Most touring acts pass through the Pacific Northwest en route to Los Angeles or Canada. Not singing banjo player Abigail Washburn. The next big leg on the itinerary for Washburn and her colleagues in the Sparrow Quartet is a U.S.-sponsored cultural mission to Tibet, with additional dates in China.
Tibet is a first for Washburn, who plays the Tractor Tavern on Friday, October 13, accompanied by cellist Ben Sollee. But China? She’s been there, done that… several times before. She first visited as a college student, and was smitten. In recent years, she has returned twice to play and promote traditional American music there. Last time, in 2005, her cohorts included Sollee, fiddler Casey Driessen (of the Duhks), and banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck. The Sparrow Quartet was born.
“When we got back after that last trip, we realized that there were going to be more opportunities to play together,” says Washburn. “So we decided to solidify things a bit, by putting out a little recording that represented what we did while we were there.” The result is The Sparrow Quartet, a five-track EP available online (www.abigailwashburn.com) and at shows.
Washburn, who also plays in bluegrass quartet Uncle Earl, previously drew on her experiences abroad on her solo debut, Song of the Traveling Daughter; the title track was inspired by a classical Chinese poem. But The Sparrow Quartet EP finds her exploring a much broader range of material than before, dipping into hot jazz (“Everybody Does It Now”) and spirituals (“Keys to the Kingdom,” “His Eye Is on the Sparrow”).
“Traveling Daughter was pretty Appalachian and straight-ahead,” she admits. “There isn’t a lot on there that is particularly bluesy, or jazzy, or hard-hitting gospel. And black gospel music is my favorite music. It always has been. I’ve sung in several black gospel choirs. In the past, I’ve removed myself from thinking of that as a part of my repertoire, honestly, because I’m a white girl.
“I finally broke through that, and said, ‘I should just sing stuff I love to sing,'” Washburn continues. “And that’s what I did on this EP. And I have a feeling it’s going to take me in a different direction in the future.”
Solo performances and the quartet gigs allow Washburn to explore other creative avenues, too. “Uncle Earl has never been about improvisation,” she points out. “It is very much an old-time, Appalachian group. Working with the Sparrow Quartet opens up whole new possibilities for song accompaniment.”
However, there are other restrictions to consider when Washburn plays behind the Great Wall. Improvisation within the songs might fly, but the repertory has to remain fixed. “I always have to submit a list of all the songs I’m going to sing, with the lyrics, to each of the venues I’m going to play, so they can be approved.” Which in itself might be a first. How many other roots-music acts have had to follow the same bureaucratic protocol as the Rolling Stones and Wham!?
