Abigail Washburn

Abigail Washburn is a GRAMMY® Award-winning singer, songwriter and clawhammer banjo player based in Nashville, TN. Abigail's musical projects range from her woman-powered string band, Uncle Earl, to her bilingual releases Song of the Traveling Daughter and City of Refuge, to a banjo-zither collaboration with guzheng virtuoso Wu Fei weaving together traditional folk tunes from the US and China. As a duo with her husband Béla Fleck, Abigail has written a song cycle for full symphony orchestra and recorded two albums including a self-titled debut that earned the 2016 Grammy for Best Folk Album. Abigail toured China independently and regularly for over 20 years, including a month-long tour of China’s Silk Road supported by grants from the US Embassy, Beijing. Abigail, along with 24 other innovative and creative thinkers worldwide, was named a TED Fellow and gave a talk about bridging US-China relations through music. Abigail’s efforts to share music exist within a hope that cultural understanding and the communal experience of beauty and sound will lead the way to a richer existence.