ISSUU - Republic Polytechnic Yearbook 2010 by Republic Polytechnic, Graduate Services
Republic Polytechnic Yearbook 2010
Republic Polytechnic Yearbook 2010
Republic Polytechnic Yearbook 2010From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the bluegrass musician.
For Alison Krauss band, see .
For the Kent State student, see .
Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American - singer-songwriter and musician. She entered the
at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with
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 soundtracks, and helped renew interest in bluegrass music in the United States. Her soundtrack performances have led to further popularity, including the
soundtrack, an album also credited with raising American interest in bluegrass, and the
soundtrack, which led to her performance at the .
As of , she has won 27
from 41 nominations, tying her with Quincy Jones as the
living recipient, second only to the late classical conductor
who holds the record for most wins of all time with 31. She is the most awarded singer and the most awarded female artist in Grammy history. At the time of her first, the , she was the second youngest winner (currently tied as the ninth youngest).
Alison Maria Krauss was born in
to Fred and Louise Krauss. Her father was a German immigrant who came to the United States in 1952 and taught his native language. Her mother, of German and Italian descent, is the daughter of artists. Alison grew up in the college town of , home to the . She began studying
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 of eight she started entering local talent contests, and at ten had her own band. At 13 she won the
Fiddle Championship, and the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the "Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest". She was also called "Virtuoso" by
Krauss first met
around 1984 at a festival held by the Society. Every current member of her band, Union Station, first met her at these festivals.
Krauss made her recording debut in 1985 on the independent album, , featuring her brother , Swamp Weiss and Jim Hoiles. From the age of 12 she performed with bassist and songwriter John Pennell in a band called "Silver Rail", replacing their previous fiddler . 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
with Union Station as her backup band.
Krauss' debut solo album was quickly followed by her first group album with Union Station in 1989, . The album includes the traditional tunes, Wild Bill Jones and , along with a bluegrass interpretation of ' "".
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
in 1990. It was her first album to rise onto the , peaking in the top seventy-five on the . The album also was a notable point in her career as she earned her first , 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.
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Alison Krauss
Lead vocals, piano, fiddle
Larry Atamanuik
Drums, percussion
Guitar, mandolin
Krauss' second Union Station album
was released in 1992, and she went on to win her second Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album of the year. She then joined the
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
in 1994, a bluegrass album called .
and guitar player
replaced Tim Stafford in Union Station in 1994. Late in the year, Krauss recorded with the band
on its single "", which brought her to the country music Top Ten for the first time and it and won the . Also in 1994, Krauss collaborated with , , and
to contribute "" to the AIDS benefit album
produced by the . In 1997, she recorded vocals and violin for "Half a Mind", on 's
, a compilation of older releases and some covers of her favorite works by other artists, was released in 1995. Some of these covers include 's "Oh Atlanta", ' & 's "", which was used in the Australian hit comedy movie , and ' "" A cover of 's "" reached number three on the Billboard the album peaked in the top fifteen on the all-genre
chart, and sold two million copies to become Krauss' first . Krauss also was nominated for four
and won all of them.[]
, another Union Station album, was released in 1997 and won the . 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
and was included on the Buffy soundtrack in 1999.
Her next solo release in 1999, , included one of her two tracks to appear on the Billboard , "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.
left Union Station in 1998, and was replaced with renowned
player . Douglas had provided studio back-up to Krauss's records since 1987's Too Late to Cry. Their next album, , 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
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
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 "."
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
on his album
in the single "". The single was quickly ranked in the top fifty of the
and the top five of the , and won the
for "Best Musical Event" and "Best Music Video" of the year.
In 2007, Krauss and
released the collaborative album entitled . RIAA-certified platinum, the album was nominated for and won 5 Grammy Awards at the , including Album of the Year, Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album, and Record of the Year (""). Krauss and Plant recorded a Crossroads special in October 2007 for the
network, which first aired on February 12, 2008.
Alison Krauss in 2007
Returning with Union Station, Alison Krauss released a new album called
on April 12, 2011, the follow-up album to Lonely Runs Both Ways (2004). And
(the expert engineering mixer) said that it took a lot of time to do the album because of Krauss' non-stop migraines
In 2014, she and her band Union Station toured with , with special guests , and .
Alison Krauss on stage with Robert Plant at Birmingham, England's
on May 5, 2008
Krauss has made multiple guest appearances on other records with lead vocals, , or . In 1987, at the age of 15, she contributed fiddle tracks to the album The Western Illinois Rag by Americana Musician . In 1993 she recorded vocals for the
song "If I Could" in Los Angeles. In 1997 she contributed harmony vocals in both English and Irish to
Krauss had her only number one hit in 2000, receiving vocal credit for "Buy Me a Rose." She has contributed to numerous motion picture soundtracks, most notably the soundtrack
in 2000. She and co-vocalist
contributed multiple tracks to the soundtrack, including "" (with ), "Down to the River to Pray", and "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow". In the film, Tyminski's vocals on "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow" were used for '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 pregnant during its filming.
In 2007, Krauss released the anthology
which was a collection of soundtrack work, duets with artists such as , ,
and esteemed fiddle player , and newer tracks. The album was very commercially successful, but was received with a lukewarm reception from critics. One of the tracks, "", a duet with Waite (and a cover of his hit single from 1984), was similarly received as a single. On August 11, television network
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.
She also makes a guest appearance on 's March 2010 concert DVD "Night at Sky Church", providing the lead vocals for the song "".
Other soundtracks, for which Krauss has performed, include , , , , , ,
and . She also contributed the song "Jubilee" to the 2004 documentary . The Cold Mountain songs "The Scarlet Tide" by
and , and "", by her and
were nominated for an , and she performed both songs at the , the first with Costello and Burnett and the other with . She also worked as a producer for
on their debut
in 2000 and the follow-up
in 2002, which won Krauss her first Grammy as a music producer.
And Krauss will also join Billy Child's on 's .
Alison Krauss performing live
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 vocalists
of . Krauss' family listened to "folk records" while she was growing up, but she had friends, who exposed her to groups such as , , , , and . She cites , 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 , , and ,[] and has in turn been credited with influencing various "" 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,
and . Adam Sweeting of
has said Krauss and Union Station are "superb, when they stick to
and , but much less convincing, when they lurch towards the middle of the road". and
has said the "flavorless repertoire [Krauss] sings... steers her toward Lite FM". In addition,
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".
Krauss possesses a
voice, which has been described as "angelic".
Alison Krauss at 2011 IBMA's
She has said her musical influences include , , and . Many of her songs are described as sad, and are often about , especially lost love. Though Alison 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
charts, has worked with rock artists such as
and , and is sometimes said to stray into pop music.
The video for "Goodbye is All We Have" shows the group traveling, meeting at a , playing the song, and walking away together.   
Krauss did not think she would make music videos 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
has noted, that the
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
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 , 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 "", "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.
Krauss has said she used to dislike working in the studio, where she had to perform the same song repeatedly, but has come to like studio work roughly the same as . Her own favorite concert experiences include watching three
concerts during a single tour, a
concert, and a
She appeared on
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 , but was delayed until September 28 in
following the
Krauss 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
(with the ), on
in a concert of female performers, on the radio show , where she sang two songs not previously recorded on any of her albums, and a performance at the
attended by then-President
and then-Vice President . She has also been in the
again, performing the song
at country music performances. She also performed a tribute to
which she sang
with . She was also invited by
to perform with her at the 2013 CMA's and by
to perform with him in his Christmas Album, and Bell said that "she (Krauss) is someone I've adored for so many years now". She will be performing in
on January 1oth as a part of "The Life and Songs of Emmylou Harris:An All Star Concert Celebration" which is a tribute to the legend Ms. .
Main article:
Alison Krauss with her band Union Station
Alison Krauss has won a record twenty-seven
over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with , and as a record producer. She is currently tied with
as the winner of the second highest number of Grammy Awards. Only the late classical conductor Sir Georg Solti has more overall Grammys (31). She overtook
for the most female wins at the , where Krauss won three, bringing her total at the time to seventeen (Franklin won her sixteenth that night). The
(which presents the Grammy Awards) presented her with a special musical achievement honor in 2005. She has also won 14 , 9 , 2 , 2 , 2 , and 1 .
ranked Krauss 12th on their "40 Greatest Women of Country Music" list in 2002.
in February 2004, where she performed two nominated songs from the
soundtrack, Alison Krauss was chosen by Hollywood shoe designer
to wear a pair of $2 million 'Cinderella' sandals with 4 1/2
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
600 smartphone, bejeweled with 3,000 clear-and-topaz-colored
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.
Alison Krauss was married to musician
from 1997 to 2001. Their son, Sam, was born in July 1999.
Main article:
(with Union Station)
(with Union Station)
(with Union Station)
(with Union Station)
(with Union Station)
(with Union Station)
List of film credits
Additional Voices
Uncredited
Voice only
Documentary and concert film
Singing voice only
List of television credits
Episode: "No. 22.21"
Miracle on Highway 31
Television film
Episode: "American Fruit Stand"
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