Singer/songwriter Laura Veirs and banjo player Abigail Washburn don't sound a thing like each other. And yet they share a very peculiar set of coincidental circumstances. Veirs grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo., where her father taught at Colorado College -- which Washburn attended. And Washburn studied (and sings in) Mandarin Chinese, a language Veirs also studied in college.

"Yeah, we're like each other's dopplegangers," Veirs said with a laugh in a recent phone chat. "There's a whole lot of things -- Colorado College, Mandarin Chinese, we both play banjo. The list goes on."

For some talk about Veirs' wonderful new album and details on her Chapel Hill show, see the story in Friday's paper. 

Abigail Washburn plays music you'd expect to hear in the mountains of Western North Carolina -- except, of course, for the lyrics. She often sings in Chinese, and the combination is as lovely as it is odd. An Illinois native, she has some mixed feelings about about China, a massive and beautiful place that also has a repressive and totalitarian government. Ask her what she thinks about China, and she's liable to wax cosmic.

"It's all part of the big picture," Washburn said in a recent interview. "There are so many different situations in China, it's hard to make a sweeping statement about how I feel about all of it. Generally speaking, I have a long-term commitment to pursuing a career in China, and also America -- and also globally, I hope. I want to be part of a committed group of people who believe globalization is a good thing that beautiful things can come from. It's a big vision that everything fits into. Nothing is wasted, time or energy. It's an experiment in steady living. I can't complain."

Washburn performs Thursday in Chapel Hill. For details on that and further chit-chat, see the interview in Friday's paper.

ADDENDUM (9/6/08): Whattaya know, Washburn is also on the cover of the first No Depression bookazine (which is out next month).