Biography
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Years Active
2005 – present (19 years)
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Members
- Abigail Washburn
- Ben Sollee
- Béla Fleck
- Casey Driessen
Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet is an American acoustic music group that formed in 2005. Led by banjo player and singer Abigail Washburn (banjo and voice), the band features Béla Fleck (banjo), Casey Driessen (violin), and Ben Sollee (cello). The group is known for its mixture of old-time music with Chinese lyrics and melodies, owing to Washburn's long-standing interest in Chinese culture.
In 2005, the band toured China. In 2006, the US State Department and the American Center for Educational Exchange requested that the group lead the first official tour of a US band in Tibet.
The band released their debut album, Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet, on 20 May 2008 on Nettwerk Records. Following the album's release, the band embarked on a one-hundred plus date tour of North America which included a stop in Seattle opening for Earl Scruggs in which Fleck performed onstage with Scruggs.
The band appeared 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 featured on National Geographic Live and, in 2009, each of the members 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.
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