Alison Krauss

The rise of Alison Krauss both presaged and shadowed the most significant country music trend of the '90s: the explosion in the earning power of female talent. Of course, Krauss didn't pull a Shania by morphing country hooks into slick radio pop. Krauss was right at the forefront of the explosion's most adult wing, a violin prodigy from the Midwest who signed with Rounder Records at age 14 and became the best-selling bluegrass musician of all time. And all that was before the million-selling soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, on which Krauss plays a prominent role, ignited a country/bluegrass/"old-time" music boomlet that proved that the elusive adult audience could be convinced to buy an album in the multimillions.

Krauss has kept a patina of unvarnished authenticity throughout her career; she managed to avoid overslick sounds in favor of bluegrass-indebted purity. Too Late to Cry is a solid debut, full of sharp, nuanced fiddling, sprightly tunes, and Krauss' lilting voice; not bad for a 16-year-old. Two Highways (1989) was Krauss' first album with Union Station, the backing band that has accompanied Krauss for the balance of her career. It's her purest bluegrass effort, a dynamic collection of traditional tunes ("Wild Bill Jones," "Beaumont Rag") and bassist Joe Pennell's trad-yet-contemporary-sounding tunes ("Here Comes Goodbye"). I've Got That Old Feeling (1990) marked the beginning of Krauss' rise to the top of the neo-trad heap, blending her angelic voice, technical fiddle savvy, and "new grass" structures with soft country, folk, and pop styles, snagging a Grammy in the pro-cess. Every Time You Say Goodbye is another excellent bluegrass collection, this time incorporating Ron Block's brilliant banjo playing. I Know Who Holds Tomorrow is a solid gospel collaboration with the Cox family.

The dam pretty much burst with the release of the million-selling Now That I've Found You: A Collection, an excellent retrospective that highlighted both her stellar playing and her exceptionally beautiful voice. Purists had likely lost interest at this point, but Krauss was now a bona fide adult pop star. So Long So Wrong feels like a new beginning for the Krauss/Union Station juggernaut (and by now, it was a juggernaut). Krauss' voice has never sounded better, guitarist Dan Tyminski's everyguy tenor takes a lead vocal on a couple of numbers, and the band basically sticks to their patented blend of new grass, adult folk, and country.

Krauss slipped a bit on Forget About It, turning in a somewhat generic-sounding solo album of adult pop. It's not a terrible album -- her voice is still an instrument of deep and lasting beauty -- just a slightly dull one, sounding much like any other adult-oriented modern country star, with little of the Union Station fire or skill. Then in 2000, Krauss exploded again as one of the main voices behind the neo-old-timey soundtrack to the Coen brothers' O Brother, Where Art Thou? She and Union Station even scored a hit single with a zippy cover of "Man of Constant Sorrow" with Dan Tyminski singing for George Clooney's character in the film.

Krauss again seemed like the head of the authen-ticity class, even though that year's New Favorite was easily the group's slickest effort, relying as much on folky singer/songwriter fare as new grass style. Tyminski's voice is by now as important -- and possibly as recognized -- as Krauss', and his cuts ("Momma Cried," "The Boy Who Wouldn't Hoe Corn") are just as crucial to the album's vibe. Live is an excellent double-CD collection with material spanning her career. Krauss fanatics may blanch at, say, Ron Block's solo tune ("Faraway Land") or the instrumentals, but those just prove this is a band (nothing screams authenticity like a little humility). Some find her a savior, some find her a little dull, mostly she falls right in between; but one thing is certain: Alison Krauss bent a genre to fit her needs, and yanked it back into the public eye in the process. Not many artists in any field can say as much. (JOE GROSS)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide