Song of the Traveling Daughter

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Editorial Reviews:

Album Description
On Song of the Traveling Daughter, Abigail Washburn sings simple haunting songs and plays the banjo. Musically, the album is one of the most bare-bones debuts in recent memory. Washburn and fellow producers Reid Scelza and Bela Fleck keep the focus where it belongs: on the singer and the song. The arrangements were built around Washburn's evocative vocals and clawhammer banjo style, and Ben Sollee's cello, an instrument that brings a dark, primeval feel to songs that sound like they're hundreds of years old. The sparse instrumental work of guitarist Jordan McConnell (of the Duhks), upright bass player Amanda Kowalski, fiddler Casey Driessen, percussionist Ryan Hoyle (of Collective Soul), keyboard and accordion player Tim Lauer, along with Fleck's national steel guitar and banjo, add subtle grace notes to Washburn's timeless tales.

Song of the Traveling Daughter is an old-fashioned album with a simple, textured beauty that unfolds with repeated listening. There's a flow to the music that draws you in and immerses you in Washburn's unique worldview. While the album is studded with gems, several tracks stand out. "Rockabye Dixie" is a brokenhearted lullaby full of loss and longing, co-written by Beau Stapleton of Blue Merle. "Coffee's Cold" is a jaunty ragtime blues, with a bouncy bass line and exuberant vocal delivery. "Eve Stole the Apple" is the most atypical tune on the album, full of odd rhythmic accents. Part field hollar, part old English folk song; the tune is marked by an impressionist lyric that blends Biblical and folkloric images. "Deep in the Night" is a poetic exploration of darkness that features one of Washburn's most stirring vocals and the accents of Tim Lauer's accordion. "Song of the Traveling Daughter," one of Washburn's Chinese songs, and another album highlight, was inspired by the classical Chinese poem "Song of the Traveling Son." "It's actually harder to put English words to music than Chinese," Washburn explained. "Chinese is all one- or two-syllable words and most have open vowels at the end of the word, so the language almost sings by itself. If it has a closed sound it's usually something soft like 'teng' or 'mang.' If you listen closely to 'Song of the Traveling Daughter,' you can hear how easy it is to put them to music."

Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

Old-time banjo music lives and breathes! August 16, 2005
29 out of 29 found this review helpful

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."

5 out of 5 stars

Bluegrass in the Spirit and Bone January 2, 2006
15 out of 17 found this review helpful

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.

5 out of 5 stars

This is a beautiful CD August 25, 2005
13 out of 13 found this review helpful

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!

5 out of 5 stars

Yes September 9, 2005
11 out of 13 found this review helpful

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.

5 out of 5 stars

A Complete, Delightful, and Substantive Surprise November 30, 2005
10 out of 11 found this review helpful

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.

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