Post by fogcitygal on May 24, 2005 2:55:33 GMT -5
This time it's Jerry's turn at being interviewed:
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Talent, creativity help Alison Krauss & Union Station set new standard
Monday, May 23, 2005
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Whatever it is, it's not quite bluegrass anymore.
Traditionalists may scoff that the music that Alison Krauss & Union Station have been making for the past several years is so far removed from Bill Monroe that it's no longer part of a genre named for his band, the Blue Grass Boys.
Even some fans of progressive bluegrass, who don't mind a banjo run on a Stones cover or a drawn-out Garcia-style jam, are wondering whether Krauss' band knows where it's going.
"Well, no, we don't," says Jerry Douglas. Among the world's best dobro pickers, he was invited by Krauss to join her on a summer tour and has stayed with the group since 1998.
A fiddle prodigy at 14, Krauss has matured into a Grammy winner and one of the most popular names in non-mainstream country music. This week, she picked up two more honors: Academy of Country Music Awards for Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "Whiskey Lullaby," her mainstream country duet with Brad Paisley.
Krauss has a habit of surrounding herself with talent. Every member of her band Union Station, in fact, has a thriving solo career. But when Krauss, Douglas, Dan Tyminski, Barry Bales and Ron Block get together, something special happens. Propelled by high performing standards and a free-range ensemble approach to creativity, much of their music surpasses the boundaries of traditional and progressive bluegrass. Insiders are calling the sound "contemporary acoustic."
"When you play with people who are really good, you tend to play up to their level," says Douglas. "And when everybody is playing up to everybody else's best, new things tend to happen. When I'm just sitting around playing with my friends, I probably sound like them."
Despite Krauss' starring role and the celebrity attached to each member of the band, Douglas says rehearsals are completely democratic.
"I'm only the dobro guy," he says. "Alison's the only fiddle player. We try everything that anybody brings up, play the songs every way we can think of and really flesh it out. It's important to try everything because you can create a log jam of ideas if you don't get them out of your head."
Unlike most Union Station recordings, sessions for their most recent CD, "Lonely Runs Both Ways," began before all of the songs had been collected. Krauss, Douglas and guitarist Block each contributed tunes, but new material continued to pour in over sessions that stretched out for some 18 months.
"We sort of came at it in three phases," says Douglas. "We did one huge session, then went out on the road and toured really hard. When we came back to the studio, after exploring some of those songs on tour, we took a new look at them and a few of the songs didn't stand up."
Despite Union Station's exploration of the world beyond bluegrass, Douglas says they feel a loyalty to their hardcore 'grass fans.
"We're not consciously trying to not be bluegrass," he says. "We're not trying to baffle people about what bin to put this in. We just do what we do, and yes, it's some bluegrass, some country, some pop, some jazz -- every form of music in involved. But we think it's important that we need a bridge to maintain our connection to the traditional bluegrass audience."
With that in mind, the album's smart and sensitive "contemporary acoustic" ballads are offset, or perhaps enhanced, by a killer take on Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away," a lonely cover of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," Krauss' "This Sad Song," and Douglas's instrumental "Unionhouse Branch."
"We're trying to blaze a trail," says Douglas, "not consciously invent a new genre. The thing about it is, you're only as good as the people you're playing with."
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I personally think it's cool that they take turns doing the publicity interviews for the band.
------------------------------------------------------------
Talent, creativity help Alison Krauss & Union Station set new standard
Monday, May 23, 2005
By John Hayes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Whatever it is, it's not quite bluegrass anymore.
Traditionalists may scoff that the music that Alison Krauss & Union Station have been making for the past several years is so far removed from Bill Monroe that it's no longer part of a genre named for his band, the Blue Grass Boys.
Even some fans of progressive bluegrass, who don't mind a banjo run on a Stones cover or a drawn-out Garcia-style jam, are wondering whether Krauss' band knows where it's going.
"Well, no, we don't," says Jerry Douglas. Among the world's best dobro pickers, he was invited by Krauss to join her on a summer tour and has stayed with the group since 1998.
A fiddle prodigy at 14, Krauss has matured into a Grammy winner and one of the most popular names in non-mainstream country music. This week, she picked up two more honors: Academy of Country Music Awards for Video of the Year and Vocal Event of the Year for "Whiskey Lullaby," her mainstream country duet with Brad Paisley.
Krauss has a habit of surrounding herself with talent. Every member of her band Union Station, in fact, has a thriving solo career. But when Krauss, Douglas, Dan Tyminski, Barry Bales and Ron Block get together, something special happens. Propelled by high performing standards and a free-range ensemble approach to creativity, much of their music surpasses the boundaries of traditional and progressive bluegrass. Insiders are calling the sound "contemporary acoustic."
"When you play with people who are really good, you tend to play up to their level," says Douglas. "And when everybody is playing up to everybody else's best, new things tend to happen. When I'm just sitting around playing with my friends, I probably sound like them."
Despite Krauss' starring role and the celebrity attached to each member of the band, Douglas says rehearsals are completely democratic.
"I'm only the dobro guy," he says. "Alison's the only fiddle player. We try everything that anybody brings up, play the songs every way we can think of and really flesh it out. It's important to try everything because you can create a log jam of ideas if you don't get them out of your head."
Unlike most Union Station recordings, sessions for their most recent CD, "Lonely Runs Both Ways," began before all of the songs had been collected. Krauss, Douglas and guitarist Block each contributed tunes, but new material continued to pour in over sessions that stretched out for some 18 months.
"We sort of came at it in three phases," says Douglas. "We did one huge session, then went out on the road and toured really hard. When we came back to the studio, after exploring some of those songs on tour, we took a new look at them and a few of the songs didn't stand up."
Despite Union Station's exploration of the world beyond bluegrass, Douglas says they feel a loyalty to their hardcore 'grass fans.
"We're not consciously trying to not be bluegrass," he says. "We're not trying to baffle people about what bin to put this in. We just do what we do, and yes, it's some bluegrass, some country, some pop, some jazz -- every form of music in involved. But we think it's important that we need a bridge to maintain our connection to the traditional bluegrass audience."
With that in mind, the album's smart and sensitive "contemporary acoustic" ballads are offset, or perhaps enhanced, by a killer take on Del McCoury's "Rain Please Go Away," a lonely cover of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty," Krauss' "This Sad Song," and Douglas's instrumental "Unionhouse Branch."
"We're trying to blaze a trail," says Douglas, "not consciously invent a new genre. The thing about it is, you're only as good as the people you're playing with."
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I personally think it's cool that they take turns doing the publicity interviews for the band.
