ALISON KRAUSS

Born: Decatur, Illinois, 23 July 1971

Genre: Country, Bluegrass

Best-selling album since 1990: Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995)

Hit songs since 1990: "I've Got That Old Feelin'," "Looking into the Eyes of Love," "The Lucky One"

Often called "the first lady of bluegrass," fiddler and sweet-voiced soprano Alison Krauss, with her band Union Station, helped bring blue-grass music to a wider audience by blending it with country and folk music. Unlike her country counterparts such as Shania Twain and Faith Hill, Krauss relies heavily on her tradition, through instrumentation choices such as steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolins, and her recordings are produced in such a way that the music's warmth and sincerity easily shine through.

Krauss started playing classical violin at age five, but she soon grew tired of its limitations and she began to experiment with a more country and bluegrass style. She had success early and quickly, winning an Illinois State Fiddle Championship at age twelve in 1983. That same year, Krauss was named the Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest by the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America. A few years later, in 1987, she signed to the prestigious traditional music label Rounder Records and, at just sixteen years old, released her first album, Too Late to Cry, with the band Union Station.

But it was Now That I've Found You: A Collection (1995) that made Krauss a star, selling over 1 million copies, reaching number two on the country charts, and, more remarkably, charting in Billboard 's Pop Top 10. Its success suggested that bluegrass music had a far wider appeal than any musician in the genre had expected. Fans were somehow taken with this compilation, which spans Krauss's ten-year recording career with Rounder Records up to that point and features a cover of the Beatles song "I Will," in addition to more traditional bluegrass tunes.

In 2000 Krauss and Union Station benefited from an unlikely source: a movie soundtrack. Collectively and individually, band members appeared on the award-winning soundtrack to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? The success of the album raised Krauss and her band's profile so that when New Favorite (2001) was released, Krauss and her band had officially crossed over to the mainstream. The themes running through New Favorite —regret, redemption, and resolution—are illustrated in the title track, a sorrowful ballad in which Krauss sings, "I know you've got a new favorite." The album won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Krauss and Union Station have garnered countless music awards; she herself has thirteen Grammys.

Spot Light: O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The motion picture O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), by filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen, was a surprise hit, thanks in large part to its music. The soundtrack, with contributions from Ralph Stanley, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, and Gillian Welch, sold over 6 million copies and spawned a mainstream interest in blue-grass, country, gospel, and traditional roots music. Krauss contributed several tunes, including "Down to the River to Pray" and the chilling, a cappella "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby" performed with Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch. As of fall 2002, the album had spent 105 weeks on Billboard 's Top Country chart, and it won five Grammy Awards, including an upset victory for Album of the Year. The soundtrack also received eleven bluegrass awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association in 2001. The success of the soundtrack helped buoy the success of the group's next album, New Favorite (2001), which was certified gold in 2002.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Too Late to Cry (Rounder, 1987); I've Got That Old Feeling (Rounder, 1990); Now That I've Found You: A Collection (Rounder, 1995); Forget About It (Rounder, 1999). With Union Station: Two Highways (Rounder, 1989); Every Time You Say Goodbye (Rounder, 1992); So Long So Wrong (Rounder, 1997); New Favorite (Rounder, 2001); Blue Trail of Sorrow (Rounder, 2001); Alison Krauss and Union Station Live (Rounder, 2002). Soundtrack: O Brother, Where Art Thou? (Universal, 2000).

carrie havranek