by: Bee Delores
May 4, 2024
7 min read
By continuing to use this website you agree to our terms and conditions. If you don't agree with our terms and conditions, you are not permitted to continue using this website.
American fiddler and vocalist Alison Maria Krauss plays bluegrass and country music. She started in the music business at a young age, participating in regional competitions at the age of eight, and making her debut album at the age of 14. She joined Rounder Records in 1985, and in 1987, she issued her debut solo album.
Alison Krauss, a singer who has an angelic voice, also sings folk, pop, and rock. Her soprano singing style made her singing style unique.
She is a master at making mixed voices on different themes. She has released 14 albums with different soundtracks.
With several albums, she has recorded and performers she has worked with, Alison Krauss has garnered accolades from critics and won numerous Grammy Awards. Her songs give listeners a taste of her wide-ranging musical catalog, which includes bluegrass, country, folk, and other genres.
Now, let’s learn more about Alison and her work.
On July 23, 1971, Fred and Louise Krauss welcomed Alison Maria Krauss into the world in Decatur, Illinois, US. When he arrived in the country in 1952 as a 12-year-old German immigrant, her father began to teach in his own country while pursuing a Ph.D. in psychology.
He eventually entered the real estate industry. The daughter of painters, her mother is an American of German and Italian ancestry who works as a magazine and textbook illustrator.
Alison Krauss started her career in the music business at an early age. She entered regional competitions when she was eight years old and released her debut record when she was fourteen.
Krauss was exposed to folk music at home and heard rock and pop music on the radio since her mother played the banjo and acoustic guitar. At age five, Krauss started learning the classical violin at her mother’s request.
Krauss put off taking lessons in the classical genre until she was eleven years old because she didn’t want to spend time practicing.
In cooperation with Swamp Weiss, Jim Hoiles, and her brother Viktor Krauss, Krauss made her musical debut in 1986 on the indie album Different Strokes. She took Andrea Zonn’s place in the band “Silver Rail” when she was 12 years old, performing alongside bassist and lyricist John Pennell.
When another band with the name Silver Rail was found, Pennell eventually altered the group’s name to Union Station. She joined Rounder Records later in the year, and at the age of 16, in 1987, she released her debut album, Too Late to Cry, with Union Station serving as her backing band.
Two Highways, Krauss’ first album with Union Station, came out in 1989, not long after her breakthrough album as a solo artist. The classic songs “Wild Bill Jones” and “Beaumont Rag,” as well as a bluegrass rendition of the Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider,” can be found on the CD.
Krauss won her second “Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass” Album of the Year when “Every Time You Say Goodbye,” from Union Station’s second album, was published in 1992.
Afterward, at the age of 21, she became a member of the “Grand Ole Opry” in 1993. She was the first bluegrass performer to enter the Opry in 29 years and was the cast’s youngest member at the time.
In 1994, she also worked with “The Cox Family” on a bluegrass CD titled “I Know Who Holds Tomorrow.” Tim Stafford was replaced at Union Station in 1994 by guitarist and mandolin Dan Tyminski.
Late in the year, Krauss and Shenandoah worked together on the song “Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart,” which launched her into the Top Ten of the country music charts and won the “Grammy Award for Best Country Collaboration with Vocals.”
The song “Teach Your Children” by Krauss was included on the AIDS charity album Red Hot + Country, which was created by the Red-Hot Organization, along with Suzy Bogguss, Kathy Mattea, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, in 1994. She contributed vocals and violin to Tommy Shaw’s 1997 album 7 Deadly Zens, including the track “Half a Mind.”
Krauss has a high voice that has been called “angelic.” She has acknowledged Tony Rice, Ricky Skaggs, and J. D. Crowe as musical inspirations. Her songs frequently deal with love, particularly lost love, and are frequently classified as sorrowful ballads.
Despite being closely involved with her band and having a lengthy career in music, Krauss rarely plays original compositions.
She has also stated that she generally starts with a single song and chooses subsequent tracks based on the first, giving the finished album a theme and atmosphere that are reasonably constant.
Although she has two songs on the adult contemporary charts and has collaborated with rock musicians like Phish and Sting, she mostly plays in the bluegrass and country genres. However, there have been rumors that she occasionally gravitates towards pop music
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1992 | High Lonesome: The Story of Bluegrass Music | Herself | Documentary and concert film |
1997 | Annabelle’s Wish | Additional Voices | Voice only |
2000 | Down from the Mountain | Additional Voices | Voice only |
2002 | Eight Crazy Nights | Jennifer | Singing voice only |
2004 | Paper Clips | Herself | Singing Voice Only |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
1991 | Hee Haw | Herself | Episode: “No. 22.21” |
1992 | Austin City Limits | Herself | 6 episodes; 1992–2005 |
1997 | Miracle on Highway 31 | Herself | Television film |
2005 | Sesame Street | Herself | Episode: “American Fruit Stand” |
2006 | CMT Cross Country | Performer | with Vince Gill |
2008 | CMT Crossroads | Performer | with Robert Plant |
Click here to view the visual story version of this article.
We appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback about this page with us.
Whether it's praise for something good, or ideas to improve something that
isn't quite right, we're excited to hear from you.
Lucky you! This thread is empty,
which means you've got dibs on the first comment.
Go for it!