Alison Krauss
Encyclopedia
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass
-country
singer, songwriter and fiddle
r. She entered the music industry
at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records
in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.
She has released fourteen albums, appeared on numerous soundtrack
s, and helped renew interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack
, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the Cold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the 2004 Academy Awards
. As of the 2011 Grammy Awards
, she has won 26 Grammy Award
s, making her the most awarded
singer, the most awarded female artist, and tied for the third most awarded artist overall in Grammy history. At the time of her first award, at the 1991 Grammy Awards, she was the second youngest winner ever (currently tied as third youngest).
, Illinois
. Her parents are originally from Columbus, Mississippi
. Krauss was raised in Champaign, Illinois
. She began studying classical violin
at age five but soon switched to bluegrass. Krauss said she first became involved with music because "[my] mother tried to find interesting things for me to do" and "wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports." At the age eight she started entering local talent contests
, and at ten she had her own band. At 13 she won the Walnut Valley Festival
Fiddle Championship, and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the "Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest". Krauss first met Dan Tyminski
around 1984 at a festival held by the Society. Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals.
and songwriter John Pennell in a band called "Silver Rail," replacing their previous fiddler Andrea Zonn
.. Pennell later changed the band's name to Union Station after another band was discovered with the name Silver Rail. Pennell remains one of her favorite songwriters and wrote some of her early work including the popular "Every Time You Say Goodbye."
Later that year she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at 16, she released her debut album Too Late to Cry with Union Station as her backup band.
Krauss' debut solo album was followed shortly by her first group album with Union Station in 1989 Two Highways. The album includes the traditional tunes, Wild Bill Jones and Beaumont Rag, along with a bluegrass interpretation of The Allman Brothers
' "Midnight Rider
." Alison Krauss and Union Station would later perform at the 1989 Newport Folk Festival
.
Krauss' contract with Rounder required her to alternate between releasing a solo album and an album with Union Station, and she released the solo album I've Got That Old Feeling in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto the Billboard charts
, peaking in the top seventy-five on the country chart
. The album also was a notable point in her career as she earned her first Grammy Award
, the single "Steel Rails" was her first single tracked by Billboard, and the title single "I've Got That Old Feeling" was the first song for which she recorded a music video
.
Krauss' second Union Station album Everytime You Say Goodbye was released in 1992, and she went on to win her second Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album of the year. She then joined the Grand Ole Opry
in 1993 at the age of 21. She was the youngest cast member at the time, and the first bluegrass artist to join the Opry in twenty-nine years. She also collaborated on a project with the Cox Family
in 1994, a bluegrass album called I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. Mandolin
and guitar
player Dan Tyminski
replaced Tim Stafford in Union Station in 1994. Late in the year, Krauss recorded with the band Shenandoah
on its single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
," which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time. Also in 1994, Krauss collaborated with Suzy Bogguss
, Kathy Mattea
, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute "Teach Your Children
" to the AIDS
benefit album Red Hot + Country
produced by the Red Hot Organization
. In 1997, she recorded vocals and violin for "Half a Mind," on Tommy Shaw
's 7 Deadly Zens album.
Now That I've Found You: A Collection
, a compilation of older releases and some covers of her favorite works by other artists, was released in 1995. Some of these covers include Bad Company
's "Oh Atlanta," The Foundations
' "Baby, Now That I've Found You," which was used in the Australian hit comedy movie The Castle
, and The Beatles
' "I Will." A cover of Keith Whitley
's "When You Say Nothing at All
" reached the top five on the Billboard country chart; the album peaked in the top fifteen on the all-genre Billboard 200
chart, and sold two million copies to become Krauss' first double-platinum album
. Krauss also was nominated for four Country Music Association Awards
and won all of them.
So Long So Wrong
, another Union Station album, was released in 1997 and won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. One critic said its sound was "rather untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few . . . minds about bluegrass." Included on the album is the track "It Doesn't Matter," which was featured in the second season premiere episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was included on the Buffy soundtrack in 1999.
Her next solo release in 1999, Forget About It
, included one of her two tracks to appear on the Billboard adult contemporary chart
, "Stay." The album was certified gold, and charted within the top seventy-five of the Billboard 200 and in the top five of the country chart. In addition, the track "That Kind of Love" was included in another episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
player Jerry Douglas
. Douglas had provided studio back-up to Krauss's records since 1987's Too Late To Cry. Their next album, New Favorite
, was released on August 14, 2001. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, with the single "The Lucky One" winning a Grammy as well. New Favorite was followed up by the double platinum double album
Live in 2002 and a release of a DVD of the same live performance in 2003. Both the album and the DVD were recorded during a performance at The Louisville Palace
and both the album and DVD have been certified double Platinum. Also in 2002 she played a singing voice for one of the characters in "Eight Crazy Nights
"
Lonely Runs Both Ways
was released in 2004, and eventually became another Alison Krauss & Union Station gold certified album. Ron Block described Lonely Runs Both Ways as "pretty much... what we've always done" in terms of song selection and the style in which those songs were recorded. Krauss believes the group "was probably the most unprepared we've ever been" for the album and that songs were chosen as needed rather than planned beforehand. She also performed a duet with Brad Paisley
on his album Mud on the Tires
in the single "Whiskey Lullaby
." The single was quickly ranked in the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100
and the top five of the Hot Country Songs
, and won the Country Music Association Awards
for "Best Musical Event" and "Best Music Video" of the year.
Krauss recorded a collaborative album, Raising Sand
with Robert Plant
in 2007 which would ultimately be RIAA certified platinum. Raising Sand was nominated for and won 5 Grammys at the 51st Grammy Awards
including Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Record of the Year ("Please Read the Letter
"). Krauss and Plant recorded a Crossroads special in October 2007 for the Country Music Television
network which first aired on February 12, 2008. The pair are currently working on a new album.
Alison Krauss has announced a new album release called Paper Airplane
with Union Station on April 12, 2011, the follow-up album to "Lonely Runs Both Ways" (2004)
Krauss has made multiple guest appearances on other records with lead vocals, harmony vocals, or fiddle playing. In 1993 she recorded vocals for the Phish
song "If I Could" in Los Angeles
. In 1997 she contributed harmony vocals in both English and Irish
to Irish traditional band Altan's Runaway Sunday
album. She has contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks, most notably the soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?
in 2000. She and co-vocalist Dan Tyminski
contributed multiple tracks to the soundtrack, including "I'll Fly Away" (with Gillian Welch
), "Down to the River to Pray", and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." She also makes a guest appearance on Heart
's March 2010 concert DVD "Night At Sky Church", providing the lead vocals for the song "These Dreams
".
In the film, Tyminski's vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" were used for George Clooney
's character. The soundtrack sold over seven million copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002. The unexpected success of the album has been partially credited, as was Krauss herself, with bringing a new interest in bluegrass to the United States. She has said, however, that she believes Americans already liked bluegrass and other less-heard musical genres, and that the film merely provided easy exposure to the music. She did not appear in the movie, at her own request, as she was nine months pregnant during its filming.
In 2007, Krauss released the anthology A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection which was a collection of soundtrack work, duets with artists such as John Waite
, James Taylor
, Brad Paisley
and esteemed fiddle player Natalie MacMaster
, and newer tracks. The album was very commercially successful, but was received with a lukewarm reception from critics. One of the tracks, "Missing You
", a duet with Waite (and a cover of his hit single from 1984), was similarly received as a single. On August 11, television network Great American Country
aired a one-hour special, "Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More" based on the album and featured many of the album's duets and solo performances.
Other soundtracks for which Krauss has performed include Twister, The Prince of Egypt
, Eight Crazy Nights
, Mona Lisa Smile
, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
, Alias
, Bambi II
and Cold Mountain
. She also contributed the song "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentary Paper Clips
. The Cold Mountain songs "The Scarlet Tide" by T-Bone Burnett
and Elvis Costello
, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love
", by her and Sting were nominated for an Academy Award
, and she performed both songs at the 76th Academy Awards
, the first with Costello and Burnett and the other with Sting. She also worked as a producer for Nickel Creek
on their debut self-titled album
in 2000 and the follow-up This Side
in 2002, which won Krauss her first Grammy as a music producer.
of Foreigner
and Paul Rodgers
of Bad Company
. Krauss' family listened to "folk records" while she was growing up, but she had friends who exposed her to groups such as AC/DC
, Carly Simon
, The Rolling Stones
, Lynyrd Skynyrd
, and ELO
. She cites Dolly Parton
, with whom she has since collaborated a number of times, as a major influence. Some credit Krauss and Union Station, at least partially, with a recent revival of interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Despite being together for nearly two decades and winning numerous awards, she said the group was "just beginning right now" (in 2002) because "in spite of all the great things that have happened for the band, [she] feel[s] musically it's just really beginning." Although she alternates between solo releases and works with the band, she has said there is no difference in her involvement between the two.
As a group, AKUS have been called "American favourites," "world-beaters," and "the tightest band around." While they have been successful as a group, many reviews note Krauss still "remains the undisputed star and rock-solid foundation" and have described her as the "band's focus" with an "angelic" voice that "flows like honey". Her work has been compared to that of The Cox Family
, Bill Monroe
, and Del McCoury
, and has in turn been credited with influencing various "Newgrass
" artists including Nickel Creek, for which she acted as record producer on two of their albums. In addition to her work with Nickel Creek, she has acted as producer to the Cox Family, Reba McEntire
and Alan Jackson
. Adam Sweeting of The Guardian
has said Krauss and Union Station are "superb when they stick to hoedown
s and hillbilly music
, but much less convincing when they lurch towards the middle of the road," and Blender magazine
has said the "flavorless repertoire [Krauss] sings... steers her toward Lite FM". In addition, Q magazine and The Onion AV Club
have said their newer releases are "pretty much the usual," and that although Krauss is generally "adventurous," these recent releases contain nothing to "alienate the masses".
, Ricky Skaggs
, and Tony Rice
. Many of her songs are described as sad, and are often about love
, especially lost love. Though she has a close involvement with her group and a long career in music, she rarely performs music she has written herself. She has also described her general approach to constructing an album as starting with a single song and selecting other tracks based on the first, to give the final album a somewhat consistent theme and mood. She most commonly performs in the bluegrass and country genres, though she has had two songs on the adult contemporary
charts, has worked with rock
artists such as Phish
and Sting, and is sometimes said to stray into pop music
.
Krauss did not think she would make music video
s at the beginning of her career, and after recording her first she was convinced it was so bad that she would never do another. Nonetheless, she has gone on to make further videos. Many of the first videos she saw were by bluegrass artists, although Dan Tyminski
has noted that the video for Thriller
was very popular at the time she was first exposed to music videos. She has made suggestions on the style or theme to some videos, though she tends to leave such decisions up to the director
of the particular video. The group chooses directors by seeking out people who have previously directed videos bandmembers have enjoyed. The director for a video to "If I Didn't Know Any Better" from Lonely Runs Both Ways, for example, was selected because Krauss enjoyed work he had done with Def Leppard
, and she wondered what he could do with their music. While style decisions are generally left to the various directors of the videos, many —including for "The Lucky One", "Restless", "Goodbye is All We Have", "New Favorite", and "If I Didn't Know Any Better"—follow a pattern. In all of these videos Krauss walks, sometimes interacting with other people, while the rest of the band follows her.
where she had to play the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same as live stage performances
. Her own favorite concert experiences include watching three Foreigner
concerts during a single tour, a Dolly Parton
concert, and a Larry Sparks
concert. She appeared on Austin City Limits
in 1992 and opened the show in 1995 with Union Station. The New Favorite tour, after AKUS' album of the same name, was planned to start September 12, 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio
, but was delayed until September 28 in Savannah, Georgia
following the September 11 terrorist attacks
Krauss also took part in the Down from the Mountain tour in 2002, which featured many artists from the O Brother, Where Art Thou. Down from the Mountain was followed by the Great High Mountain Tour, which was composed of musicians from both O Brother and Cold Mountain, including Krauss. She has also given several notable smaller performances including at Carnegie Hall
(with the Grand Ole Opry
), on Lifetime Television
in a concert of female performers, on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion
where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at the White House
attended by then-President
Bill Clinton
and then-Vice President
Al Gore
.
s over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with Robert Plant
, and as a record producer. This is more than any other female artist and is the third most won by any artist overall. She overtook Aretha Franklin
for the most female wins at the 46th Grammy Awards
where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen (Franklin won her sixteenth that night). The Recording Academy
(which presents the Grammy Awards) presented her with a special musical achievement honor in 2005. She has also won 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards
, 8 Country Music Association Awards
, 2 Gospel Music Association Awards, 2 CMT Music Awards
, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards
, and 1 Canadian Country Music Award
. Country Music Television
ranked Krauss 12th on their "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" list in 2002.
At the 76th Academy Awards
in February 2004, where she performed two nominated songs from the Cold Mountain
soundtrack, Alison Krauss was chosen by Hollywood shoe designer Stuart Weitzman
to wear a pair of $2 million 'Cinderella' sandals with 4½ inch clear glass stiletto heels and two straps adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds set in platinum. Feeling like a rather unglamorous choice, Krauss said, "When I first heard, I was like, 'What were they thinking?' I have the worst feet of anybody who will be there that night!" In addition to the fairy-tale-inspired shoes, Weitzman outfitted Krauss with a Palm Trēo 600 smartphone, bejeweled with 3,000 clear-and-topaz-colored Swarovski
crystals. The shoes were returned, but Krauss kept the crystal-covered phone. Weitzman chose Krauss to show off his fashions at the urging of his daughters, who are fans of Krauss' music.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
-country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
singer, songwriter and fiddle
Fiddle
The term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
r. She entered the music industry
Music of the United States
The music of the United States reflects the country's multi-ethnic population through a diverse array of styles. Among the country's most internationally-renowned genres are hip hop, blues, country, rhythm and blues, jazz, barbershop, pop, techno, and rock and roll. The United States has the...
at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records
Rounder Records
Rounder Records, originally of Cambridge, Massachusetts, but now based in Burlington, Massachusetts, is a record label founded in 1970 by Ken Irwin, Bill Nowlin and Marian Leighton-Levy, while all three were still university students...
in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.
She has released fourteen albums, appeared on numerous soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s, and helped renew interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman....
, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the Cold Mountain soundtrack, which led to her performance at the 2004 Academy Awards
76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
. As of the 2011 Grammy Awards
53rd Grammy Awards
The 53rd annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights prior to the telecast on February 11. Nominations were...
, she has won 26 Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s, making her the most awarded
Grammy Award records
The Grammy Awards holds many significant records held by various competitive-award–winning artists. This page only includes the competitive awards won by various artists. This does not include the various special awards that are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences such...
singer, the most awarded female artist, and tied for the third most awarded artist overall in Grammy history. At the time of her first award, at the 1991 Grammy Awards, she was the second youngest winner ever (currently tied as third youngest).
Biography
Alison Maria Krauss was born in DecaturDecatur, Illinois
Decatur is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The city, sometimes called "the Soybean Capital of the World", was founded in 1823 and is located along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. In 2000 the city population was 81,500,...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. Her parents are originally from Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus, Mississippi
Columbus is a city in Lowndes County, Mississippi, United States that lies above the Tombigbee River. It is approximately northeast of Jackson, north of Meridian, south of Tupelo, northwest of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and west of Birmingham, Alabama. The population was 25,944 at the 2000 census...
. Krauss was raised in Champaign, Illinois
Champaign, Illinois
Champaign is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, in the United States. The city is located south of Chicago, west of Indianapolis, Indiana, and 178 miles northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. Though surrounded by farm communities, Champaign is notable for sharing the campus of the University of...
. She began studying classical violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at age five but soon switched to bluegrass. Krauss said she first became involved with music because "[my] mother tried to find interesting things for me to do" and "wanted to get me involved in music, in addition to art and sports." At the age eight she started entering local talent contests
Talent show
A talent show is an event where participants perform their talent or talents of acting, singing, dancing, acrobatics, drumming, martial arts, playing an instrument, and other activities to showcase a unique form of talent, sometimes for a reward, trophy or prize...
, and at ten she had her own band. At 13 she won the Walnut Valley Festival
Walnut Valley Festival
The Walnut Valley Festival is a well-known acoustic music festival, held annually in Winfield, Kansas. The main genre of music is bluegrass, but other acoustic styles are represented...
Fiddle Championship, and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the "Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest". Krauss first met Dan Tyminski
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
around 1984 at a festival held by the Society. Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals.
1985–1991: Early career
Krauss made her recording debut in 1985 on the independent album, Different Strokes, featuring her brother Viktor, Swamp Weiss and Jim Hoiles. From the age of 12 she performed with bassistBass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and songwriter John Pennell in a band called "Silver Rail," replacing their previous fiddler Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn
Andrea Zonn is a singer fiddle player who grew up in Champaign, Illinois. She grew up in an environment surrounded by music. She sings, and plays classical violin, and is fluent in numerous other musical genres. Zonn first met Alison Krauss at a fiddle contest at the Champaign County Fair when she...
.. Pennell later changed the band's name to Union Station after another band was discovered with the name Silver Rail. Pennell remains one of her favorite songwriters and wrote some of her early work including the popular "Every Time You Say Goodbye."
Later that year she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at 16, she released her debut album Too Late to Cry with Union Station as her backup band.
Krauss' debut solo album was followed shortly by her first group album with Union Station in 1989 Two Highways. The album includes the traditional tunes, Wild Bill Jones and Beaumont Rag, along with a bluegrass interpretation of The Allman Brothers
The Allman Brothers Band
The Allman Brothers Band is an American rock/blues band once based in Macon, Georgia. The band was formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1969 by brothers Duane Allman and Gregg Allman , who were supported by Dickey Betts , Berry Oakley , Butch Trucks , and Jai Johanny "Jaimoe"...
' "Midnight Rider
Midnight Rider
"Midnight Rider" is a popular and widely covered song by The Allman Brothers Band, from their album Idlewild South. Written by Gregg Allman and Robert Kim Payne, the song has become a fixture of the band's live performances and an enduring standard...
." Alison Krauss and Union Station would later perform at the 1989 Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
.
Krauss' contract with Rounder required her to alternate between releasing a solo album and an album with Union Station, and she released the solo album I've Got That Old Feeling in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto the Billboard charts
Billboard charts
The Billboard charts tabulate the relative weekly popularity of songs or albums in the United States. The results are published in Billboard magazine...
, peaking in the top seventy-five on the country chart
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
. The album also was a notable point in her career as she earned her first Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, the single "Steel Rails" was her first single tracked by Billboard, and the title single "I've Got That Old Feeling" was the first song for which she recorded a music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
.
1992–1999: Rising success
| Alison Krauss & Union Station | |
|---|---|
| Name | Role |
| Alison Krauss | Lead vocals Singing Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... , fiddle, viola |
| Larry Atamanuik | drums Drum kit A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person .... , Percussion |
| Barry Bales Barry Bales Barry Turner Bales is the bass player and harmony vocalist for Alison Krauss and Union Station.... |
Bass Bass guitar The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... |
| Ron Block Ron Block Ronald Frankin "Ron" Block is an American bluegrass and alternative country musician, mainly playing the banjo and the guitar, singing, and writing gospel music.-Biography:... |
Guitar Guitar The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... , Banjo Banjo In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new... |
| Jerry Douglas Jerry Douglas (musician) Jerry Douglas is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.-Career:In addition to his twelve solo... |
Dobro Dobro Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar... |
| Dan Tyminski Dan Tyminski Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best... |
Guitar, Mandolin |
Krauss' second Union Station album Everytime You Say Goodbye was released in 1992, and she went on to win her second Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album of the year. She then joined the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
in 1993 at the age of 21. She was the youngest cast member at the time, and the first bluegrass artist to join the Opry in twenty-nine years. She also collaborated on a project with the Cox Family
The Cox Family
The Cox Family is an American Bluegrass family group from Cotton Valley in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States.-Members:*Evelyn Cox - guitar, vocals*Lynn Cox - - bass, vocals...
in 1994, a bluegrass album called I Know Who Holds Tomorrow. Mandolin
Mandolin
A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
and guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
player Dan Tyminski
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
replaced Tim Stafford in Union Station in 1994. Late in the year, Krauss recorded with the band Shenandoah
Shenandoah (band)
Shenandoah is an American country music group founded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama in 1984 by Marty Raybon , Ralph Ezell , Stan Thorn , Jim Seales , and Mike McGuire...
on its single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart
"Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" is the title of a song written by Bill LaBounty and Rick Chudacoff, and recorded by the American country music band Shenandoah with a guest vocal from bluegrass singer Alison Krauss. The song was the first single release from Shenandoah's late-1994 album In...
," which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time. Also in 1994, Krauss collaborated with Suzy Bogguss
Suzy Bogguss
Susan Kay "Suzy" Bogguss is an American country music singer. In the 1980s and 90s she released one platinum and three gold albums and charted six top ten singles, winning the Academy of Country Music's award for Top New Female Vocalist and the Country Music Association's Horizon Award.After...
, Kathy Mattea
Kathy Mattea
Kathleen Alice "Kathy" Mattea is an American country music and bluegrass performer who often brings folk, Celtic and traditional country sounds to her music. Active since 1983 as a recording artist, she has recorded seventeen albums and has charted more than thirty singles on the Billboard Hot...
, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash to contribute "Teach Your Children
Teach Your Children
"Teach Your Children" is a song by Graham Nash. Although it was written when Nash was a member of The Hollies, it was never recorded by that group, and first appeared on the album Déjà Vu by Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young released in 1970. The recording features Jerry Garcia on pedal steel guitar...
" to the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
benefit album Red Hot + Country
Red Hot + Country
Red Hot + Country was the follow-up to No Alternative in the Red Hot Series of compilation albums, a series produced to raise awareness and money to fight AIDS/HIV and related health and social issues...
produced by the Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization
Red Hot Organization is a not-for-profit, 501 3, international organization dedicated to fighting AIDS through pop culture.Since its inception in 1989, over 400 artists, producers and directors have contributed to over 15 compilation albums, related television programs and media events to raise...
. In 1997, she recorded vocals and violin for "Half a Mind," on Tommy Shaw
Tommy Shaw
Tommy Roland Shaw is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the rock band Styx. In between his stints with Styx, he has played with the supergroup Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades, and has released several solo albums....
's 7 Deadly Zens album.
Now That I've Found You: A Collection
Now That I've Found You: A Collection
Now That I've Found You: A Collection is an album by Alison Krauss, released February 7, 1995. It is a retrospective of the early part of Krauss' recording career. It includes songs that appeared on her solo albums, albums by Alison Krauss & Union Station, and some that appeared on an album by...
, a compilation of older releases and some covers of her favorite works by other artists, was released in 1995. Some of these covers include Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
's "Oh Atlanta," The Foundations
The Foundations
The Foundations were a British soul band, active from 1967 to 1970. The group, made up of West Indians, White British, and a Sri Lankan, are best known for their two biggest hits, "Baby Now That I've Found You" , written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod; and "Build Me Up Buttercup" The Foundations...
' "Baby, Now That I've Found You," which was used in the Australian hit comedy movie The Castle
The Castle (film)
The Castle is a 1997 Australian comedy film directed by Rob Sitch. It starred Michael Caton, Anne Tenney, Stephen Curry, Sophie Lee, Eric Bana and Charles 'Bud' Tingwell. The screenwriting team comprised Sitch, Santo Cilauro, Tom Gleisner and Jane Kennedy of Working Dog Productions.The Castle was...
, and The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
' "I Will." A cover of Keith Whitley
Keith Whitley
Jackie Keith Whitley , known professionally as Keith Whitley, was an American country music singer. Whitley's brief career in mainstream country music lasted from 1984 until his death in 1989, but he continues to influence an entire generation of singers and songwriters...
's "When You Say Nothing at All
When You Say Nothing at All
"When You Say Nothing at All" is the debut solo single by Irish singer-songwriter Ronan Keating. The song was recorded in 1999 for the soundtrack of the film Notting Hill. It also appeared on Keating's debut solo album, Ronan. The song was released on July 26, 1999 in the United Kingdom. It peaked...
" reached the top five on the Billboard country chart; the album peaked in the top fifteen on the all-genre Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...
chart, and sold two million copies to become Krauss' first double-platinum album
RIAA certification
In the United States, the Recording Industry Association of America awards certification based on the number of albums and singles sold through retail and other ancillary markets. Other countries have similar awards...
. Krauss also was nominated for four Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
and won all of them.
So Long So Wrong
So Long So Wrong
So Long So Wrong is the seventh album by Bluegrass group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released March 25, 1997. The album reached number 4 on Billboard's Country Albums chart. Some critics said it was "untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few.....
, another Union Station album, was released in 1997 and won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album. One critic said its sound was "rather untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few . . . minds about bluegrass." Included on the album is the track "It Doesn't Matter," which was featured in the second season premiere episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was included on the Buffy soundtrack in 1999.
Her next solo release in 1999, Forget About It
Forget About It
Forget About It is the eighth studio album by Alison Krauss, released in 1999. It reached number 5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The lead-off single "Forget About It" peaked at number 67 on the Country Singles Chart and "Stay" reached number 28 on the Adult Contemporary chart.-Track...
, included one of her two tracks to appear on the Billboard adult contemporary chart
Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks
The Adult Contemporary chart is a weekly chart published in Billboard magazine that lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary and "lite-pop" radio stations in the United States...
, "Stay." The album was certified gold, and charted within the top seventy-five of the Billboard 200 and in the top five of the country chart. In addition, the track "That Kind of Love" was included in another episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
2000–present: Current career
Adam Steffey left Union Station in 1998, and was replaced with renowned DobroDobro
Dobro is a registered trademark, now owned by Gibson Guitar Corporation and used for a particular design of resonator guitar.The name has a long and involved history, interwoven with that of the resonator guitar...
player Jerry Douglas
Jerry Douglas (musician)
Jerry Douglas is an American record producer and resonator guitar player. Called "Dobro's matchless contemporary master," by The New York Times, and lauded as "my favorite musician" by John Fogerty, Douglas is one of the world’s most renowned Dobro players.-Career:In addition to his twelve solo...
. Douglas had provided studio back-up to Krauss's records since 1987's Too Late To Cry. Their next album, New Favorite
New Favorite
New Favorite is the ninth album by bluegrass music group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released August 14, 2001. The album peaked in the top 50 of the Billboard 200 and within the top 5 of the Billboard charts for both Country and Bluegrass and was certified gold...
, was released on August 14, 2001. The album went on to win the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, with the single "The Lucky One" winning a Grammy as well. New Favorite was followed up by the double platinum double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
Live in 2002 and a release of a DVD of the same live performance in 2003. Both the album and the DVD were recorded during a performance at The Louisville Palace
The Louisville Palace
The Louisville Palace is a theatre, in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, located in the city's theater district, on the east side of Fourth Street, between Broadway and Chestnut Street. It has a seating capacity of 2,700 people and is owned by Live Nation...
and both the album and DVD have been certified double Platinum. Also in 2002 she played a singing voice for one of the characters in "Eight Crazy Nights
Eight Crazy Nights
Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights is a 2002 animated musical comedy film co-written by and starring Adam Sandler. Unlike most mainstream holiday films, it centers on Jewish characters during the Hanukkah season, as opposed to religious or secular celebration of Christmas...
"
Lonely Runs Both Ways
Lonely Runs Both Ways
Lonely Runs Both Ways is the twelfth album by bluegrass music group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released November 23, 2004. The album won the band three Grammy Awards in 2006, including Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song "Restless", Best Country Instrumental...
was released in 2004, and eventually became another Alison Krauss & Union Station gold certified album. Ron Block described Lonely Runs Both Ways as "pretty much... what we've always done" in terms of song selection and the style in which those songs were recorded. Krauss believes the group "was probably the most unprepared we've ever been" for the album and that songs were chosen as needed rather than planned beforehand. She also performed a duet with Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
on his album Mud on the Tires
Mud on the Tires
-Musicians:*Ron Block - banjo*Jim "Moose" Brown - B3 organ on "Famous People"*Randel Currie - steel guitar, pedabro on "Ain't Nothin Like"*Eric Darken - percussion*Jerry Douglas - Dobro*Kevin "Swine" Grantt - bass guitar, upright bass, fretless bass...
in the single "Whiskey Lullaby
Whiskey Lullaby
"Whiskey Lullaby" is the title of a country song composed by Bill Anderson and Jon Randall. It was first recorded by Brad Paisley as a duet with Alison Krauss on Paisley's 2003 album Mud on the Tires, and released on April 12, 2004, as that album's third single, and the eleventh chart single of...
." The single was quickly ranked in the top fifty of the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and the top five of the Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs
Hot Country Songs is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States.This 60-position chart lists the most popular country music songs, calculated weekly mostly by airplay and occasionally commercial sales...
, and won the Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
for "Best Musical Event" and "Best Music Video" of the year.
Krauss recorded a collaborative album, Raising Sand
Raising Sand
Raising Sand is a collaboration album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Rounder Records...
with Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
in 2007 which would ultimately be RIAA certified platinum. Raising Sand was nominated for and won 5 Grammys at the 51st Grammy Awards
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
including Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Record of the Year ("Please Read the Letter
Please Read the Letter
"Please Read the Letter" is a song originally recorded by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page for the 1998 album Walking into Clarksdale. It was released as the second single off the album....
"). Krauss and Plant recorded a Crossroads special in October 2007 for the Country Music Television
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
network which first aired on February 12, 2008. The pair are currently working on a new album.
Alison Krauss has announced a new album release called Paper Airplane
Paper Airplane (album)
Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album a four star rating, citing it a melancholy record with songs largely revolving around themes of trial and perseverance. He also praised the cover version of "Dimming of the Day" and "My Opening Farewell"...
with Union Station on April 12, 2011, the follow-up album to "Lonely Runs Both Ways" (2004)
Other work
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
song "If I Could" in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1997 she contributed harmony vocals in both English and Irish
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
to Irish traditional band Altan's Runaway Sunday
Runaway Sunday
Runaway Sunday is the sixth studio album by Altan, released in 1997 on the Virgin Records label.-Track listing:All titles arranged by Altan.# "Súil Ghorm" – 2:45# "John Doherty's Reels" – 2:35# "Caidé Sin Don Té Sin?" – 3:13# "Germans" – 3:13...
album. She has contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks, most notably the soundtrack O Brother, Where Art Thou?
O Brother, Where Art Thou? (soundtrack)
O Brother, Where Art Thou? is the soundtrack of music from the 2000 American film of the same name, written, directed and produced by the Coen Brothers and starring George Clooney, John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, and John Goodman....
in 2000. She and co-vocalist Dan Tyminski
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
contributed multiple tracks to the soundtrack, including "I'll Fly Away" (with Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
), "Down to the River to Pray", and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow." She also makes a guest appearance on Heart
Heart
The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...
's March 2010 concert DVD "Night At Sky Church", providing the lead vocals for the song "These Dreams
These Dreams
"These Dreams" is a song by the rock band Heart released in 1986 from their 1985 self-titled album. It was the first song by the band to become a number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.-Origin of the song:...
".
In the film, Tyminski's vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" were used for George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
's character. The soundtrack sold over seven million copies and won the Grammy for Album of the Year in 2002. The unexpected success of the album has been partially credited, as was Krauss herself, with bringing a new interest in bluegrass to the United States. She has said, however, that she believes Americans already liked bluegrass and other less-heard musical genres, and that the film merely provided easy exposure to the music. She did not appear in the movie, at her own request, as she was nine months pregnant during its filming.
In 2007, Krauss released the anthology A Hundred Miles Or More: A Collection which was a collection of soundtrack work, duets with artists such as John Waite
John Waite
John Charles Waite is an English rock singer and musician. He was lead vocalist for The Babys and Bad English. As a solo artist, he scored several international hits, including 1984's "Missing You", a top ten hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart, reaching #1 in the...
, James Taylor
James Taylor
James Vernon Taylor is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. A five-time Grammy Award winner, Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000....
, Brad Paisley
Brad Paisley
Brad Douglas Paisley is an American singer-songwriter and musician. His style crosses between traditional country music and Southern rock, and his songs are frequently laced with humor and pop culture references....
and esteemed fiddle player Natalie MacMaster
Natalie MacMaster
Natalie MacMaster, CM is an award-winning fiddler from the rural community of Troy in Inverness County, Nova Scotia, Canada who plays Cape Breton fiddle music....
, and newer tracks. The album was very commercially successful, but was received with a lukewarm reception from critics. One of the tracks, "Missing You
Missing You (John Waite song)
"Missing You" is the title of a song co-written and recorded by British musician John Waite. It was released in June 1984 as the lead single from the album No Brakes...
", a duet with Waite (and a cover of his hit single from 1984), was similarly received as a single. On August 11, television network Great American Country
Great American Country
Great American Country , is a Nashville, Tennessee-based country music cable television network.-History:The station launched December 31, 1995 and Garth Brooks' video "The Thunder Rolls" was the first video to air on GAC....
aired a one-hour special, "Alison Krauss: A Hundred Miles or More" based on the album and featured many of the album's duets and solo performances.
Other soundtracks for which Krauss has performed include Twister, The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt
The Prince of Egypt is a 1998 American animated musical drama film and the first traditionally animated film produced and released by DreamWorks Animation. The film is an adaptation of the Book of Exodus and follows the life of Moses from being a prince of Egypt to his ultimate destiny to lead the...
, Eight Crazy Nights
Eight Crazy Nights
Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights is a 2002 animated musical comedy film co-written by and starring Adam Sandler. Unlike most mainstream holiday films, it centers on Jewish characters during the Hanukkah season, as opposed to religious or secular celebration of Christmas...
, Mona Lisa Smile
Mona Lisa Smile
Mona Lisa Smile is a 2003 romantic drama film produced by Revolution Studios and Columbia Pictures in association with Red Om Films Productions, directed by Mike Newell, written by Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal, and starring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Julia Stiles...
, Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (film)
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, directed and written by Callie Khouri...
, Alias
Alias (TV series)
Alias is an American action television series created by J. J. Abrams which was broadcast on ABC for five seasons, from September 30, 2001 to May 22, 2006...
, Bambi II
Bambi II
Bambi II is a 2006 Disney animated feature directed by Brian Pimental that initially premiered in theaters in Argentina on January 26, 2006, before being released as a direct-to-video title in the United States on February 7, 2006...
and Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain (film)
Cold Mountain is a 2003 war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Charles Frazier...
. She also contributed the song "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentary Paper Clips
Paper Clips Project
The Paper Clips Project is a project by middle school students from the small southeastern Tennessee city of Whitwell who created a monument for the Holocaust victims in Nazi Germany. It started in 1998 as a simple 8th-grade project and evolved into one gaining worldwide attention. At last count,...
. The Cold Mountain songs "The Scarlet Tide" by T-Bone Burnett
T-Bone Burnett
Joseph Henry Burnett , widely known as T-Bone Burnett, is an American musician, songwriter, and soundtrack and record producer.He was a guitarist in Bob Dylan's band on the Rolling Thunder Revue...
and Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, and "You Will Be My Ain True Love
You Will Be My Ain True Love
"You Will Be My Ain True Love" is a song written and performed by Sting and Alison Krauss from the 2003 film Cold Mountain. The song was nominated for an Academy Award, a Grammy Award and the Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song....
", by her and Sting were nominated for an Academy Award
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
, and she performed both songs at the 76th Academy Awards
76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
, the first with Costello and Burnett and the other with Sting. She also worked as a producer for Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek
Nickel Creek was an American progressive acoustic music trio consisting of Chris Thile , Sara Watkins and Sean Watkins . The band was founded in 1989 and released 6 albums between 1993 and 2006...
on their debut self-titled album
Nickel Creek (album)
Nickel Creek is an eponymous album by the acoustic/"newgrass" trio known as Nickel Creek. Although the group had released two albums prior to this, they are not produced anymore and the band's style was redefined before the release of Nickel Creek; therefore this album is widely regarded as...
in 2000 and the follow-up This Side
This Side
This Side is the Grammy-winning fourth album by the progressive bluegrass band Nickel Creek, released on Sugar Hill in the summer of 2002. It gained some notoriety in indie rock circles due to the group's recording of a Pavement song, Spit on a Stranger...
in 2002, which won Krauss her first Grammy as a music producer.
Reception and influences
Krauss's earliest musical experience was as an instrumentalist, though her style has grown to focus more on her vocals with a band providing most of the instrumentation. Musicians she enjoys include Lou GrammLou Gramm
Lou Gramm is an American rock vocalist and songwriter best known for his role as the lead vocalist and co-writer of many of the songs for the rock band Foreigner. He also had a successful solo career...
of Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
and Paul Rodgers
Paul Rodgers
Paul Bernard Rodgers is an English rock singer-songwriter, best known for his success in the 1970s as a member of Free and Bad Company. After stints in two less successful bands in the 1980s and early 1990s, The Firm and The Law, he became a solo artist. He has recently toured and recorded with...
of Bad Company
Bad Company
Bad Company were an English rock supergroup founded in 1973, consisting of two former Free band members — singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke — as well as Mott the Hoople guitarist Mick Ralphs and King Crimson bassist Boz Burrell. Peter Grant, who, in years prior, was a key component of...
. Krauss' family listened to "folk records" while she was growing up, but she had friends who exposed her to groups such as AC/DC
AC/DC
AC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
, Carly Simon
Carly Simon
Carly Elisabeth Simon is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and children's author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records, and has since been the recipient of two Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and a Golden Globe Award for her work...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band prominent in spreading Southern Rock during the 1970s.Originally formed as the "Noble Five" in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964, the band rose to worldwide recognition on the basis of its driving live performances and signature tune, Freebird...
, and ELO
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...
. She cites Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
, with whom she has since collaborated a number of times, as a major influence. Some credit Krauss and Union Station, at least partially, with a recent revival of interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Despite being together for nearly two decades and winning numerous awards, she said the group was "just beginning right now" (in 2002) because "in spite of all the great things that have happened for the band, [she] feel[s] musically it's just really beginning." Although she alternates between solo releases and works with the band, she has said there is no difference in her involvement between the two.
As a group, AKUS have been called "American favourites," "world-beaters," and "the tightest band around." While they have been successful as a group, many reviews note Krauss still "remains the undisputed star and rock-solid foundation" and have described her as the "band's focus" with an "angelic" voice that "flows like honey". Her work has been compared to that of The Cox Family
The Cox Family
The Cox Family is an American Bluegrass family group from Cotton Valley in Webster Parish in northwestern Louisiana, United States.-Members:*Evelyn Cox - guitar, vocals*Lynn Cox - - bass, vocals...
, Bill Monroe
Bill Monroe
William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...
, and Del McCoury
Del McCoury
Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively...
, and has in turn been credited with influencing various "Newgrass
Progressive bluegrass
Progressive bluegrass is one of two major subgenres of bluegrass music. It is also known as newgrass, a term attributed to New Grass Revival member Ebo Walker. Musicians and bands John Hartford, New Grass Revival, J.D. Crowe and the New South, The Dillards, Boone Creek, Country Gazette, and the...
" artists including Nickel Creek, for which she acted as record producer on two of their albums. In addition to her work with Nickel Creek, she has acted as producer to the Cox Family, Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire
Reba Nell McEntire is an American country music artist and actress. She began her career in the music industry as a high school student singing in the Kiowa High School band , on local radio shows with her siblings, and at rodeos. As a solo act, she was invited to perform at a rodeo in Oklahoma...
and Alan Jackson
Alan Jackson
Alan Eugene Jackson is an American country music singer, known for blending traditional honky tonk and mainstream country sounds and penning many of his own hits. He has recorded 13 studio albums, 3 Greatest Hits albums, 2 Holiday albums, 1 Gospel album and several compilations, all on the Arista...
. Adam Sweeting of The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
has said Krauss and Union Station are "superb when they stick to hoedown
Hoedown
A Hoedown is a type of American folk dance or square dance in duple meter, and also the musical form associated with it.-Overview:The most popular sense of the term is associated with Americans in rural or southeastern parts of the country, particularly Appalachia. It is a dance in quick movement...
s and hillbilly music
Old-time music
Old-time music is a genre of North American folk music, with roots in the folk music of many countries, including England, Scotland, Ireland and countries in Africa. It developed along with various North American folk dances, such as square dance, buck dance, and clogging. The genre also...
, but much less convincing when they lurch towards the middle of the road," and Blender magazine
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....
has said the "flavorless repertoire [Krauss] sings... steers her toward Lite FM". In addition, Q magazine and The Onion AV Club
The Onion
The Onion is an American news satire organization. It is an entertainment newspaper and a website featuring satirical articles reporting on international, national, and local news, in addition to a non-satirical entertainment section known as The A.V. Club...
have said their newer releases are "pretty much the usual," and that although Krauss is generally "adventurous," these recent releases contain nothing to "alienate the masses".
Voice, themes, and musical style
Krauss's voice have been described as "angelic". She has said her musical influences include J. D. CroweJ. D. Crowe
James Dee Crowe is an American banjo player and bluegrass band leader. He first became known during his four year stint with Jimmy Martin in the 1950s.-Biography:...
, Ricky Skaggs
Ricky Skaggs
Rickie Lee "Ricky" Skaggs is a country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, and banjo.-Early career:...
, and Tony Rice
Tony Rice
Tony Rice is an American acoustic guitarist and bluegrass musician. He is considered one of the most influential acoustic guitar players in bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, newgrass and acoustic jazz.Rice spans the range of acoustic music, from traditional bluegrass to jazz-influenced New...
. Many of her songs are described as sad, and are often about love
Romantic love
Romance is the pleasurable feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love.In the context of romantic love relationships, romance usually implies an expression of one's love, or one's deep emotional desires to connect with another person....
, especially lost love. Though she has a close involvement with her group and a long career in music, she rarely performs music she has written herself. She has also described her general approach to constructing an album as starting with a single song and selecting other tracks based on the first, to give the final album a somewhat consistent theme and mood. She most commonly performs in the bluegrass and country genres, though she has had two songs on the adult contemporary
Adult contemporary music
Adult contemporary music is a broad style of popular music that ranges from lush 1950s and 1960s vocal music to predominantly ballad-heavy music with varying degrees of rock influence, as well as a radio format that plays such music....
charts, has worked with rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
artists such as Phish
Phish
Phish is an American rock band noted for its musical improvisation, extended jams, and exploration of music across genres. Formed at the University of Vermont in 1983 , the band's four members – Trey Anastasio , Mike Gordon , Jon Fishman , and Page McConnell Phish is an American rock band...
and Sting, and is sometimes said to stray into pop music
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
.
Music videos
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s at the beginning of her career, and after recording her first she was convinced it was so bad that she would never do another. Nonetheless, she has gone on to make further videos. Many of the first videos she saw were by bluegrass artists, although Dan Tyminski
Dan Tyminski
Daniel John "Dan" Tyminski is a bluegrass composer, vocalist, and instrumentalist. He is a member of the band Alison Krauss and Union Station and has released two solo albums, Carry Me Across the Mountain , on the Doobie Shea Records label, and Wheels , on the Rounder Records label.He is best...
has noted that the video for Thriller
Thriller (music video)
Michael Jackson's Thriller is a 14-minute music video for the song of the same name released on December 2, 1983 and directed by John Landis, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jackson....
was very popular at the time she was first exposed to music videos. She has made suggestions on the style or theme to some videos, though she tends to leave such decisions up to the director
Music video director
A music video director is driven by a given music track. These are called music videos and are then used as promotional tools for popular music singles...
of the particular video. The group chooses directors by seeking out people who have previously directed videos bandmembers have enjoyed. The director for a video to "If I Didn't Know Any Better" from Lonely Runs Both Ways, for example, was selected because Krauss enjoyed work he had done with Def Leppard
Def Leppard
Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...
, and she wondered what he could do with their music. While style decisions are generally left to the various directors of the videos, many —including for "The Lucky One", "Restless", "Goodbye is All We Have", "New Favorite", and "If I Didn't Know Any Better"—follow a pattern. In all of these videos Krauss walks, sometimes interacting with other people, while the rest of the band follows her.
Performances
Krauss has said she used to dislike working in the studioRecording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
where she had to play the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same as live stage performances
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...
. Her own favorite concert experiences include watching three Foreigner
Foreigner (band)
Foreigner is a British-American rock band, originally formed in 1976 by veteran English musicians Mick Jones and ex-King Crimson member Ian McDonald along with American vocalist Lou Gramm...
concerts during a single tour, a Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
concert, and a Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks
Larry Sparks is a Bluegrass singer and guitarist. He was the winner of the 2004 and 2005 International Bluegrass Music Association Male Vocalist of the Year Award. 2005, won IBMA for Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year for his album "40," celebrating his 40th year in bluegrass...
concert. She appeared on Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits
Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States...
in 1992 and opened the show in 1995 with Union Station. The New Favorite tour, after AKUS' album of the same name, was planned to start September 12, 2001 in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
, but was delayed until September 28 in Savannah, Georgia
Savannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
following the September 11 terrorist attacks
September 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
Krauss also took part in the Down from the Mountain tour in 2002, which featured many artists from the O Brother, Where Art Thou. Down from the Mountain was followed by the Great High Mountain Tour, which was composed of musicians from both O Brother and Cold Mountain, including Krauss. She has also given several notable smaller performances including at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
(with the Grand Ole Opry
Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
), on Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television
Lifetime Television, often referred to as Lifetime TV, or most commonly, Lifetime, is an American cable television specialty channel devoted to movies, sitcoms and dramas, all of which are either geared toward women or feature women in lead roles. The cable network is owned by A&E Television Networks...
in a concert of female performers, on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
attended by then-President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
and then-Vice President
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....
.
Awards
Alison Krauss has won a record twenty-six Grammy AwardGrammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
s over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with Robert Plant
Robert Plant
Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...
, and as a record producer. This is more than any other female artist and is the third most won by any artist overall. She overtook Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...
for the most female wins at the 46th Grammy Awards
Grammy Awards of 2004
The 46th Grammy Awards were held on the February 8, 2004. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The big winners were Outkast, who won three awards including Album of the Year & Beyoncé Knowles, who won 5 Awards...
where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen (Franklin won her sixteenth that night). The Recording Academy
National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, Inc., known variously as The Recording Academy or NARAS, is a U.S. organization of musicians, producers, recording engineers and other recording professionals dedicated to improving the quality of life and cultural condition for music and its...
(which presents the Grammy Awards) presented her with a special musical achievement honor in 2005. She has also won 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards
International Bluegrass Music Association
The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music.Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International Bluegrass Music Museum as a joint venture with...
, 8 Country Music Association Awards
Country Music Association Awards
The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards, or the CMAs, and not to be confused with the ACM Awards, are voted on by business members of the Country Music Association. The first CMA awards were presented at an untelevised ceremony in Nashville's Municipal Auditorium in 1967...
, 2 Gospel Music Association Awards, 2 CMT Music Awards
CMT Music Awards
The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on CMT. Voting takes place on CMT's website, CMT.com.-History:...
, 2 Academy of Country Music Awards
Academy of Country Music
The Academy of Country Music was founded in 1964 in Los Angeles, California as the Country & Western Music Academy. Whereas the Country Music Association, founded in 1958, was based in Nashville, the Academy sought to promote country music in the western states. Among those involved in the...
, and 1 Canadian Country Music Award
Canadian Country Music Association
The Canadian Country Music Association was founded in 1976 as the Academy of Country Music Entertainment to organize, promote and develop a Canadian country music industry. The association changed its name to the Canadian Country Music Association in 1987.-Awards:The CCMA held the first Canadian...
. Country Music Television
Country Music Television
Country Music Television, or CMT, is an American country music-oriented cable television network. Programming includes music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies of country music stars, game shows, and reality programs...
ranked Krauss 12th on their "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" list in 2002.
At the 76th Academy Awards
76th Academy Awards
The 76th Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 2003 and was broadcast from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on ABC beginning at 5:30 p.m. PST/8:30 p.m. EST, February 29, 2004 . The show was produced by Joe Roth and was hosted for the eighth time by comedian Billy Crystal.The...
in February 2004, where she performed two nominated songs from the Cold Mountain
Cold Mountain (film)
Cold Mountain is a 2003 war drama film written and directed by Anthony Minghella. The film is based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Charles Frazier...
soundtrack, Alison Krauss was chosen by Hollywood shoe designer Stuart Weitzman
Stuart Weitzman
Stuart A. Weitzman is the designer of the international, high-end shoe company, Stuart Weitzman.Stuart Weitzman's trademark use of unique materials , and his attention to detail, garnered him and his company a global following...
to wear a pair of $2 million 'Cinderella' sandals with 4½ inch clear glass stiletto heels and two straps adorned with 565 Kwiat diamonds set in platinum. Feeling like a rather unglamorous choice, Krauss said, "When I first heard, I was like, 'What were they thinking?' I have the worst feet of anybody who will be there that night!" In addition to the fairy-tale-inspired shoes, Weitzman outfitted Krauss with a Palm Trēo 600 smartphone, bejeweled with 3,000 clear-and-topaz-colored Swarovski
Swarovski
Swarovski is the brand name for a range of precisely-cut crystal and related luxury products produced by Swarovski AG of Wattens, Austria...
crystals. The shoes were returned, but Krauss kept the crystal-covered phone. Weitzman chose Krauss to show off his fashions at the urging of his daughters, who are fans of Krauss' music.
Discography
- 1985: Different StrokesDifferent Strokes (album)Different Strokes is the first album by Alison Krauss, released in 1985. It is a collection of traditional Bluegrass fiddle tunes.-Track listing:# Sally Goodin'# One Hundred Pipers# Swamp's Reel# Dusty Miller# Nate's Waltz# Go Hither to Go Yonder...
- 1987: Too Late to Cry
- 1989: Two HighwaysTwo Highways (album)Two Highways is an album by American violinist/singer Alison Krauss, released in 1989. It is the first album where Krauss is accompanied by her group, Union Station...
- 1990: I've Got That Old FeelingI've Got That Old FeelingI've Got That Old Feeling is an album by American violinist/singer Alison Krauss, released in 1990. It reached number 61 on the Billboard Country Albums chart....
- 1992: Every Time You Say Goodbye
- 1994: I Know Who Holds TomorrowI Know Who Holds TomorrowI Know Who Holds Tomorrow is an album by American violinist/singer Alison Krauss & the Cox Family, released in 1994.At the Grammy Awards of 1995 I Know Who Holds Tomorrow won the Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album....
- 1995: Baby, Now That I've Found You: A Collection
- 1997: So Long So WrongSo Long So WrongSo Long So Wrong is the seventh album by Bluegrass group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released March 25, 1997. The album reached number 4 on Billboard's Country Albums chart. Some critics said it was "untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few.....
- 1999: Forget About ItForget About ItForget About It is the eighth studio album by Alison Krauss, released in 1999. It reached number 5 on the Billboard Country Albums chart. The lead-off single "Forget About It" peaked at number 67 on the Country Singles Chart and "Stay" reached number 28 on the Adult Contemporary chart.-Track...
- 2001: New FavoriteNew FavoriteNew Favorite is the ninth album by bluegrass music group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released August 14, 2001. The album peaked in the top 50 of the Billboard 200 and within the top 5 of the Billboard charts for both Country and Bluegrass and was certified gold...
- 2002 "LiveLive (Alison Krauss album)Live is the eleventh album, and first all-live album, by Alison Krauss and Union Station. All of the songs except "Down to the River to Pray" were recorded at The Louisville Palace April 29–30, 2002...
" - 2004: Lonely Runs Both WaysLonely Runs Both WaysLonely Runs Both Ways is the twelfth album by bluegrass music group Alison Krauss & Union Station, released November 23, 2004. The album won the band three Grammy Awards in 2006, including Best Country Performance By a Duo or Group with Vocal for the song "Restless", Best Country Instrumental...
- 2007: A Hundred Miles or More: A CollectionA Hundred Miles or More: A CollectionA Hundred Miles or More: A Collection is a compilation album by country/bluegrass artist Alison Krauss. It was released on April 3, 2007, and is a collection of new and old songs that Krauss has recorded. It features duets with Sting, Brad Paisley, John Waite, and James Taylor. The album debuted...
- 2007: Raising SandRaising SandRaising Sand is a collaboration album by rock singer Robert Plant and bluegrass-country singer Alison Krauss. It was released on October 23, 2007 by Rounder Records...
- 2011: Paper AirplanePaper Airplane (album)Thom Jurek of Allmusic gave the album a four star rating, citing it a melancholy record with songs largely revolving around themes of trial and perseverance. He also praised the cover version of "Dimming of the Day" and "My Opening Farewell"...
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | Annabelle's Wish Annabelle's Wish Annabelle's Wish is a 1997 animated Christmas film that revolves around a young calf who aspires to learn to fly and become one of Santa Claus' reindeer. It is narrated by Randy Travis and stars veteran voice actress Kath Soucie... |
Additional Voices | Uncredited Voice only |
| 2002 | Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights | Jennifer | Voice only |
| Television | |||
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1991 | Hee Haw Hee Haw Hee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being... |
Herself | 1 episode Episode: #22.21 |
| 1996 | Austin City Limits Austin City Limits Austin City Limits is an American public television music program recorded live in Austin, Texas by Public Broadcasting Service Public television member station KLRU, and broadcast on many PBS stations around the United States... |
Herself | 5 episodes, 1996–2005 |
| 1997 | Miracle on Highway 31 | Herself | TV movie |
| 2005 | Sesame Street Sesame Street Sesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The... |
Herself | 1 episode Episode: "American Fruit Stand" |
| 2006 | CMT Cross Country | Performer | with Vince Gill Vince Gill Vincent Grant "Vince" Gill is an American neotraditional country singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He has achieved commercial success and fame both as frontman to the country rock band Pure Prairie League in the 1970s, and as a solo artist beginning in 1983, where his talents as a... |
| 2008 | CMT Crossroads | Performer | with Robert Plant Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career... |
External links
- Official site
- Rounder Records site for Alison Krauss
- [ Alison Krauss] on Allmusic database