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Alison Krauss biography

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Alison Krauss is a multiple Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter specializing in country, bluegrass, folk and Americana music.


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Synopsis

Alison Krauss was born in Illinois in 1971. By age 14, she had landed a recording contract with Rounder Records, and by 16, she had released her first solo album, Too Late to Cry. Soon thereafter, Krauss joined the band Union Station, with whom she would release albums like Now That I've Found You, Lonely Runs Both Ways and Paper Airplace. At age 21, she became a member of the Grand Ole Opry. Krauss has earned more than 25 Grammy Awards over her extensive career,

Quotes

"Being in the studio is a really romantic time."

– Alison Krauss

including six awards for her collaboration with former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, Raising Sand (2007).

Early Life and Career

Famed bluegrass/country singer-songwriter Alison Maria Krauss was born on July 23, 1971, in Champaign, Illinois. Krauss began receiving acclaim for her musical talents at a young age. By the time she was 14 years old, she had signed with Rounder Records. She released her first solo album, Too Late to Cry, at the age of 16, after which she joined the band Union Station. At age 21, she became a member of that great country music institution, Nashville's Grand Ole Opry.

Work With Union Station

In 1995, Alison Krauss & Union Station released Now That I've Found You, which became the top-selling bluegrass album in recording history to date, achieving double-platinum status. Krauss's next solo project, 1999's Forget About It, was certified gold. Her 2004 album with Union Station, Lonely Runs Both Ways, won the 2006 Grammy Award for best country album.

Paper Airplane, Krauss's seventh album with Union Station—and her first studio project with the band since 2004's Lonely Runs Both Ways—was released in 2011. The effort quickly earned acclaim, including a Grammy win for best bluegrass album and a nomination (best country duo/group performance) for the single "I Just Come Here For The Music," featuring vocals by both Krauss and famed country singer-songwriter Don Williams.

Other Projects

In addition to her albums with Union Station, Krauss has worked on a variety of other projects over her decades-long career, including solo efforts and collaborations with other artists. She has worked with such high-profile artists as Vince Gill, Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers. Krauss also added producing and arranging to her repertoire early into her career, making her one of the most sought-after studio artists in the country music business. For her work as a producer for Nickel Creek, Krauss shared in their Grammy win for best contemporary folk album in 2002. 

Additionally, Krauss has made recordings for several movie soundtracks. She sang several tracks for the Coen Brothers' film O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000) soundtrack, including "l'll Fly Away" with Gillian Welch and "Didn't Leave Nobody but the Baby" with Welch and Emmylou Harris. Enormously popular, the soundtrack helped attract new listeners to bluegrass music and won the 2001 Grammy for album of the year. Two years later, Krauss provided the vocals for the Gaelic-flavored "You Will Be My Ain True Love" for the film Cold Mountain (2003). The song was written and composed by Sting and was nominated for an Academy Award.

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      The "high, lonesome" style that defines the bluegrass sound comes from the experiences of the music's original composers, the Scots-Irish immigrants of Appalachia. Early bluegrass musician Lester Flatt brought the sound of the genre into the popular lexicon in 1948, when he helped found The Foggy Mountain Boys. He was joined by fellow musician Earl Scruggs, who expertly picked his banjo in the three-finger style that is carried on in the music of bluegrass great Ricky Skaggs. In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Alison Krauss snagged more than 26 Grammy awards for putting a contemporary twist on the music of her bluegrass predecessors—proof that the genre still resonantes with listeners.

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