Musician bridges American heartland, Silk Road

Abigail Washburn (center) with musicians along the ancient Silk Road in China. Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn

Abigail Washburn can play folk music in two different countries and languages.

The banjo player and Grammy Award-winner is coming to Chicago for a performance at the Symphony Center on Friday.

She has toured much of the ancient Silk Road in China, performing American and Chinese folk songs to Chinese audiences before, and now, along with her Appalachian music, she is bringing some Chinese folk songs to the American heartland. "Music renders people’s hearts and connects people in profound ways," Washburn said.

Washburn began learning Mandarin Chinese when she was in college in 1995 and takes pride in promoting cross-cultural understanding between China and the US.

The experience of learning Chinese exposed her to the ancient culture and different ethnic groups in China, Washburn said.

Washburn has lived in China, and in 2008, was a teacher of American folk music at Sichuan University.

In her search for traditional American culture so that she could feel proud to share something with her Chinese friends, she came across the Appalachian music and the banjo.

"Appalachian music traces way back to Scotland and Ireland," she said.

She found a common ground to connect peoples in the two countries.

She learned to play banjo and attributed her success in music to her learning of Chinese.

"For four years when I was learning Chinese, I was repeating syllables and tones. That really helped me to be a musician," Washburn said. "I mean that's what we do in music."