Abigail Washburn & the Sparrow Quartet featuring Bela Fleck with Casey Driessen and Ben Sollee

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An extraordinary ensemble of familiar names, Abigail Washburn and The Sparrow Quartet, featuring Ben Sollee, Casey Driessen and Béla Fleck, takes the stage at Merrimack Hall on Thursday, May 1 at 7:30 p.m. Fleck, widely regarded as the premier banjo player in the world, is known for his genre-bending virtuosity.

"Bela is having so much fun because he really likes unorthodox musical situations," says Washburn, "and you really see his genius at work when he combines all of these various musical textures."

The Sparrow Quartet unites Fleck’s mastery with Washburn’s virtuoso banjo, Sollee’s cello and classically trained Driessen’s bluegrass fiddle for a sound no folk fan can resist. This special group was once assembled for a performance for the U.S. State Department in Tibet.