A collaboration between opera soprano Renée Fleming and genre-jumping banjo auteur Béla Fleck may seem, on the surface, like something that came out of nowhere. But truth is their Appalachian-flavored album The Fiddle and the Drum, which comes out Friday (May 29) has been a long time coming.
The pair — which has 23 combined Grammy wins and numerous other honors — has been talking about the project for nearly two decades, since a meeting to discuss it at a restaurant on 57th Street in New York City. “Renée was thinking about making a record like this, and for some reason I don’t understand I was suggested…