Post by philly on Mar 19, 2015 11:33:19 GMT -5
Alison Krauss and Union Station bring star power to Feed the Need
Global group plays benefit concert for Meals On Wheels
Last updated: March 17. 2015 By Kim Campbell For The Telegraph
One of the “Greatest Women of Country Music” Alison Krauss and her band Union Station will headline this year's sixth annual Feed the Need Concert for Senior Services Plus to benefit its Meals On Wheels program. The concert is Saturday, June 13, for the first show in this year's Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater Summer Concert Series. Riverbend favorites The Harman Family Bluegrass Band will open for Krauss and Union Station, with whom Mike Harman, of Shipman, played as a member from 1986 to 1990.
ALTON — One of the “Greatest Women of Country Music” Alison Krauss and her band Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, will headline this year’s sixth annual Feed the Need Concert for Senior Services Plus.
The superstar singer-songwriter who has won 27 Grammy Awards will perform at the concert Saturday, June 13, for the first show in this year’s Liberty Bank Alton Amphitheater Summer Concert Series. Riverbend favorites The Harman Family Bluegrass Band will open for Krauss and Union Station, with whom Mike Harman, of Shipman, played as a member from 1986 to 1990.
“We are so thrilled to have such a big name to help support our agency this year,” Senior Services Plus Executive Director John Becker said. “Alison has been so influential in the bluegrass community and the fact that she is willing to travel to Alton to play a benefit concert for Meals On Wheels will bring so much awareness to the Meals On Wheels program in Southern Illinois.”
Krauss has won the record number Grammy Awards over the course of her career as a solo artist, as a group with Union Station, as a duet with Robert Plant and as a record producer. She currently is tied with Quincy Jones as the winner of the second highest number of Grammy Awards.
She also has won 14 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, nine Country Music Association Awards, two Gospel Music Association Awards, two CMT Music Awards, two Academy of Country Music Awards and one Canadian Country Music Award. Country Music Television ranked Krauss 12th on their “40 Greatest Women of Country Music” list in 2002.
The players of Union Station — Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Dan Tyminski (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal), Ron Block (banjo, guitar) and Barry Bales (bass, vocals), with Krauss on lead vocal and fiddle — are five distinct personalities who come together to form something truly unique as a band. Each bandmate has his own bustling career, but when these singular musicians come together, they’re an airtight unit devoted to the process of making music together.
The Harman Family Bluegrass Band, originally from Shipman, is made up of first and second generation musicians having deep roots dating back to 1975. The Harmans’ music style ranges from traditional to contemporary bluegrass, country, gospel and other various types of music.
Mike Harman, the founding father of the local group, was a Rounder recording artist and a member of Union Station, along with Krauss, from 1986 to 1990. During this time, Mike performed at the Grand Ole’ Opry and recorded on the Grammy-nominated “Two Highways” album and on the platinum seller “Now That I’ve Found You – A Collection by Alison Krauss.”
“I’m excited to work with Senior Services Plus on this great event,” Harman said. “I feel very fortunate to still be involved with bluegrass music after almost 38 years, and now to be working again with world-famed Alison Krauss. I enjoyed playing with her immensely in the 80s and going to the Grammy Awards was such a great experience. We’re still friends. In fact, the Harmans recently recorded and had the privilege of working with her in the studio.”
Krauss recorded back-up vocals for the Harmans on an as yet unnamed album, which should be released in the next few months.
“This event will be like a homecoming to Alison Krauss,” Harman noted. “Many bluegrass fans watched her grow up here, appearing with the Harmans for over eight performances in the mid 80s until the early 90s. It’s really exciting to think that we can be working together again on this project to help out our local agency.”
Krauss’s most recent appearance in this area was at Lewis and Clark Community College’s Hatheway Cultural Center in 2008 for the Harmans’ 30th anniversary show.
The Feed the Need Concert brings the community together with the goal of raising awareness for the Meals On Wheels program. All proceeds from the concert will benefit Senior Services Plus’ Meals On Wheels program. Senior Services Plus is currently providing 650 meals daily, covering 22 townships in Madison and St. Clair counties. The meals are the equivalent to one-third of the daily nutritional needs as suggested by the state of Illinois.
According to the Meals On Wheels Association of America (MOWAA), one in seven seniors is going hungry, equaling more than eight million seniors in the United States alone.
Concert tickets cost $40 each, and are available at the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Fox Theatre in St. Louis, Senior Services Plus, www.metrotix.com or by phone at 314-534-1111. Tickets also can be purchased online at www.libertybankaltonamphitheater.com by clicking on “buy tickets” on the concert/event listing. Children age 5 and younger are admitted free. Based on availability, tickets can be purchased at the venue box office the day of show only.
