{"id":3468,"date":"2011-08-18T23:41:51","date_gmt":"2011-08-19T06:41:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=3468"},"modified":"2011-08-18T23:41:51","modified_gmt":"2011-08-19T06:41:51","slug":"alison-krauss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2011\/08\/alison-krauss\/","title":{"rendered":"ALISON KRAUSS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

ALISON KRAUSS<\/h1>\n

Two decades along, bluegrass\u2019 conquering angel is still on the move<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Russell Hall<\/strong><\/p>\n

If there\u2019s one lesson Alison Krauss learned from working with producer T Bone Burnett on Raising Sand<\/em>, the album she and Robert Plant made together in 2007, it\u2019s the importance of being in the moment. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed I could get a better vocal by re-singing it, or manufacturing a vocal by putting together multiple takes,\u201d she says. \u201cBut I was wrong. When you sing an entire song in a single pass, you capture something that can\u2019t be repeated. It\u2019s all about communicating a feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

She may still be looking for new and more effective ways to do it, but Krauss has been communicating feelings through song pretty convincingly for more than two decades. Krauss has won 26 Grammys and countless other accolades since releasing her first album in 1985 as a teen fiddle prodigy. By 1989 she had gathered the members of Union Station, the ace backing group that is still her primary musical home. During the mid-1990s she graduated from the insular bluegrass circuit to a broader audience, and expanded her fan base yet again at the turn of the millennium with her crucial contributions to Burnett\u2019s multiplatinum O Brother, Where Art Thou? <\/em>soundtrack. Although grounded in bluegrass tradition, the\u00a039-year-old Illinois native has always taken a broad musical view. \u201cGrowing up, I loved all types of music, not just bluegrass,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Following her solo adventure with Plant (including an aborted attempt at a follow-up) she returns to Union Station\u2014Dan Tyminski, Jerry Douglas, Barry Bales and Ron Block\u2014for the new Paper Airplane<\/em>. The album finds the group consolidating its sound with a straightforward set of originals, covers and contributions from reliable collaborators like songwriter Robert Lee Castleman (who penned the title cut). Krauss spoke from her home in Nashville about her expansive musical palette, what she\u2019s looking for in a song\u2014and why she so rarely writes her own.<\/p>\n

Does the album have a theme?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The songs are about working your way through a tough time and not knowing when you\u2019re going to come out of it. But that wasn\u2019t something we consciously went for. We just went for what felt right, and that\u2019s how it turned out. I have to sing things that are important for me to say. I don\u2019t want to do a song simply because it\u2019s catchy or clever. I\u2019m drawn to songs that make me feel certain I\u2019m telling the truth.<\/p>\n

Did recording go smoothly?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not at first. We went in and recorded for a week, and I thought, \u201cThis isn\u2019t happening.\u201d We had some good songs, but not enough for a strong album. I said, \u201cLet\u2019s take a break. Let me go away and find some more material.\u201d Getting the title track proved to be key. When we regrouped, we really\u00a0had some strong stuff.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why did you decide to cover Richard Thompson\u2019s \u201cDimming of the Day\u201d?<\/strong><\/p>\n

T Bone originally had that song in mind for Robert [Plant] and me. He showed it to us, and at the time I felt I couldn\u2019t do it. But I did keep thinking about it. Later, Robert Lee Castleman called and said, \u201cI\u2019ve got the perfect song for you, and I\u2019m coming over to play it.\u201d I asked him what it was, and he said \u201cDimming of the Day.\u201d I said, \u201cOh, that\u2019s a great song, but I can\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why not?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been covered by such wonderful people, like Bonnie Raitt and Mary Black, that I felt there was no way we could do a version that would be worthy. But then I started thinking of excuses for why it would be OK. I tried to rationalize, telling myself, \u201cWell, no one in bluegrass has done it yet.\u201d It was an intense vocal for me to sing, because it hits close to home. I ended up loving it.<\/p>\n

How do you pick songs?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I spend years gathering songs, organizing and keeping them in cabinets and bins. I pick ones that will fit well together on an album, and hope that everyone likes them too. Oftentimes Ron and I get together and make demos for songs I feel need to be presented in a certain way. Barry wrote for the album, Ron and Jerry brought in a few things for us to listen to as well. We sift through everything. If I feel really strongly about something, even if everyone else doesn\u2019t like it, we still give it a shot.<\/p>\n

What led you to bluegrass?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I loved harmony singing. I was also drawn to the themes\u2014ideas of the simple life, the hard life, the importance of family and home. Where I grew up, you could drive anywhere and see the best farmland in the country. Bluegrass brings to mind\u00a0such specific images.<\/p>\n

Did you take to the fiddle easily?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. I hated to practice and wanted no part of it. That said, when my brother [composer and bassist Viktor Krauss] and I played our instruments, our parents were always very excited. They were very encouraging. They knew they had to be to keep us\u00a0interested in playing.<\/p>\n

Were you prepared for the spotlight at such an early age?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Maybe I recorded too early. I groan when I hear some of the early stuff. My singing and playing was all at one speed. But the material is great on those albums, and the songs fit together well. They really mark\u00a0a time in my life.<\/p>\n

Did the success of O Brother, Where Art Thou? <\/em>surprise you? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Not as much as you might think. I always felt that if more people got a chance to hear this music they would love it. If I was surprised, it was only because it felt too good to be true. I remember the first date we played on that tour. We were playing an arena, and Norman Blake performed \u201cBig Rock Candy Mountain.\u201d When he finished, there was a roar from the crowd like a massive wind blowing. I thought, \u201cMy goodness, people really do like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

What draws you to T Bone?<\/strong><\/p>\n

His facility for encouragement. He truly believes in the players there with him. He\u2019s all about the personalities of the people who are playing and singing, and about establishing a mood. He casts the recordings based on very specific personality traits. During one song Robert, the band and I were cutting, he told me, \u201cDon\u2019t change the way you\u2019re playing. Don\u2019t try to fit in with the other players. Just play like you play.\u201d<\/p>\n

How would you describe Plant?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He\u2019s timeless and ageless and wildly intelligent. When people ask me what he\u2019s like, I usually say, \u201cHe would love you, and you would love him.\u201d As I\u2019ve gotten to know him, it\u2019s easy for me to see why he\u2019s made such a mark on history. He\u2019s always on the path to the next thing.<\/p>\n

What went wrong when you tried to record a second album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It just wasn\u2019t happening. We probably shouldn\u2019t have gone right back into the studio after being on the road as long as we were. But we\u2019ve still got the project in mind\u2014Robert and I talk about it every time we get together. Robert\u2019s very busy right now, and Union Station and I are doing things. But I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if we revisit the idea soon.<\/p>\n

Why do you so seldom write?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I haven\u2019t been driven to do that. I\u2019ve been lucky to be connected with songs that speak for me. Sometimes I hear something and think, \u201cOh, I have to say that.\u201d I\u2019ve occasionally made the mistake of recording something simply because it was clever, but I never stay connected to those songs. They don\u2019t last and they\u2019re never fulfilling. It\u2019s the songs you feel a kinship with that stay interesting. And there are many songwriters who say what I want to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ALISON KRAUSS Two decades along, bluegrass\u2019 conquering angel is still on the move By Russell Hall If there\u2019s one lesson Alison Krauss learned from working with producer T Bone Burnett on Raising Sand, the album she and Robert Plant made together in 2007, it\u2019s the importance of being in the moment. \u201cI\u2019ve always believed I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[2414,1807,2314,970],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3468"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3470,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3468\/revisions\/3470"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}