Musically, Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn are traversing territory that has rarely been explored.
Personally, they're navigating one of life's most common and enduring problems -- juggling professional ambitions while still trying to emphasize family.
Partners in both ventures, the married banjo-playing duo is playing a trio of venues in Alaska this weekend.
Fleck and Washburn have been musical trailblazers in part because few other banjo duos have ever existed.
"There's no precedent for what it's supposed to sound like," Washburn said.
But they've set a template for what is possible with skill sets that are unique and starkly different from one another.
Fleck is known for his technical and experimental mastery -- having authored a banjo concerto with others in the works, he's as much Strauss as Scruggs.
Washburn's sound, on the other hand, is rustic and sincere. It was spellbinding to Fleck, who said he lost himself in the music and got pulled over for speeding when he first heard one of Washburn's records.
"It hit me on a lot of different levels," Fleck said. "She has a purity that is very special and very rare. Even on the complexity of all the things I do, it's something I want to be connected to. I want to be connected to something that isn't just fast and furious and complicated. There was an opportunity to find something very heartfelt and warm."
Before joining musical forces, Fleck and Washburn took different courses with the instrument.
Fleck has earned 16 Grammys in his career spanning a remarkable range of genres. He's played bluegrass with stalwarts like Sam Bush and Stuart Duncan, formed jazz fusion group the Flecktones and has collaborated with pianist Chick Corea and bassist Edgar Meyer. He produced the documentary "Throw Down Your Heart," in which he traveled to Africa to investigate the origins of banjo while playing with locals.
After her first year of college, Washburn traveled to China to continue her studies. Her connection to the country was immediate. She spent time in Shanghai, Beijing and Sichuan Province soaking up the culture. But when Chinese friends asked about her culture, Washburn realized she was at a loss.
"I hadn't really thought about what American culture was and how to describe it," she said. "You have to have an awareness. It's in that contrast you realize where you came from. I realized I needed to study American culture like I studied Chinese culture."
When she returned home, she found her link to American culture in a Doc Watson recording of "Shady Grove."
"I started using the basic clawhammer style and learned (that song) and a few other tunes. The banjo ended up being the most wonderful window into American culture."
Washburn's ease with American roots music quickly caught the ear of record executives, and she was signed to a record deal and relocated to Nashville.
The Sparrow Quartet, formed in 2005, was the first collaboration between Washburn and Fleck and included fiddler Casey Driessen and cellist Ben Sollee.
Initially, the idea of playing as a duo wasn't considered, in part because it really hadn't been done before.
"To tell you the truth, when we first started dating, I said, 'I guess I'm dating someone I can't really play with,'" Washburn joked.
But as they started experiment, they found they could create sounds and moods that were unreachable from a traditional guitar duo, for example.
"I think you don't expect it to have the diversity," Fleck said. "What might be surprising is how lovely and simple it can be. The slow songs, we can develop an evocative sound. You wouldn't expect that, the ability to create a warm sound. We use a lot of banjos in different registers. (It's surprising) how full the sound is, it's not like two guitarists playing together. It's like a whole band when we split up the registers."
The couple married in 2009, and in 2013, they had a son, Juno, giving them a new family focus and musical strategy.
Both have continued to work on separate projects but have tried to limit time away from their fledgling family. It's a dynamic they're still learning from and fine-tuning.
"Sometimes you give up a lot when you try to put everything in a neat box and make everything safe and secure," Washburn said. "We decided we wanted to be together, and it's a huge piece of what life is."
As part of that plan to work and be together, they released the self-titled "Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn," which promptly won the Grammy for Best Folk Album in 2015.
Fleck has tried to limit the length time he's away on other projects, like an upcoming Flecktones reunion and collaboration with mandolin virtuoso Chris Thile.
Washburn is working on other projects, too. Fluent in Mandarin, she is working on a project with her friend Wu Fei, a guzheng (Chinese zither) player who relocated to Nashville.
"It's definitely challenging," Fleck said. "With someone with a different personality, I don't think it would work. She's a great mom. I'm excited about that coming out."
The duo's three-stop tour of Alaska will provide a slightly unnerving first for the couple -- the longest stretch they've been away from Juno since he was born. Although he generally travels on tour, the couple decided the trip was too quick, with too many stops.
"Three different cities (in three days), that didn't seem like it would be much fun," Washburn said.
Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn
When: 7 and 9 p.m. Friday, May 13
Where: Elizabeth Peratrovich Hall in Juneau
Tickets: $35-$45
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 14
Where: Hering Auditorium in Fairbanks
Tickets: $39-$75
When: 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 15
Where: Atwood Concert Hall
Tickets: $37-$70.50