Abigail Washburn

Nettwerk唱片公司的签约歌手Abigail Washburn（王爱平）来自佛蒙特州，最近移居至田纳西州的纳什维尔。Abigail从未停止过歌唱，曲风则由原先的无伴奏福音歌曲、灵歌和雷鬼转为蓝草和传统民歌。Abigail曾学习过几年中文，她也在中国住过几年。同时她还尝试将美国传统民歌翻译成中文进行演唱，并为此创作了一些中文的歌曲。
　Abigail的第一张专辑《Song of the Travelling Daughter》（《游女吟》）于2005年8月在北美发行。《游女吟》是Abigail、Bela Fleck和Reid Scelza一起制作的。其中收录了她个人重新编配的传统歌曲以及自己创作的歌曲，歌词既有中文也有英文。目前她正与Uncle Earl民乐团在美国各地进行巡演。在她最新独唱专辑《游女吟/Here in This Room》中共收录十首歌，有原创作品和老歌翻唱，参与制作的乐手有Casey Driessen、Amanda Kowalski、Tyler Grant、Tim O'Brien、Russ Barenberg和Megan Gregory。
　　自从《游女吟》专辑发表以后，很多北美媒体都对其进行了大量报道，其中包括CNN（有线新闻网）、美国公共电台等大型国际性媒体。她的中文歌被中文电视真人秀《跨越美国大挑战》节目选用。她还应阿巴拉契亚Picking协会之邀和班卓琴大师Bela Fleck共同创作并录制了一首对唱歌曲。她和Beau Stapleton（Blue Merle乐队）在2004 Merle Watson纪念音乐节中获得了“蓝草音乐最佳作曲”二等奖，参赛曲目为《Rockabye Dixie》。
　　2004年11月，Abigail和三位美国优秀音乐家来到中国。他们在北京、上海的酒吧进行了多场精彩的交流演出，并受到两个音乐学院的邀请（北京的迷笛音乐学校、上海音乐学院）为这两所大学的学生上大师课。他们也在上海师范大学、西华大学（成都）、成都信息工程学院、重庆西南师范大学进行了交流演出。在北京他们摄制了一张DVD，介绍班卓琴的演奏技艺和阿巴拉契亚音乐的发展历史。Abigail与几位中国现代、传统乐手取得联系，约定有机会与他们一起演奏。中国多家媒体对她在中国的巡演进行了大量报道，他们的第一次中国之行非常成功。今年他们将再次造访中国，为了能与更多的人进行交流和展示，安排了多场交流巡演。他们将为更多的观众带来实实在在的国际文化交流的机会。
The rustic, poignant,and wide-ranging sounds of singer/songwriter and banjo player Abigail Washburn appear so genuine and natural, they must come from a person who grew up surrounded by folk and bluegrass. The way Washburn came to this music is much more complicated, however, as it involves China, lost banjos, and the rock group Collective Soul. Although Washburn grew up singing, she had no longing to become a professional musician, and part-time gigs singing backup in reggae, gospel, and R&B bands were nothing more than fun activities. But a trip to China in 1996 changed all that. Picking up the native language faster than she imagined and falling in love with Chinese culture began to change the young Washburn's priorities. Reconsidering the culture of her own homeland, Washburn bought a banjo and decided to explore the rich heritage of folk and bluegrass music. Mastery of the instrument didn't happen right away, and fans of Washburn's banjo style might be shocked to learn she went years without even touching the instrument she had bought. Later, she was living in Vermont and working as an activist when her good friends the Cleary Brothers lost their banjo player after scheduling a tour of Alaska. Blowing the dust off her banjo, Washburn began a crash course in playing the instrument, joined the Cleary Brothers, and was soon off on her first tour.
Performing in front of an audience fit like a glove, and soon Washburn was assuming lead vocals as well. With the tour completed, Nashville was the budding musician's next stop. While living there, she continued her banjo studies and began to write songs. In 2004, she met Jing Li Jurca, who would help her write her first song in Chinese, as well as K.C. Groves, a founding member of the old-timey string band Uncle Earl. Washburn joined the second incarnation of Uncle Earl and appeared on the band's 2005 album, She Waits for Night. Keeping her solo options open, Washburn then entered her song "Rockabye Dixie" into the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest at MerleFest. The tune took second place and attracted the attention of Nettwerk Records. After signing with the label, Washburn played a mini-tour of China before returning home to record her debut with such accomplished musicians as Béla Fleck, Jordan McConnell of the Duhks, and Ryan Hoyle of Collective Soul. The resulting Song of the Traveling Daughter appeared in 2005, and Washburn returned to the Asian continent to tour as part of the Sparrow Quartet (which also comprised Fleck, fiddle virtuoso Casey Driessen, and cellist Ben Sollee). The U.S. government sponsored the tour, making Washburn the first musical artist to receive such an honor. The Sparrow Quartet joined her on the trip, and the group explored a blend of eastern and western folk traditions on their 2008 effort, Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet.