Echo In The Valley With Autographed CD Booklet

Bla Fleck & Abigail Washburn, the king and queen of the banjo (Paste Magazine), have a musical partnership like no other. Bla Fleck is a fifteen-time Grammy Award winner who has taken the instrument across multiple genres, and Abigail Washburn a singer-songwriter and clawhammer banjo player who re-radicalized it by combining it with Far East culture and sounds. The two met at a square dance, began collaborating musically and eventually fell in love. Over the years, they played together most visibly in the Sparrow Quartet alongside Ben Sollee and Casey Driessen and informally at a pickin party here, a benefit there, or occasionally popping up in each others solo shows. Fans of tradition-tweaking acoustic fare eagerly anticipated that Bla & Abigail would begin making music together as a duo.

Fleck has the virtuosic, jazz-to-classical ingenuity of an iconic instrumentalist and composer with bluegrass roots. His collaborations range from his ground-breaking standard-setting ensemble Bla Fleck and the Flecktones to a staggeringly broad array of musical experiments. From writing concertos for full symphony orchestra, exploring the banjos African roots, to jazz duos with Chick Corea, many tout that Bla Fleck is the worlds premier banjo player. Washburn has the earthy sophistication of a postmodern, old-time singer-songwriter who has drawn critical acclaim for her solo albums. She has done fascinating work in folk musical diplomacy in China, presented an original theatrical production, and has contributed to singular side groups Uncle Earl and The Wu-Force. In addition, Washburn has recently created a non-profit with Chinese zither-master, Wu Fei, called the Ripple Effect, whose mission is to unite and open hearts through the unique sounds and harmony of American and Chinese folk music.

Echo In The Valley has 11 songs, the majority are original tunes and there are a few wildly reimagined traditional ones. In the way that Abigail and Bla both have used the banjo as a bridge between cultures, this record bridges traditional Appalachian tunes with original songs that address relevant topics in todays world.

With one eye on using the banjo to showcase Americas rich heritage and the other pulling the noble instrument from its most familiar arena into new and unique realms, Bela & Abigail meet in the mean, head-on, to present music that feels wildly innovative and familiar at the same time. Whether at home, on stage or on record, their deep bond, combined with the way their distinct musical personalities and banjo styles interact, makes theirs a picking partnership unlike any other on the planet.