Quotes from Abigail Washburn

China was the first time I truly felt like an outsider. I fell in love with the process of trying to become intimate with the culture.

I believe in the old, because it shows us where we come from - where our souls have risen from. And I believe in the new, because it gives us the opportunity to create who we are becoming.

You can enjoy many different types of music. I think that's something more Americans should think about.

I feel like my kind of music is a big pot of different spices. It's a soup with all kinds of ingredients in it.

One of my favorite albums in the world is Bruce Springsteen's 'Nebraska.' Each song has this very distinct character who has something profound to say.

I do see music as complete refuge. It's a universal home, complete common ground between everyone; it comes from a place that has no nation and no boundaries around it.

For most Americans, my Chinese music feels like a novelty, and it's not what it is for me.

One thing I carried my whole life, especially from my grandparents in Chicago, was a huge idealism for the world.

I've noticed that the more I open up, the more I learn.

I was born in Evanston, Illinois. I spent my elementary and part of my junior high school years in a D.C. suburb. And then I spent my high school years in Minnesota. And then I spent my college years in Colorado. And then I spent some time living in China. And then I spent three years in Vermont before moving down to Nashville.