How to Go
What: Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn
When: Oct. 19, 8 p.m.
Where: Miami Middletown’s Dave Finkelman Auditorium. Miami University Middletown is located at 4200 N. University Blvd.
Cost: $20-$30
More Info: (513) 727-3200 or www.belafleck.com, or www.abigailwashburn.com.
When “The Beverly Hillbillies” first aired on American TV screens in 1962, few would’ve guessed it would’ve inspired one of the greatest banjo artists in musical history.
“It still gets a lot of laughs, because it was such a silly, stupid sitcom,” said Bela Fleck. “But when you hear that banjo taking something silly and making it profound, that’s amazing.”
Naturally, Fleck is referring to the theme song of “The Beverly Hillbillies,” where Earl Scruggs — a musician credited for introducing the three-finger banjo-picking style, a defining characteristic of modern bluegrass music — played the banjo part.
In the years since, Fleck became a three-finger player himself, and has achieved a status on banjo similar to Jimi Hendrix on guitar. He is known for his innovation and genre experimentation, leading to him being Grammy-nominated in more categories than any other artist. His influence grew to the point where he was invited to tour with the Dave Matthews Band and Phish, an experience Fleck said he would enthusiastically repeat.
“Playing in front of those types of audiences, you got to really live the rock and roll fantasy,” he said. “But it worked because I really liked both of those bands. They were all really passionate about music. We had a lot of fun.”
This week, Bela Fleck is coming to Middletown to play with his wife, Abigail Washburn, an accomplished clawhammer banjo artist. According to Fleck, he and Washburn initially only played together during special occasions, but now it has become the norm. For that reason, Fleck said he won’t be playing a “greatest hits” show in Middletown.
“We’ll be doing a lot of Abby’s compositions that we’ve made into a duet, and a couple of new pieces that we’ve developed together,” he said. “We’re trying to develop a repertoire that’s more personal to the two of us. We have a new baby, so we’ve been able to write together. She’ll do some singing, and I’ll play some instrumentals. We’ll also play a variety of banjos: cello banjo, regular banjo, clawhammer banjo. Abby’s clawhammer is more old-time, and I’m three-time, which is more bluegrass, so you’ll have two banjos playing in different registers.”
When Fleck and Washburn play together, the music often sounds like both two songs and one, where the two lines complement each other but also travel in their own individual directions.
“Two banjos create a fabric,” Fleck said. “Abby does more of a pattern, and I freely flow over that, and it creates shapes and ripples, like a stream going by. And if you put singing on top of it, I guess that’s the boat.”
Fleck said that the turn his musical direction has taken since meeting Washburn surprises even him sometimes.
“We did a song with the Del McCoury band once, a great family band,” he said. “And we were at a reception afterwards, and the promoter said it was great to have two family bands, and I was like, ‘Wait, how did I end up a family band!’”
Two probable highlights of the show will be Washburn performing a few songs in Mandarin Chinese, inspired by the relief and fundraising work she did in China following the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, and Fleck playing excerpts from his latest album, “The Impostor,” a three-part concerto featuring Fleck’s banjo and the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and three pieces with a string quartet.
“The creation of that was a huge challenge for me,” Fleck said. “I did my best and wrote the piece I wanted to write. I don’t consider myself a classical composer but I’m in that piece and I found some new directions for the banjo part that I haven’t done before. It was really fun to do it, because it’s so hard getting together with an orchestra. It’s so expensive, and nobody is selling records anymore anyway!”
When asked if there were any more genres to conquer after over 40 years of playing, he said, “Opera, reggae, and hip hop, for a start.”
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