|title=Abigail Washburn Biography
Inspired by a 2008 volunteer experience for http://sichuan-quake-relief.org Sichuan Quake Relief in China, Abigail joined forces with Shanghai Restoration Project|Shanghai Restoration Project's David Liang in March 2009 to create http://www.afterquakemusic.com Afterquake. The benefit EP (a portion of each sale benefits Sichuan Quake Relief) was released on May 12, 2009, the one-year anniversary of the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake . Over the course of two weeks, Washburn & Liang recorded and produced the entire project, which features electronic mixes of student voices and sounds from the disaster zone, in Sichuan, China.
In early 2010, Washburn began recording her second solo album with producer Tucker Martine and collaborator Kai Welch http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/shakoris-collaborative-energy/Content? oid=1385964.
Personal life
In August 2007, Washburn was reported as being the "girlfriend" of Béla Fleck.cite news|url= http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/05/fashion/weddings/05vows.html|title=Erin Torneo and Sascha Paladino|last=Stowe|first=Stacey|date=August 5, 2007|work=The New York Times|accessdate=December 10, 2010|quote=The band, consisting of the bridegroom's half brothers, Louie Fleck and Béla Fleck; the bridegroom's father, Joe Paladino; and Abigail Washburn, Béla Fleck's girlfriend, performed "Two of Us" by the Beatles. In September 2008, Fleck was alleged to be the "boyfriend" of Abigail Washburn. In May 2009, the Bluegrass Intelligencer satirized the upcoming wedding of Washburn and Fleck, joking that the couple promise to have a "male heir" who will be the "Holy Banjo Emperor".cite web|url= http://bluegrassintelligencer.com/? p=1221|title=Strategic Marriage Will Consolidate Power Within Single Banjo Sovereignty: Fleck, Washburn promise male heir, Holy Banjo Emperor|last=Editor|date=May 28, 2009|work=Bluegrass Intelligencer|publisher=bluegrassintelligencer.com|accessdate=December 10, 2010|location=Nashville In February 2010, The Aspen Times reported that Washburn had become Fleck's wife in the previous year.cite news|url= http://www.aspentimes.com/article/20100204/AE/100209910|title=Banjoist Béla Fleck brings his Africa Project to Aspen|last=Oksenhorn|first=Stewart|date=February 4, 2010|work=The Aspen Times|publisher=Swift Communications|accessdate=December 10, 2010|quote=A year ago, Fleck appeared in Aspen as a member of the Sparrow Quartet, an ensemble led by fellow banjoist (and Fleck's girlfriend at the time, now his wife) Abigail Washburn that mixed Chinese folk songs, Appalachian gospel tunes, blues and more. In a July 2010 interview, Washburn said she first met her husband in Nashville at a square dance—she was dancing and he was playing.cite web|url= http://www.thebeijinger.com/blog/2010/07/08/American-Roots-a-Love-for-China-Abigail-Washburn-Returns|title=American Roots & a Love for China: Abigail Washburn Returns|last=Laskowski|first=Christine|date=July 8, 2010|work=Blog|publisher=The Beijinger|accessdate=December 10, 2010
http://www.abigailwashburn.com/ Abigail Washburn official site
http://www.afterquakemusic.com/ Afterquake official site
http://www.cluas.com/columns/beijing-beat/china-abigail-washburn.htm Article on Abigail Washburn's close relationship with China
http://www.gluckman.com/Bluegrass.html Bluegrass Over Beijing, by Ron Gluckman
http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/washburn-abigail-051021.shtml Abigail Washburn interview from Popmatters
http://www.myspace.com/Abigailwashburn Official Myspace
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Abigail-Washburn/6849234642 Official Facebook Page
http://www.folkradio.co.uk/2011/01/album-review-abigail-washburn-city-of-refuge Review of 'City of Refuge' by Folk Radio UK
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/art/blog/2011/01/washburn-uses-banjo-as-tool-for-diplomacy.html Profile of Abigail Washburn on PBS NewsHour
Listening
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=15182651 Abigail Washburn at NPR Music
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php? storyId=4840756 Audio interview from National Public Radio Morning Edition program
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009X7704 Audio samples from Song of the Traveling Daughter
Persondata | NAME =Washburn, Abigail | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =10 November 1979 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Washburn, Abigail Category:American singers Category:American banjoists Category:Old-time musicians Category:People from Evanston, Illinois Category:1979 births Category:Living people
