In her relatively short career, Abigail Washburn has covered a lot of ground; both physically and metaphorically. Bouncing between China and Appalachia has informed much of her musical output and influenced a body of work that goes far beyond the usual claw banjo repertoire. Her Rounder debut, City of Refugee is a sublime marriage of old time and indie pop. On the album Washburn pair venerable folk elements with far-flung sounds, and the results feel both strangely familiar and unlike anybody's ever heard before. The album features My Morning Jacket's Carl Bromel, the Decemberists' Chris Funk, Turtle Island String Quartet's Jeremy Kittell, atmospheric Jazz guitarist Bill Firsell, the Mongolian string band Hanggai, who managed to contribute ambient throat singing from halfway around the world. The album was produced by Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Tift Merritt, Mudhoney) and features the talents of multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, Kai Welch (Tommy and the Whale). City of Refugee offers and expansive palette of supple and modern textures resulting in a remarkably harmonious piece of art.