Simply put, Abigail Washburn is one of the most groundbreaking banjo players alive today. She has transformed how we hear clawhammer banjo with projects such as the old-time group Uncle Earl, the world music-inspired Sparrow Quartet and her 2011 solo album, City of Refuge. During a 2013 tour stop at Seattle’s Town Hall, we caught up with Washburn and filmed this intimate solo version of the City of Refuge’s title track. She’s playing an open-back OME banjo that fits nicely around her baby bump (Washburn and husband Bela Fleck gave birth to a baby boy on May 19, 2013).

Longtime FJ readers may remember the interview between Washburn and Alison Brown in the Fretboard Journal #15. That issue is now available digitally at no cost via our iPad app here.