© 2026 Western New York Public Broadcasting Association

140 Lower Terrace St.
Buffalo, NY 14202

Toronto Address:
130 Queens Quay E.
Suite 903
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6


Mailing Address:
Horizons Plaza P.O. Box 1263
Buffalo, NY 14240-1263

Buffalo Toronto Public Media | Phone 716-845-7000
BTPM NPR Newsroom | Phone: 716-845-7040
Differing shades of blue wavering throughout the image
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Abigail Washburn: Giving Up China For The Banjo

Abigail Washburn's second album, City of Refuge, almost never came to be. She'd never much seen herself as a musician, and after she finished her schooling in Colorado, she all but committed herself to a life practicing law in China.

Washburn says that after a transformative six-month stay there, she returned home and packed her bags for a new life in Beijing.

But as luck would have it, her growing fascination with learning the banjo turned into a recording career — and changed her career path forever. Weekend All Things Considered guest host Linda Wertheimer recently spoke with Washburn about her strange career path, her evolution as a songwriter and her marriage to banjo legend Bela Fleck. You can hear the interview at the top of the page.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

This story was compiled from reports by NPR News staff.