Sparrow Quartet Collaboration produces raw, adventurouS Music

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

June 2, 2008

As an “artist who best embodies the notion of Americana as a worldwide musical language” (The Tennessean), Abigail Washburn of beloved all-female old-time quartet Uncle Earl has created a new sound challenging country and culture. The Sparrow Quartet, her all-star collaboration with banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck, acclaimed cellist Ben Sollee, and Grammy-nominated fiddler Casey Driessen, formed in 2005 to record Washburn’s solo album.

Since then, the unconventional foursome has taken their unprecedented combination of two banjos (clawhammer and three-finger-style), cello, and five-string fiddle across the country and as far afield as China (where Washburn has academic and cultural connections) and Tibet (where they became the first Official U.S. Cultural Mission to tour the country).

Produced by Fleck, their May 2008 release Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet features the band’s adventurous bluegrass/folk acoustic style -- raw, transcendental music that unfolds in a dreamlike chamber suite.

Touring the US and Canada this summer behind the new album, the group is appearing at festivals including New Orleans Jazz & Heritage, Merlefest, Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, and the Vancouver Folk Festival before a return to China for performances at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In the mix is the group’s Paramount Theater performance on Friday, June 27 at 8 pm.

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Abigail Washburn never set out to be a songwriter or a recording artist. When she found herself on stage in a smoke-filled Beijing club playing banjo and singing old-time Appalachian mountain music in Chinese to a packed house five years ago, she was as surprised as anyone.

During that same tour of China in 2005, The Wall Street Journal hailed Washburn as "a daring, definite talent, whose feel for the folk idiom results in moving material. Soulful is the word ... On stage, her voice resonated with the power of a seasoned performer and her poetic hill tunes sounded all the more evocative in Chinese.” 

Produced by Fleck and composed/arranged by the quartet’s members, the new record is Washburn’s moment to “intentionally create art that is more than what I ever thought I was capable of.” Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet became an “intimate exploration of crossing global and cultural lines within myself,” says Washburn, who feels a reverence for both American and Chinese cultures. “These musicians allowed me to dream big, and they had the chops to execute it all, and then some,” she continues.

Often considered the premiere banjo player in the world, Béla Fleck has virtually reinvented the image and sound of the banjo in a remarkable performing and recording career that has taken him all over the musical map. Aside from his long time group, Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, he recently journeyed across Africa to explore the origins of the banjo and record and shoot a documentary, Throw Down Your Heart, premiering at festivals nationwide this year. A 10-time Grammy winner, Fleck has been nominated 25 times in the most diverse categories of any artist in Grammy history.

Born and raised in Kentucky, the young cellist and singer-songwriter Ben Sollee is changing the way people think of the instrument. While Sollee has studied classically, receiving his degree from the University of Louisville in 2006, his soulful voice and style of playing reflect his deep connection to American roots music. His cello playing is a unique alchemy of fiddling, percussive bow work, and three-finger style plucking. Beyond his work with The Sparrow Quartet, he has toured and recorded with avant-garde blues man Otis Taylor. NPR recognized Sollee as one of their “Great Unknown Artists” of the year in 2007, and his new solo album Learning to Bend will be released this summer.

Casey Driessen is a restless explorer and bold boundary crosser who listens for inspiration from Tennessee to Tibet. There’s no solace in safety for this remarkable 29-year-old. With his debut album 3D, this worldly instrumentalist and composer is able to show off a little, not merely as a fast and inventive fiddler, but as a visionary who translates his passion for tradition and improvisation into important new American music. This vision was recognized in 2007 with a Grammy nomination for Best Country Instrumental Performance for the track “Jerusalem Ridge.” Showcasing his signature percussive ‘chop’ style, the New York Times called the song a “tour de force.”

For the five years prior to this new venture with the Sparrow Quartet, Washburn toured with Uncle Earl. The "all G'earl" group has released two records on the Rounder label, She Waits for Night (2005) and Waterloo, TN (2007), the latter of which was produced by John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.

In the midst of touring with Uncle Earl, Washburn released her first solo debut and bilingual album, Song of the Traveling Daughter, to much critical acclaim. At that point she joined cellist Ben Sollee in performing her music around the globe. In 2005 the pair was joined by Fleck and Driessen to tour China. In 2006, the US State Department and the American Center for Educational Exchange requested that the group come back to lead the first official tour of a US band in Tibet.

While previewing new material at Coachella, the Los Angeles Times raved, “Washburn stomped and skipped through fiery Appalachian takes on the local songs of Sichuan. Her bilingualism's no gimmick; she nails the dips and peaks of pitch while leading her band in scorching variations on simple, repetitive traditional melodies.”

“I had no intention of becoming a performer and yet under miraculous circumstances I was brought into the music industry fold,” Washburn states. “If divine powers hadn’t interfered I’d still be living in China working in some area of Sino-American comparative law.”

Tickets for Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Béla Fleck on June 27 at 8 pm are $28.50, $31.50, $34.50, and $39.50. Students of all ages may obtain half-price student rush tickets at the Box Office with a valid ID 45 minutes prior to curtain. Group discounts are also available.

Tickets are available online or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.

For more information about Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, visit www.sparrowquartet.com or www.myspace.com/abigailwashburn.