Abigail Washburn

I've noticed that the more I open up, the more I learn. ”

I believe in the old, because it shows us where we come from - where our souls have risen from. And I believe in the new, because it gives us the opportunity to create who we are becoming. ”

I sang in a reggae band. And then there was a soul band where I sang back-up vocals and some lead. And I was also in a women's a capella group. And I was in the gospel choir at school. Actually, I've always been in choirs. Or some kind of group. Just because I love singing so much. But I truthfully never thought of it as a career. ”

I reside in a new colony for the Chinese-singing banjo player, with a population of one. At least I have something I have to do with my life. ”

One thing I carried my whole life, especially from my grandparents in Chicago, was a huge idealism for the world. ”

I've moved around so much my whole life, and I've gotten so used to being the Other in situations - the foreigner, the outsider. The first time I've ever felt like there was no separation between me and the other elements was in music. ”

China was the first time I truly felt like an outsider. I fell in love with the process of trying to become intimate with the culture. ”

I'm no ethnomusicologist. There is a connection between the five-note scale used both in traditional Chinese music and the blues, but I don't really understand it. All I know is, whenever I play with Chinese musicians, we seem to belong to the same musical gene pool. ”

As a child, I went to peace and ERA marches on the back of my mom and grandmother. Through them I learned that I wanted to find a way to make the world a more kind, compassionate place. ”

I believe in music because it has the power of change. ”