The Sparrow Quartet is an American

acoustic music Acoustic music is music that solely or primarily uses instruments that produce sound through acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means. While all music was once acoustic, the retronym "acoustic music" appeared after the adv ...

group that formed in 2005. Its members include

Abigail Washburn Abigail Washburn (born November 10, 1977) is an American clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time music, old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet, experimental group The Wu For ...

(

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and vocals),

Béla Fleck Béla Anton Leoš Fleck (born July 10, 1958) is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, bringing the instrument from its bluegrass roots to jazz, classi ...

(

Casey Driessen Casey Christopher Driessen (born December 6, 1978 in Owatonna, Minnesota, United States) is an American bluegrass fiddler and singer. He plays acoustic and electric five-string violins, each of which has an additional low C string. He is a gr ...

(

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

), and Ben Sollee (

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, ...

). The group is known for its mixture of

old-time music Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dancing, clogging, and buck dancing. It is played on acoustic instruments, generally centering on a combinatio ...

with Chinese lyrics and melodies, owing to Washburn's long-standing interest in Chinese culture. The band released their debut album, ''Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet'', on May 20, 2008, on

Nettwerk Records Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk Management, and Nettwerk One Publishing. Established in 1984, the Vancouver-based company was created by Nettwerk principals Terry McBride and Mark Jowett as a record ...

. Following the album's release, the Sparrow Quartet embarked on a one-hundred plus date tour of North America"Abigail Washburn announces new album, extensive tour"
'' Paste''. April 21, 2008. Retrieved April 24, 2008. which included a stop in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

opening for

Earl Scruggs Earl Eugene Scruggs (January 6, 1924 – March 28, 2012) was an American musician noted for popularizing a three-finger banjo picking style, now called "Scruggs style", which is a defining characteristic of bluegrass music. His three-finge ...

in which Fleck performed onstage with Scruggs.

Discography

*''

Abigail Washburn & The Sparrow Quartet The Sparrow Quartet is an American acoustic music group that formed in 2005. Its members include Abigail Washburn (banjo and vocals), Béla Fleck (banjo), Casey Driessen ( violin), and Ben Sollee (cello). The group is known for its mixture of ol ...

'' (2008) *''The Sparrow Quartet EP'' (2009)

References

External links

Abigail Washburn official siteBéla Fleck - The Official WebsiteCasey Driessen - The Official WebsiteBen Sollee - The Official Website
Musical groups established in 2005 American folk musical groups Nettwerk Records artists {{US-folk-band-stub