Abigail Washburn - “New Kid In Town“
There have been a myriad of divas to adorn the media tabloids and magazines since The Golden Age of rock n‘ roll and the first royalty of the genre with Grace Slick of Jefferson Airplane & Janis Joplin with Big Brother & The Holding Company. Sporadic ingénues like Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris, Bette Midler, Allison Krauss, Liz Phair, Nancy Wilson, Margo Timmons, Pat Benetar and others. All have made considerable impact on their chosen genre and yet, there hasn‘t been an artist that exudes the provocative demeanor and elegance of Grace Slick, the stage charisma and crowd rapport of Janis nor the cult following that is usually synonymous with a woman who can captivate an audience by sheer genetics and augmented with acquired skill. During the embryonic “daze“ of the musical revolution in the late sixties, there were but a handful of women who could front a band and success become their juxtaposing image. Two we have alluded to and the others were Nancy Nevins of Sweetwater, Lydia Pense of Cold Blood and Annie Sampson of Stone Ground.

This was not the first appearance at Bonnaroo for Abigail Washburn as she performed last year with Uncle Earl & left a lasting impression of those who were fortunate to venture to the auxiliary stage amidst the thundering herd within the gates of the Bonnaroo compound. This year was a more endearing quartet, similar to an orchestral presentation with an oboe, cello and tandem banjo players, I.e., Bela Fleck, the God of his chosen instrument. Pundits of “Bluegrass“ have finally found the heiress to the musical throne and this maven of contemporary music may ascend her thrown and maintain her rightful place in the pantheons of greatness for quite some time. As festival vagabonds venture to various festivals of given magnitude, the denizens of Haight Ashbury and Golden Gate Park should heed the notice that it may have taken four decades before a woman with obvious visual allure to mirror that with a talent rarely equaled. There has never been a live performance in the park that exceeded late afternoon but that restraint has been nullified so, if you’re looking for the music that stirs the soul and performed by a genetic beauty with a band of extraordinary ability, I venture to say that Abigail Washburn has now made her mark on the music of today, supplemented by the tunes of early influence. She has crafted her musicianship that seems to surpass her chronological age but in an era when music once again becomes the solvent for universal peace, she is a gift to all those who have become aware of her impact. Times change, but “Once a Queen, always a Queen“.



- Don