If there is such a thing as banjo royalty, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn are the king and queen.
On Saturday, April 13, 2019 at 8 p.m., the Regina A. Quick Center for the Arts will welcome back banjo sensations Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn. With one eye on using the banjo to showcase America’s rich heritage and the other on pulling the noble instrument from its most familiar arena into unique new realms, the duo will perform simultaneously familiar and wildly innovative selections from their second album, Echo in the Valley.
Both independent music creators and performers, Fleck and Washburn first met in Nashville, Tenn., at a square dance. In 2013, after the birth of their son, the couple began touring as a duo so that their family could spend more time together. Their first self-titled album won the 2016 Grammy Award for Best Folk Album.
Fleck is a 15-time Grammy Award-winner with the distinction of having been nominated in more music categories than any other instrumentalist in Grammy history. His banjo playing has brought to life scorching hot newgrass, traditional bluegrass, otherworldly funk, modern jazz, African originals, transatlantic Celtic, and classical realms. In November of 2000, Fleck recorded Live at the Quick, which featured Béla Fleck and The Flecktones in a live CD and DVD recording.
Washburn has re-radicalized the banjo. Deftly following in the footsteps of the founding mothers of folk, she has become a prominent voice of old-time in our time. She brings both historic American and ancient Far East culture to life in her music, in new and exciting ways.
"As musicians and songwriters, Fleck and Washburn are predisposed to embrace the entire world — its sounds and its occupants alike,” wrote NPR’s Stephen Thompson. “Echo in the Valley ties the many threads of their interests into a work that dazzles without sacrificing a shred of approachability.”
Béla Fleck & Abigail Washburn in concert is sponsored by WSHU and Morris Media. Tickets are $60 and $50, and Quick Members are $40. For more information or to reserve your seat, visit www.quickcenter.com or call the box office at 203-254-4010 or toll free at 1-877-ARTS-396.
