Abigail Washburn & The Shanghai Restoration Project

ABIGAIL WASHBURN & THE SHANGHAI RESTORATION PROJECT

Traditional Chinese instruments meet hip-hop and electronica

Illinois-born, clawhammer banjo player Abigail Washburn is known for her ability to pair venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds. Her origins as a professional musician can be traced back to an unexpected record deal, a canceled one-way ticket to China, and ultimately the resulting album, Song of the Traveling Daughter (2005).  Following her successful solo debut came Abigail Washburn and the Sparrow Quartet, a set of compositions sprouted from seeds of American and Chinese folk featuring cellist Ben Sollee, fiddler Casey Driessen and three-finger-style banjo player Bela Fleck. Today Washburn is preparing for the release of her new album City of Refuge. Produced by Tucker Martine, the sound is something completely different even for Washburn: a sublime marriage of old-time and indie-pop.  City of Refuge has been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, Daytrotter and Relix magazine and is scheduled to be released in January 2011.

Combining traditional Chinese instruments with hip-hop and electronica, The Shanghai Restoration Project (TSRP) debuted as MSN Music’s “New Artist of the Week” in early 2006. Since then select releases have reached #1 on several electronic charts (iTunes, Amazon, MSN Music) around the world. TSRP songs have been used in numerous television shows, films, and commercials including a worldwide advertisement for LVMH/Kenzo and NBC and BBC’s broadcast of the 2008 Olympics. TSRP producer Dave Liang graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Applied Mathematics and Economics. Classically trained and a former New York All-State jazz pianist, he has worked with artists on Bad Boy, Warner, Yamaha, and Universal. His work has been featured on NPR, The New York Times, BBC World Service, FADER Magazine, Wired.com, and The Wall Street Journal.

“Abigail Washburn and The Shanghai Restoration Project are very proud to be a part of WE ARE THE WORLD / UNITED IN SONG. By broadening the initial mission of USA for Africa to include socially conscious artists from all over the globe, the compilation reinforces the notion that the problems of the world aren’t restricted to one region and that we can all do our part to help.” ~ Abigail Washburn ~

SONG: ~Sala~ http://tinyurl.com/UniteInSong13

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