OCR Text |
Show The Park Record C-2 Wed/Thurs/Fri, July 27-29, 2016 JUST CALL Fleck and Washburn play as husband and wife JOEL (for all your real estate needs) I’m Your Realtor. Welcome Home. Joel Fine • 435-901-2171 joel@FineProperty.com (www.justcalljoel.com) Couple will light up Big Stars show on Thursday By SCOTT IWASAKI The Park Record When Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn take the Snow Park Amphitheater stage Thursday night, the audience will be treated to a lesson in harmonies. MUSTANG i Restaurant i $25 Off 2 Entrees Summer Corkage $8 Offer valid on credit card purchases only. Open Daily at 5:30 for Dinner & Silly Sunday BBQ from 11:30am - 4pm Reservations Required 435.658.3975 890 Main Street • Convenient Validated Parking General Manager Dustin Stein • Executive Chef Edgar Gonzalez BE A LOCAL HERO Not only will the husband and wife play their own style of Americana and roots music, but they will do so in a harmonious and collaborative way that only few couples can, Washburn told The Park Record. “It feels like we’re sitting in one big living room and hanging out,” Washburn said with a laugh during a phone call from Middlebury College in Vermont. That was as surprising for the two when they started playing together as a duo four years ago as it was for many of their audience members. “I know a lot of people who know one way to keep peace in the coupledom is to not work with each other,” Washburn said. “Béla and I didn’t know, even though we did know we could work in a group environment because of our work with the Sparrow Quartet, but even that wasn’t easy, because we have different ways of creating things.” While Washburn is more pensive and thinks internally, her husband is, she says, “very alpha and has a ton of ideas.” “While there was a lot of miscommunication in that setting, we learned a lot,” she said. “So, when we came together for this duo, we had already been through the process of how to be creative with each other.” The impetus of the two writing together and going out on the road was that Washburn found out she was pregnant with their son, Juno. “Béla and I didn’t want to be apart,” she said. “So, we thought if there was ever a time to play together, it was now.” The energy the two convey as a duo in concert also surprised them both. “Béla isn’t much of a talker when he’s on stage, but when we got together, we both found we loved not only talking with each other, but with the audience in a comfortable way,” Washburn said. “I think that’s resonated with a lot of people.” Part of the key is that the couple has a profound and ba- Jim McGuire Abigail Washburn, left, and her husband Béla Fleck, seen with their son Juno, will perform the Park City Institute’s St. Regis Big Stars, Bright Nights concert at Deer Valley on Thursday. sic respect for each other’s differences. “I think of Béla as an incredible technician, a maker and arranger of patterns and a mathematician of sort,” Washburn said. “I think of him as a collector of bits he has gathered over the years. He’s a true inspiration and such a hard worker.” She, on the other hand, is more in touch with the raw soulfulness of things. “That’s not always a musical pursuit,” she said. “It may be a psychological one or an emotional one. But I’m always thinking about how I can open my heart to feel things. I want to learn enough technique to serve the soul of something that I’m hearing.” That approach, and the fact that Washburn is a singer, has challenged Fleck. “It’s because he hasn’t spent a lot of times with a singer and become a composer of sorts on the spot,” she said. On the other hand, Washburn has learned a lot from Fleck. “He teaches me some complicated tunes, which brings him a lot of satisfaction,” she said. “I want to be a part of that. And that has brought me satisfaction because I get to study with Béla as a friend, as my husband and my teacher. During the interview, Washburn said she was currently at Middlebury College to get some media training in Chinese at the school’s summer Chinese school “I speak Chinese, but it’s not good enough for [press] interviews,” she said. “I actually first felt that way when I started doing interviews in English, but since I’m now, I’m quite comfortable doing English interviews, so, I need to learn to be comfortable in Chinese.” Washburn said her love affair with China took a while to develop “The first time I went to China was simply out of curiosity and the desire to explore the world after I saw a poster at college,” she said. “I spent my summer after my first year of college in Shanghai and two other cities. “In all honestly, I didn’t love my first experience,” Washburn confessed. “It felt very polluted and I felt feverish and sick the whole time.” Adding to the stress was the fact that she couldn’t speak Please see Washburn, C-4 Volunteer for a local non-profit ONE FREE APPETIZER AT THE BRASS TAG! RECEIVE ONE FREE APPETIZER WITH THE PURCHASE OF TWO FULL PRICED ENTRÉES AT THE BRASS TAG. The Brass Tag restaurant, located in the Lodges at Deer Valley, is open daily from 4 to 9 p.m. and serves their full dinner menu from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Our new menu features Deer Valley-inspired brick oven cuisine including fresh seafood skillets, seared meats, oven roasted fresh fish, locally sourced produce, seasonal flatbreads and specialty sides. A full bar, beer and wine are also available. Valid through 9/18/2016 FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL 435-615-2410 deervalley.com/thebrasstag 2900 Deer Valley Dr. East, Park City, UT |