Sunday Bluegrass Breakdown Spotlight Artist No. 1 - Alison Krauss

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Alison Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer and fiddle player. She entered the music industry at a young age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time on her brother's album at fourteen. She signed with Rounder RecordsAlison Krauss & Union Station (AKUS), and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989. in 1985 and released her first solo album at sixteen in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs,

She has thus far released more than ten albums, appeared on numerous soundtracks, and has helped usher in a new interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the Grammy-winning 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. During her career she has won 21 Grammy Awards—more than any other female artist and tied for seventh-most among all artists—along with numerous other awards.

Biography

Alison Krauss was born in Decatur, Illinois, but was raised in Champaign, Illinois. She began studying classical violin at five years old but soon switched to bluegrass. At age eight she started entering local talent contests, and at ten she had her own band. At twelve she won the TexasWalnut Valley Festival Fiddle Championship,State Fiddle Championship; at thirteen she won the and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest.

Krauss made her recording debut in 1985 on her brother Viktor's independent album, Different Strokes. She performed with John Pennell, bassist and songwriter, from the age of twelve in a band called "Silver Rail". Pennell later formed Union Station,and Krauss joined at his invitation,Andrea Zonn. Pennell remains one of her favorite songwriters Later that year she signed to Rounder Records, and in 1987, at sixteen, her debut album Too Late to Cry was released with Union Station as her backup band. replacing their previous fiddler and wrote some of her early work including the popular "Every Time You Say Goodbye."

1989–1991: Early career

Krauss' debut solo album was followed shortly by her first group album with Union Station in 1989 Two Highways. Many traditional bluegrass numbers appeared on the album, along with a bluegrass interpretation of The Allman Brothers' "Midnight Rider." 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.

1992–1999: Rising success

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.

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," and The Beatles' "I Will." The single "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. Some critics said it was "untraditional" and "likely [to] change quite a few... Minds about bluegrass."

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.

2000–present: Current career

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 LiveThe Louisville Palace. 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

Lonely Runs Both Ways was released in 2004, and eventually became another Alison Krauss & Union Station gold certified album.