Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburn
Abigail Washburnis an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu Force, and as a duo with her husband Béla Fleck...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBanjo Player
Date of Birth10 November 1977
CountryUnited States of America
music pot
I feel like my kind of music is a big pot of different spices. It's a soup with all kinds of ingredients in it.
music
You can enjoy many different types of music. I think that's something more Americans should think about.
china fell felt intimate love process time truly trying
China was the first time I truly felt like an outsider. I fell in love with the process of trying to become intimate with the culture.
best doors finally general supposed
I have a general sense of mission, and I intuitively know when something is influencing that mission. I think this is what I'm supposed to be doing. Doors keep opening. In the end, it's the best use of my skills. I've finally consented to the idea that I'm an artist.
believe change music power
I believe in music because it has the power of change.
intention power
I would say I've always lived creativity, but now I - I do it with an intention that's got a completely different power.
banjo child connect deal fell future god pain parents past period playing record time
When I first started playing the banjo and miraculously fell into a record deal in Nashville, TN, there was a period when I didn't go to China. It hurt. Like a pain in my gut... that pain you feel when you know it's time to connect with your parents or your God or your child or your past or your future... and you don't do it.
beauty common drive human louder music needs search share sure
My whole drive is to make sure that music is a common space where we search for beauty and share it. It needs to be louder than any conversation. That's where we have to go as a human race.
era learned marches mom peace
As a child, I went to peace and ERA marches on the back of my mom and grandmother. Through them I learned that I wanted to find a way to make the world a more kind, compassionate place.
afraid
You have to try things you're really afraid of, even if you pee yourself a little bit.
band choir gospel love reggae sang singing truthfully women
I sang in a reggae band. And then there was a soul band where I sang back-up vocals and some lead. And I was also in a women's a capella group. And I was in the gospel choir at school. Actually, I've always been in choirs. Or some kind of group. Just because I love singing so much. But I truthfully never thought of it as a career.
albums bruce distinct favorite
One of my favorite albums in the world is Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska.' Each song has this very distinct character who has something profound to say.
comforting draw extremely share
I feel like the one insight that's extremely comforting to me about the world is that we all share the same pool of emotion that we draw from.
asked comment grandpa home jesus nursing pictures visit wrote
'Halo' I wrote with my grandpa in his nursing home. When I went to visit him, he'd often comment on my halo. But of course, I couldn't see. And he always - he had pictures of Jesus with these beautiful halos. And so I asked him if he'd write a song with me about Jesus' halo.