Mountains of Strings – Abigail Washburn

Recently, I’ve had a wonderful time working with my friend, songwriter/singer/banjo player Abigail Washburn. Last fall I performed her music alongside other supporting musicians Nathaniel Smith (cello) and Bela Fleck (banjo) at Disney Hall in LA; we were opening for legendary comedian/banjo player Steve Martin. That was a challenge; her music has such beauty, honesty, and depth, and I was inspired to do my best. But I was faced with a much greater challenge recently when she asked me to arrange and record strings for her next album. The rough tracks she sent me were wonderful, and I was so inspired by the music that the string parts I was composing were becoming more and more ambitious. After a number of coffee-driven, sleepless, often ecstatic nights of composing the parts, I was pretty much finished and ready to record; off to Nashville!

There, I met up with Abby and the great team of folks working on the record, including producer Tucker Martine (Laura Veirs, the Decemberists, etc.). Over the course of a few days, we recorded the “mountain” of strings I’d arranged for her songs; one song in particular, Ballad of Treason, ended up with an orchestral sound – a total of eleven separate, carefully orchestrated parts on violin, viola, and cello (I played the violin and viola parts, and Nathaniel Smith played the cello parts). Oftentimes the sound of the strings on the album is fairly classical; other times the sound of the strings is Eastern, swooping – almost Indian. The songs themselves are gorgeous, and are supported by a diverse cast of musicians including Bela Fleck, Bill Frisell, Victor Krauss, Tim O’Brien, and many more.

Abby’s record, soon-to-be-released, turned out to be one of my favorite projects to date. Stay tuned.