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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 19, 2004 22:55:25 GMT -5
Alison Krauss and Union Station show reverence for roots By MARIO TARRADELL / The Dallas Morning News
November 19, 2004 Bluegrass forefather Bill Monroe may never have thought of the word "elegant" to describe his high, lonesome sound. But with each new album, genre prodigy Alison Krauss and her top-notch band Union Station make sure the adjective fits. Lonely Runs Both Ways, the studio follow-up to 2001's lovely New Favorite, plays up the group's two distinct strengths – its ability to deliver melancholy ballads with graceful melodies in Ms. Krauss' angelic voice, and its prowess on revved-up, more traditional bluegrass workouts with, or without, vocals.
So there's a back-porch yin and yang to this 15-song disc. Cuts such as "Gravity," "Goodbye Is All We Have" and "Wouldn't Be So Bad" will please those who enjoy floating away on the sounds of Ms. Krauss' voice. They all come off reminiscent of "The Lucky One" and "Let Me Touch You for a While" from New Favorite.
Purists should delight in Dan Tyminski's haunting singing on Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty" and Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away." Dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas pens an instrumental, "Unionhouse Branch," that lets the entire ensemble shine.
Banjo picker Ron Block writes a pair of numbers, "I Don't Have to Live This Way" and "A Living Prayer," that detail each end of the bluegrass spectrum. The former tune has some of that barn-burning energy while the latter piece captures the tranquility of quiet evenings warmed by a flickering hearth.
No matter the mode, elegance remains the common thread stitching the quilt. And it's no gimmick. At the core of each song – regardless of style – lies expert musicianship and homespun soul.
That's how they've pulled off the seemingly impossible – selling millions of records without Top 40 country hits. Ms. Krauss is the most recognized bluegrass artist in a genre that found a mainstream audience thanks to her perseverance. She elevated Mr. Monroe's Kentucky-born sound simply by exposing its inherent beauty.
Grade: B+
Alison Krauss & Union Station Lonely Runs Both Ways (Rounder) In stores now
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Post by Kimberly on Nov 19, 2004 23:13:21 GMT -5
"B+" my foot! It's an A+ in my book!
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 20, 2004 1:03:30 GMT -5
"B+" my foot! It's an A+ in my book! Aaahhhh, what do those reviewers know anyway? ;D
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 21, 2004 4:19:31 GMT -5
Knoxville News Sentinel-- November 21, 2004
Female vocalists deliver with excellent new discs By WAYNE BLEDSOE, bledsoe@knews.com
Since pop radio began to embrace "divas," it has sometimes seemed hard to find female vocalists who are simply great singers. Norah Jones proved with multimillion-selling discs that audiences still want to hear women with good voices who don't gargle out every phrase and wring every drop of phony emotion out of each note. Luckily, there are several excellent female vocalists who simply know how to deliver a song.
"Lonely Runs Both Ways," Alison Krauss & Union Station (Rounder)
Were it not for her independent nature, Alison Krauss would've fallen into the pop trap long ago. Instead, Krauss has hung tight with her band, Union Station, while occasionally stepping out for other projects. Krauss' latest with Union Station is one of her best.
As a vocalist, Krauss is refreshingly free of gimmicks. Her voice is delicate but sturdy, and her style is always tasteful.
There's plenty of straight-ahead bluegrass among the pretty ballads, and Krauss can deliver both with aplomb.
While Krauss is the acknowledged star, she has always made sure that discs and shows emphasize that she is part of a band - and it's one of the best bands in acoustic music.
Guitarist Dan Tyminski (vocalist on "Man of Constant Sorrow" in the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?") sings three of the album's 15 tracks, including a fine version of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," and banjo player Ron Block sings his own "I Don't Have to Live This Way."
Artists who learn their craft in the bluegrass field tend to appreciate the importance of every element in the musical mix. Fans can be thankful that Krauss has never lost that quality.
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 23, 2004 0:11:45 GMT -5
From Paste Magazine:
Alison Krauss and Union Station Lonely Runs Both Ways (Rounder) Writer: Amanda Petrusich Issue 13 3-1/2 stars out of 4
"Krauss is a classic American singer, perfectly deserving of anointment, and ready to claim her rightful slot alongside homegrown greats like Aretha Franklin or Sarah Vaughn. When Alison Krauss sings—eyes fluttering, mouth barely open—she conjures American landscapes: grain silos, AM radio, lovelorn teens, Wal-Mart, movie-theater parking lots, Pizza Huts, interstate highways, the Smoky Mountains, migrant farmers, the Colorado River. Her voice rings warm and sweet, graceful and forgiving. The maps she paints are generous.
Krauss has been singing bluegrass since the late ’80s, but it wasn’t until 2001 that her genre of choice enjoyed an odd and serendipitous renaissance, bolstered by the unexpected success of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (which featured both Krauss and Union Station guitarist/vocalist Dan Tyminski). O Brother may have helped Krauss commercially, but her talent had hardly gone unrecognized before that time—in February 2004, Krauss trotted past Aretha Franklin to become the single most decorated female artist in Grammy history, bringing her career total to an unprecedented 17. And while the Grammys have never been a particularly reliable gauge of contemporary heat, Krauss’ incessant statue-gathering has certainly assured her a slot in the Americana canon. Bold and precise, Krauss is a classic American singer, perfectly deserving of anointment, and ready to claim her rightful slot alongside homegrown greats like Franklin and Sarah Vaughn.
Lonely Runs Both Ways, Krauss’ latest outing with longtime band Union Station, houses a healthy mix of sweetly mewed laments and scrappy bluegrass throwdowns, weaving (as always) a pop sensibility into brash bluegrass ping. Krauss’ collaborators (see folk heroes Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, who co-wrote the excellent “Wouldn’t Be So Sad”) and bandmates lend glorious support, plucking and strumming at full frenzy— but Lonely is still all about Alison, with nearly every track anchored by her honeyed coos and sharp fiddle wails.
nearly all bluegrass musicians, Krauss relies heavily on tough, time-tested traditions. While her records may vary thematically, reflecting tiny jumps in style (see a heavier emphasis on pop, country, folk or bluegrass), Krauss has never seemed especially anxious to test the limits of her fusion aesthetic, ever opting for tight production and studio luster. Lonely Runs Both Ways is spit-polished to a high, Nashville sheen, airbrushed into perfection and loaded down with layer upon layer of gooey gloss. Ultimately, all that shine holds Krauss back: she’s not a precious or sentimental singer, never entertaining smarmy diva affectations, and, subsequently, the record’s Starbucks-ready glow only detracts from Krauss’ vocals, tying them up in an uninspired, adult-contemporary politene ss.
Unsurprisingly, Lonely's best songs are those that allow Krauss to frankly engage her listeners, avoiding sappiness in favor of a genuine, ugly restlessness. Opener “Gravity” couples Krauss’ pipes with quivering acoustic strums and barely-there dobro yawns, with Krauss wearily admitting, “The people who love me still ask me / When are you coming back to town? / And I answer, quite frankly, when they stop building roads.” Closing track “A Living Prayer” stands as the record’s most impressive moment: accompanied solely by a pair of guitars, Krauss sings gently and plainly, puffing life into her gospel, imbuing it with all the soul she can muster. It’s just enough to make you believe."
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Post by jacksgirl on Nov 23, 2004 18:18:21 GMT -5
People magazine didn't give the best review of this album, but I'm listening to it right now, and of course I love it. A Living Prayer is beautiful. Ron is a fantastic composer.
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 23, 2004 21:39:06 GMT -5
From the Des Moines Register:
Music New Alison Krauss CD offered among a cornucopia of discs
By KYLE MUNSON REGISTER MUSIC CRITIC November 23, 2004
CD SPOTLIGHT
Alison Krauss & Union Station , "Lonely Runs Both Ways" The songs, singers and strings all gel on the first studio album in three years from fiddler Alison Krauss and her seasoned band of bluegrass-country pickers. Can't go wrong when Dan Tyminski sings the Woody Guthrie classic "Pastures of Plenty" or "Rain Please Go Away" by Del McCoury. Krauss excels at the soft touch with her vocal turns on ballads such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' "Wouldn't Be So Bad." Fiddle, banjo, dobro and the rest of the instruments pop with precision throughout the CD. Krauss remains queen of the bluegrass scene.
4 stars (out of 5)
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 23, 2004 21:42:41 GMT -5
USA Today:
Alison Krauss & Union Station, Lonely Runs Both Ways (* * * *) Union Station has been country's best band for years. It just might also be the best band in the country, with three vocalists who can take leads and an instrumentalist in dobro player Jerry Douglas who is more expressive than 99% of the singers out there. While Krauss ruminates on the most melancholy kind of heartbreak, banjo player Ron Block delivers a gentle gospel that's balanced by guitarist Dan Tyminski's tremendous take on Woody Guthrie's Pastures of Plenty. -Brian Mansfield
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 27, 2004 21:26:53 GMT -5
Check out what Alison says about 'This Sad Song' ;D --------------------------------------------------
Billboard, Saturday November 27, 12:28 PM
Krauss + Union Station has it 'Both Ways'
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Thanks to a big year full of awards show wins and major TV exposure for Alison Krauss + Union Station, Rounder Records is understandably upbeat about the commercial prospects for "Lonely Runs Both Ways," the act's first studio album in three years.
Krauss is also enthusiastic about the album -- released Nov. 23 -- but for a different reason. "I'm just excited because it's done," says Krauss, a notoriously tardy production perfectionist. "We finished at the last second possible."
But she and the band made use of every moment of the 18-month on-and-off project. "It didn't feel complete until the last tracking session," she says.
Union Station guitarist Dan Tyminski's cover of Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away" helped "fill in the blanks" at the end, as did Krauss' version of Donna Hughes' "Poor Old Heart."
"That was the last tune we found for me," she notes. "Barry Bales heard one of her songs on the radio while driving around near his home in East Tennessee. He called her, and she sent a whole bunch of songs. We recorded it in a second."
Other songs came from Krauss' songwriter favorites Sidney and Suzanne Cox, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, and Union Station banjoist Ron Block and dobro virtuoso Jerry Douglas. Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," with an arrangement patterned after bluegrass banjoist Dave Evans' version, provided Tyminski with another vocal showcase.
The lead single, the Robert Lee Castleman-penned "Restless," was the act's first No. 1 hit on Billboard charts: It recently topped the Hot Country Singles Sales list. Krauss' only other brush with No. 1 came when she and Billy Dean added vocal parts to Kenny Rogers' chart-topping 2000 hit "Buy Me a Rose."
There's also "This Sad Song," which Krauss co-wrote years ago with former Union Station banjoist Alison Brown.
"We made that up in the back of a van when I was 17," says Krauss, who had signed with Rounder three years prior. "The guys have wanted to record it forever, but I said no and really fought to not have it on the record. I said I'd feel better if they put it under a different name so people wouldn't think it was me, or say I was a high-schooler (at the time). But I guess it's OK if nobody listens to the lyrics closely." ;D ;D ;D
In the past year Krauss has won Grammy Awards and, more recently, Country Music Assn. Awards, the latter for her hit duet with Brad Paisley, "Whiskey Lullaby." She will kick off the first leg of a lengthy tour Dec. 1 in Evansville, Ind.
Reuters/Billboard
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Post by fogcitygal on Nov 29, 2004 1:56:41 GMT -5
From Philadelphia Inquirer:
Alison Krauss and Union Station Lonely Runs Both Ways (Rounder ***)
If it ain't broke - maybe see if you can bend it a little more? Alison Krauss and Union Station long ago proved to be a progressive lot. With their new studio album, they don't try to stretch the boundaries of traditional acoustic music any further, but instead stick to what they have already shown they can do very well.
Lonely Runs Both Ways follows a familiar pattern, starting with an impeccable collection of songs from writers including Del McCoury, Woody Guthrie, Krauss favorite Robert Lee Castleman, and Union Station members Ron Block and Jerry Douglas. Block and guitarist Dan Tyminski sing lead on the bluegrass-rooted numbers, and dobro master Douglas has composed an instrumental showcase for himself and his virtuoso mates.
But it's Krauss, of course, who ultimately defines the record, as she sings the majority of the songs. With her high, crystalline voice, the onetime fiddle prodigy lends an airy, luminous air to material that blends an old-time feel with contemporary folk-pop sensibility.
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Post by Doug on Dec 2, 2004 22:18:11 GMT -5
Here's a review from my part of the country - Charleston SC Post and Courier: ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION -- LONELY RUNS BOTH WAYS -- (ROUNDER) I'm beginning to get the feeling that bluegrass singer/violinist Alison Krauss could release a CD full of incomplete studio outtakes, and the material contained within would still be more beautiful than half of the stuff sitting in record stores today. With a voice like an angel and some serious fiddling skills, Krauss is more than just a talented performer. She's an artist that makes her audience feel the music she plays deep down in their soul. "Lonely Runs Both Ways," the latest release from Krauss and her band, Union Station, marks another beautifully produced collection of songs. On the new album Krauss has selected songs from a wide variety of artists, including Gillian Welch ("Wouldn't Be So Bad"), Sidney and Suzanne Cox ("Borderline") and four songs by songwriter Robert Lee Castleman. Band mate Dan Tyminski (who provided George Clooney's singing voice in the film "O Brother, Where Art Thou?") turns in a couple of great performances with Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty" and Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away," while Dobro player Jerry Douglas does a beautiful job on the instrumental "Unionhouse Branch." Possibly the most beautiful tune on the CD (and that's saying something, since the whole package is gorgeously recorded) is Krauss' haunting performance of "A Living Prayer," which Krauss performed live on the Tonight Show on Thanksgiving. Normally with an artist as prolific as Krauss, I'd tell you to go back and start with her first few albums, but the truth is that her catalogue is so consistently good, that one can start anywhere and benefit. "Lonely Runs Both Ways" is as lovely a place as any to dig in. (A) www.charleston.net/stories/120204/pre_02cds.shtml
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Post by fogcitygal on Dec 3, 2004 21:32:26 GMT -5
Aspen Times:
New Alison Krauss album travels two ways
By Stewart Oksenhorn December 3, 2004
Ever notice how acoustic instruments tend to keep you warm when it's horrifically cold out? And I don't mean just by throwing them in the fireplace.
See if these new acoustic releases do the trick until the cold spell breaks.
Alison Krauss + Union Station, "Lonely Runs Both Ways" produced by Alison Krauss + Union Station (Rounder)
Alison Krauss + Union Station have developed into a two-faced band. On the one side is Krauss, the silver-voiced singer who puts emotion and beauty into gentle roots-pop ballads, backed by acoustic instruments. On the other is Union Station, which plays a snap-crackle-pop brand of contemporary bluegrass instrumentals and bluegrass-themed vocal tunes.
This is, perhaps, a calculated move, as Krauss + Union Station gives something to both the reasonably hardcore bluegrass fan, while widening the appeal for those who are not. But the long-running outfit is already the best-selling act in the bluegrass realm by far, and doesn't really need to market itself so cleverly.
So another way to look at it is that Krauss + Union Station are simply playing to their multiple strengths. This is borne out in "Lonely Runs Both Ways," in which the divide between the two sides is both pronounced and natural.
The album opens with "Gravity," a delicate ballad with the barest scent of bluegrass, followed by "Restless," which likewise spotlights Krauss' voice above any bluegrass rhythms or themes. Finally, on a cover of Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away" - with lead vocals by guitarist Dan Tyminski - the bluegrass beast is unleashed. The album continues to sway between Krauss-led folk-pop, such as a cover of Gillian Welch's "Wouldn't Be So Bad" and "Crazy As Me," and more bluegrassy feels, like "Unionhouse Branch," an instrumental composed by Union Station dobroist Jerry Douglas. The band handles both of its facets so adeptly, it's hard to find fault.
But I've managed. Why, I wonder, maintain such strict boundaries? Let Krauss sing at least one rawer bluegrass stomper, just for diversity's sake, to break chain of one sad, slow ballad after another.
That's small potatoes. "Lonely Runs Both Ways" is captivating, practically defining contemporary acoustic music in all its facets.
For those who love Krauss' balladeering, check out her 199 solo album, "Forget About It." For those who prefer the band's grassier side, go to last year's live double CD by Krauss + Union Station.
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Post by fogcitygal on Dec 5, 2004 4:20:11 GMT -5
Akron Beacon Journal Sun, Dec. 05, 2004
Another fine Alison Krauss potpourri
15 musically disparate tunes that appeal to both NASCAR and NPR fans
LONELY RUNS BOTH WAYS Alison Krauss & Union Station Rounder
Democratic and Republican strategists looking for ways to bridge the red state-blue state gap that divides the nation could learn a thing or two from Alison Krauss and her band. Since the '80s, they've been making lovely peace between American music's unvarnished past and ultra-glossy present, and on Lonely Runs Both Ways, they again prove that old-time bluegrass and gospel can harmoniously coexist with -- and, heck, sometimes even complement -- newfangled acoustic pop and ponderous contemporary folk.
Lonely, like 2001's New Favorite, is a musical big tent whose 15 tunes sometimes feel as if they belong on separate albums. The contrast is particularly striking when you listen to the album's third and fourth tracks. On the driving Rain Please Go Away, a no-holds-barred bluegrass tune by Del McCoury, Union Station guitarist Dan Tyminski belts out raw lines like ``My love is gone/This time to stay'' in a piercing tenor that's worthy of a 1930s hoedown. Just moments later, on the New Age-y Goodbye Is All We Have, Krauss all but whispers subtler sentiments like ``I'm moving on/I've got the words to a brand new song'' in a thin soprano that seems best suited to a singer-songwriter night at a posh urban coffeehouse.
What ultimately holds the album together is its embrace of sweet melancholy. Nobody does sadness quite as well as Krauss and company, and whether they're performing Woody Guthrie's Depression-era Pastures of Plenty or Gillian Welch and David Rawlings' contemporary Wouldn't Be So Bad, they tackle familiar themes of loneliness, despair and restlessness with deep feeling.
Is the project a little too somber? Well, with the exception of the hopeful A Living Prayer, yes, it is. Does Krauss make optimal use of her considerable fiddling skills and the talents of band members such as Tyminski, Jerry Douglas (dobro) and Ron Block (banjo)? Alas, no. But make no mistake: Lonely is a solid album that's marked by fine musicianship and songwriting, and, like previous Krauss efforts, it gracefully bridges America's vast cultural divide. Who else out there is making albums that manage to appeal to both NASCAR fans and NPR devotees?
In these contentious times, one feels compelled to celebrate Krauss and her band not only musically but also spiritually: Blessed are these peacemakers.
-- Greg Crawford
Detroit Free Press
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Post by BlueGrassBreeze on Dec 5, 2004 11:49:31 GMT -5
I REALLY agree w/ Kimberly-It's an A+!! Oh my cow! -I was recently listening to their new album on the internet while doing homework (fun!), and the music really caught me off guard-in a good way! Ms.Krauss sang alot of these songs in a way that they're sooo..can't find the words-make u wanna boo hoo 4 a while. I mean-they're soo strong sung that can just put ya in the mood! All of these songs run together so smoothly and "I like it!"
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Post by fogcitygal on Dec 12, 2004 22:40:59 GMT -5
What makes a woman wander?
by Jim Farber, New York Daily News 12-10-04
There's beauty in Alison Krauss' songs of loneliness ALISON KRAUSS AND UNION STATION "Lonely Runs Both Ways" (Rounder)
Alison Krauss sings in a voice that aches with intimacy. It's a sound so clear, clean and close, you'd swear she's singing only to you. But there's a loneliness to her high pitch and fragile tone that keeps her beauty slightly out of reach. The contradictions give Krauss her mystery and explain why she's more than just another pretty voice.
It's good that her singing communicates such complexity because it dominates "Lonely Runs Both Ways." While the 33-year-old star and her band, Union Station, came to the fore as the country's premier bluegrass act - and while Krauss remains a fiddle player to be reckoned with - on her albums she has increasingly stressed pop-country ballads.
On "Lonely Runs Both Ways," she and Union Station again offer flashes of the scratchy Appalachian sound of classic bluegrass. There's one instrumental, "Unionhouse Branch." Second vocalist Dan Tyminsky, meanwhile, sings two roots-oriented pieces, including one penned by genre mainstay Del McCoury. But they're the CD's weakest tracks.
Tyminsky got lots of attention as the singing voice of George Clooney in 2000's "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" And while his clarion tone in "Man of Constant Sorrow" deserved the praise, his songs here sound like retreads, or self-conscious foils to Krauss' softer, sparer work.
Krauss wrote few of the new pieces herself - "This Sad Song" is a worthy exception. But she has a stable of sympathetic scribes who've helped flesh out an identifiable character for her.
Robert Lee Castleman, who has written good work for her in the past, contributes some of the album's best songs, especially "Gravity," which tells the tale of a traveling musician or any sort of soul-searcher. For either, the road serves as both liberator and addiction. A similar theme arises in "Restless," while in "Crazy as Me," Castleman creates a persona for Krauss as a woman who, conflicted about the joys and burdens of committed love, travels on her own.
It isn't easy for such a beautiful voice to communicate such unsentimental points of view. Krauss' pristine tone contrasts just as strongly with the tattered sounds we normally associate with American roots music. But for all the poise and precision of Krauss' singing, the feeling she communicates never fails to haunt.
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