Krauss, Alison

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Alison Krauss

Fiddler, singer

Actively Courted by Major Country Labels

The first wave of national fame came for bluegrass fiddler Alison Krauss in 1990 when, at the age of 19, she walked away from the Grammy Awards with the trophy for best bluegrass recording. The win was a feat not only because of the artist’s age, but because the album that earned her such recognition, I’ve Got That Old Feeling, was actually the third in Krauss’s collection. Her first effort, Too Late to Cry, was released when the Champaign, Illinois, native was 16; she had signed a contract with Rounder Records—one of the most prestigious folk music labels in the industry—at the age of 14. And Krauss’s accomplishments at such a young age and astounding virtuosity have consistently been matched by her faithfulness to bluegrass, the oldest, and perhaps most underrated, of traditional American musical forms.

In 1988 Krauss was chosen by the National Council for the Traditional Arts as one of six fiddlers representative of American folk music styles—a nomination that placed her among some of the best-known and most experienced fiddlers in the country. According to News-week’s Bill Christophersen, the style for which Krauss was elected was “western fiddling—a tradition that shuns blistering tempos for ornate improvisation. Western fiddlers pull a long bow, reeling off cascades of notes and turning hoedowns into showpieces.”

“A Real Contest Queen”

Krauss first picked up the fiddle when she was five. In a remarkably short time, she was playing professionally, making a name for herself at music competitions across the country. Musician contributor Jim Macnie recounted how “[Krauss] became notorious for scarfing up top prize in a slew of Midwestern competitions” and quoted the fiddler as having admitted, “My parents and I drove all the time, sometimes even hit two or three a weekend. Yeah, I was a real contest queen.” In 1984, 13-year-old Alison walked away with the top fiddling prize at the National Flatpicking Championship in Winfield, Kansas; the subsequent year brought her considerable attention at the Newport Folk Festival, in Rhode Island, one of the largest events on the folk music calendar. She was also busy picking up first prizes at state fiddling championships across the country, including Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Wisconsin.

Although the Grammy Award that she earned in 1990 marked a high point in Krauss’s career, there were several other signs of her artistic coming of age in the early 1990s. She was a big winner with the International Bluegrass Music Association, which conferred upon

For the Record…

Born c. 1971 in Champaign, IL. Education: Studied voice with William Warfield at the University of Illinois C. 1988.

Began playing fiddle c. 1976; became regular on bluegrass competition circuit, 1980s; appeared at Newport Folk Festival, 1985; signed with Rounder Records, c. 1985, and released Too Late to Cry, 1987; appeared at Telluride, Winterhawken, and Jamboree U.S.A. folk festivals, 1991.

Awards: National Flatpicking champion, 1984; first prizes at state fiddling championships, including Illinois, Indiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Wisconsin, mid-1980s; named one of six fiddlers representative of American folk music styles by the National Council for the Traditional Arts, 1988; Grammy awards for best bluegrass recording, 1990, and best bluegrass album, 1993, for Every Time You Say Goodbye; International Bluegrass Music Association awards for best female vocalist, entertainer of the year, and best album of the year, all 1990; inducted into Grand Ole Opry, 1993.

Addresses: Record company —Rounder Records, One Camp St., Cambridge, MA 02140.

her three awards: best female vocalist, entertainer of the year, and best album of the year. And, in a move that echoed her early triumphs on the competition circuit, she became one of the chief draws at major folk music events across the country in 1991, including Telluride, in Colorado, and Winterhawk, in New York. 1991 also saw Krauss’s first appearance at Jamboree USA, where she opened for bluegrass/country great Ricky Skaggs.

Expanded the Boundaries of Bluegrass

By this time, Krauss was becoming renowned for a unique quality in her musicianship—her ability to add a dimension, a styling, to the traditional bluegrass form that gave it a barrier-breaking power. As her reputation developed and broadened, she continued to maintain that special ability, as was reflected in Dan DeLuca’s comments in the Philadelphia Inquirer: “Krauss and [her band] Union Station respect bluegrass rules, but play with a crackling intensity that largely avoids the sameness that plagues the genre.” David Wild’s review of I’ve Got That Old Feeling for Rolling Stone similarly claimed, “Krauss makes traditional bluegrass seem utterly contemporary.” Her expertise allowed Krauss to take bluegrass into the larger music mainstream, compelling listeners who were otherwise disinclined toward the sound to embrace its possibilities.

Ultimately, Krauss chose to downplay her role as a fiddle virtuoso to pursue a more modest commitment to the music itself. Scott Alarik, who interviewed Krauss for the Boston Globe in 1991, documented the fiddler’s shift from phenomenon to bluegrass purist, explaining, “Just as she was gaining national prominence as a fiddle prodigy, she began eschewing hot licks in favor of a more restrained, melodic style—and to showcase her vocals. By 16, she was playing with the austere musicality of a master.” Consequently, as some reviewers were applauding Krauss’s ability to make musical masterpieces out of the humble raw materials of blue-grass, others began to praise the integrity of her budding professionalism. At a 1991 Philadelphia concert, the Inquirer’s DeLuca was struck by her musical restraint. “Although her playing consistently dazzled the adoring crowd,” the journalist recalled, “Krauss never once extended a solo to the point where it became more important than the song itself.” In the same vein, Jim Bessman of Billboard noted that Krauss was “reluctant to do anything that might diverge from pure bluegrass conventions.”

While many critics encouraged Krauss’s dedication to bluegrass, producers from country music labels began trying to woo her away from the Rounder Records world of folk music with visions of commercial success. Public interest in Krauss was evident; as early as 1989, record reviewers were touting her potential as an international star. Goldmine writer Kit Kiefer declared, “Krauss has the talent and the looks to become the next truly great country music artist.” Krauss’s sweet soprano has, in fact, regularly prompted comparisons to country divas Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. For that matter, much of the country music industry’s interest in Krauss has been based more on her status as a vocalist than as a fiddler. Although the musician herself may be primarily devoted to her skills as an instrumentalist, she has not neglected the development of her vocal talents; she began studying voice with William Warfield, an important name in the world of opera, at the University of Illinois in 1988.

Actively Courted by Major Country Labels

Edward Morris, writing in Billboard in 1991, captured the extent of the country music industry’s courtship of Krauss, attesting, “At a recent Krauss concert at [Nashville’s] Station Inn, the audience included [such industry heavyweights as] personal managers Ken Levitan and David Skepner and MCA Records executive VP and [Artists & Repertoire] chief Tony Brown.” Affirmed Globe contributor Alarik, “A few major labels in Nashville thought she could do well in commercial country music.” He quoted Krauss’s response: “They wanted me to do records that were more geared toward country radio; you know, with electric guitars, drums, pedal steel. That just wasn’t something I was interested in doing. One particular offer sounded really good. My parents were really excited, and our lawyer was excited. I finally decided I hadn’t had my fill of playing bluegrass. I don’t think I ever will.”

Despite her decision to stay with Rounder, Krauss enjoyed considerable success with country music fans. In 1990, she made several key appearances in vital country formats, taping an episode of television’s Hee Haw and becoming a regular on the Grand Ole Opry. She subsequently solidified her popularity with a performance at the Country Music Association’s awards show.

The universality of attention being paid to Krauss’s work has made it more difficult for the fiddler to control how her music is defined. She told Alarik, “[If Union Station] signs with a major label some day, it won’t be commercial country music I’ll be doing; not that it’s something I don’t like—we listen to it in the van all the time. The main issue is that we don’t want to be told what to play and how to play it.” Although the Illinois Entertainer’s Bill Dalton labeled Krauss’s 1989 album, Two Highways, as a country offering, it wasn’t until the reviews for I’ve Got That Old Feeling began emerging that the battle over what Krauss really played—blue-grass or country—was explicitly declared. A music critic for the Village Voice asserted that the “queen of bluegrass has gone and made a country record.” The City Paper, of Baltimore, was even bolder, stating, “This release is packed with fine bluegrass pickers,... but for the most part the material is mainstream Nashville that’s been shoehorned into bluegrass instrumentation.”

That claim was seemingly bolstered by I’ve Got That Old Feeling’s ten-week residency on Billboard’s country album charts. The video for the title track—a rare venture for Rounder Records—enjoyed heavy rotation on cable’s Country Music Television (CMT); it was subsequently named “video hit #1” on that channel. Krauss’s second video release, for “Steel Rails,” also became prominent on CMT. Though Krauss may prefer to view herself primarily as a bluegrass musician and has not courted the country mainstream, her appeal has clearly crossed over into that territory. By 1993, with a resurgence of country music in full flower, bluegrass aficionado Krauss seemed inadvertently poised on the brink of major country stardom. In July of that year, Krauss was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry, the first bluegrass singer to be so honored in almost three decades.