Customer Reviews

Song of the Traveling Daughter

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As a clawhammer banjo player, I listen to a lot of artists doing their own versions of old folk songs. The real treasure of this album is listening to this old-time banjoist create her own brand of old-time music. Her banjo has a really warm old-time sound, but she plays and sings her own stuff: songs about travelling, her relationship to religion/faith, her identity being wrapped up with her mother's, etc. The opening song, "Sometimes," is a great example of this: great old-time banjo playing, eventually joined by other string-band instruments, and Washburn's beautiful voice. She also plays some really nice bluesy numbers: Coffee's Cold (her own) and Nobody's Fault But Mine (Blind Willie Johnson and Nina Simone). Even her rendition of old-time songs is her own: she does a really nice faithful version of Backstep Cindy, adding some nice bluesy bends the third or fourth time through, and then transitioning into a Chinese folk song, Purple Bamboo. Really this is one of the best versions of Backstep Cindy that I've heard. There are so many good songs on here, it's hard not to talk about every one of them. Momma is a great soul searching song, as is Eve Stole the Apple, which explores her own relationship to transgression and defying Big Brother by contemplating some religious models who did the same (Eve, Jesus). This song is her own creation, but its bluesy, old-time sound draws inspiration, as she states in her notes, from Doc Boggs and from some other LOC Field Recordings. Fabulous album. Now I'm going to get the album of the group she's in: Uncle Earl's "She Waits for Night."

Let me start out by saying I'm new to this style of music. I was walking through a local music store and heard a few cuts from this CD and simply had to buy it. I've listened to it almost exclusively since then. It is a beautiful CD...it's simple, it's complex, it's musically stunning and the lyrics are compelling and moving. If you have any desire to seek out something different you simply must check out this CD. I think I'm in love!

Now in my 60s, I started playing banjo and guitar nearly 50 years ago, and I have spent a career studying China. How wonderful it is to hear someone trace a tradition to its roots and make it her own, playing old songs and new ones of her own creation with wit and simple elegance. Washburn xiaojie--xie xie ni. Your music lightens an old woman's heart.

I was trying to explain this album to a friend of mine who loves bluegrass music-- "Really, you have to listen to her sing blue grass in Chinese!" My friend shook her head emphatically, "That's not right, that just not right."

But is it right. As right as it could be.

Abigail Washburn is a musician to watch. Don't let the Chinese put you off.

Some records come out and they seem so opposite of what is going on. This is one of those records. That makes me curious. Where did this stuff come from? What sort of sensibility is behind these songs? So many people have went back to the Appalachian mountain music to gain authenticity. Abigail Washburn does it as good as anyone. Apparently she got interested in doing this music while she was in China. She took some banjo lessons. Then she wrote some good songs. Some songs like "Rockabye Dixie" and "Nobody's Fault But Mine" are classics. Most of these songs deal with every day themes and Biblical images. Abigail Washburn has a great voice that is quite convincing. This may be one of the great records of the year that we come back and rediscover.

NPR did an interview on Abigale Washburn and played a clip from Song of the Traveling Daughter. I was intrigued enough by what I heard that I came into the office and immediately ordered it from Amazon. I was not disappointed when I recieved it and listened to the whole album. I am not a fan of albums. I've been disappointed by most every album I have ever bought. I listen to two or three songs and then decide not to listen to the rest because they all start sounding the same. As you can tell I am not a big music fan. But with Abigale (as with Kate Campbell) I listened to the entire album. And then listened again. And then again. This album has dominated my listening time since I got it. Her voice is feminine and rich. Her style is wonderfully unique. Her choice and arrangement of songs is wonderfully refreshing. Can you imagine mixing Chinese and Appalachian? She does it and it works. I have other albums of Appalachian and like most other albums I can't listen to the whole thing at once because the appalachian sound comes off harsh on my ears. But Abigale is melodious and intriguing. The lyrics are substantive in their story and meaning. I hope that she can do this again on another album.

First and foremost, Abigail Washburn is immensely listenable. Her voice is simple and eloquent, matching almost perfectly to her material. But the material . . . Washburn has clearly captured the feel of American roots music (I wouldn't call it bluegrass) in her own material, and it's difficult for the average listener to tell some of her compositions from traditional ones. This is all to the good, as the traditional has been mined and remined. Washburn gives us new tunes that sound like the old, and that's a very pleasant thing.

But she has other material as well. A number of the pieces here are hybrids of American roots and Chinese folk, mixed in various ratios. 'Song of the Travelling Daughter' would be at home on any folk or bluegrass album with the exception that the lyrics happen to be in Chinese. Similarly the bluegrass standard 'Backstep Cindy' segues into a Chinese tune 'Purple Bamboo' with surprising smoothness. It's a fit I'd never have imagined, and it's startlingly effective. I suspect that the wonderful phrasing of 'Red & Blazing' owes a debt to Chinese folk, while 'The Lost Lamb' seems almost pure Han. The entire disk is an ear-catching, captivating mix that still has a very prominent place on my player six months after purchase.

I must also add a few words about Ben Sollee's cello (and possibly bass). Many of the arrangements involve bowed rather than plucked bass lines, and they brilliantly support and extend the music. This album would still be striking without it, but it adds another layer of excellence.

This is the best CD purchase I have made in a very long time. Although I have enjoyed the sound of bluegrass music on the rare occasions when I have heard it, I would never have identified as a fan. However, you don't have to be a bluegrass fan to become completely engaged in the richness, complexity, depth, artistry, and plain old toe-tapping fun of this album. I had the good luck of hearing Ms. Washburn perform live in the studios of NPR. It was immediately apparent that she is a true pioneer in her field....and her unique spirit, authenticity, and honesty ring true with every note. I enthusiastically recommend this album and look forward to her future creations.

I believe all music styles are worth listening to if they are done well and by good musicians. Such is the case with Song of the Traveling Daughter. Just when you think you've heard all the various combinations one could think of, Ms. Washburn comes along. Combining a Chinese flair to bluegrass music with some
songs actually being sung in Chinese, is apleasant surprise.
I would recommend this audio for anyone who is excited and open-minded enough (like I am) to welcome a new twist in music. Washburn's banjo is also a delight listen to.

My husband and I are singers, and he dragged me to a bluegrass concert in New York City, where I had the great good fortune of hearing Abigail Washburn as the opening act. I had never heard of her. Her music and performance touched me so deeply. She is a consummate artist who sings from the heart without affectation or ego (a rare find in the performing arts). And what a beautiful heart! I excitedly bought her CD that evening. It is great, to be sure, but nothing can compare to this woman in concert. It would be worth a drive of hundreds of miles to hear her.
I've now had the additional great good fortune of meeting Abigail (we share the same first name!), and she is a warm and sincere woman. I haven't been this excited by a musician in at least 15 years.