Post by fogcitygal on Feb 7, 2005 3:42:41 GMT -5
Another great article:
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Florida Today
February 4, 2005
Alison's allure
Fans flock to hear her velvet-smooth voice
BY TOM BREEN
FLORIDA TODAY
With her velvety voice and soothing on-stage presence, Alison Krauss has brought thousands of new fans to bluegrass music after winning national acclaim in the mid-1990s with "Now That I've Found You: A Collection."
And at 8 tonight, Krauss, for the third time, comes to the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne to entertain diehard bluegrass aficionados as well as folks who simply love her voice.
"For people who know what bluegrass is all about, Alison and her band (Union Station) are among the best, awesome," said Britt Holbrook of Palm Bay, a bluegrass guitar player and singer who has an avid following of his own across Brevard County.
Krauss' fiddle playing is excellent, Holbrook added, but it's her voice that sets her apart from other performers.
Some bluegrass fans like faster and harder songs, but Krauss, whose music has crossed over into many genres, needn't worry about losing a fan or two as her success mounts.
As she continues to draw attention to bluegrass and its origins, a lot of people want to know exactly what this music is.
"It's got a hard drive to it," the late Bill Monroe, considered the father of bluegrass, once said. "It's Scott bagpipes and old-time fiddling. . . . It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound. It's plain music that tells a story. It's played from my heart to your heart, and it will touch you."
The name, by the way, came from Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, whose origins were in Kentucky.
For Krauss, it clearly has been her ability to play from her heart to "your heart" that wows audiences, especially when she does emotional songs such as "When You Say Nothing At All."
A child prodigy, like many gifted performers, Krauss grew up in Champaign, Ill., playing the violin at 5 and taking classical music lessons, according to her biography.
By age 10, she had moved away from classical, forming her own bluegrass band. By 12, she had won the Illinois State Fiddle Championship, prompting the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America to name her the Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest. And by 14, she had signed a recording contract.
Her debut album, performed with her Union Station band, came in 1987, but it wasn't until 1995 that the bluegrass world, and everyone else, began paying attention after she released the landmark "Now That I've Found You: A Collection."
By 2000, her reputation was secured, especially after she sang on the soundtrack for the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
That same year, Krauss, now in her early 30s, made her first appearance at the King Center. Now, five years later, she's back.
"If you put the radio on, and you hear her voice, you immediately know it's her," Brevard guitar player Holbrook said. "Once you hear her, you never forget her."
--------------------------
Florida Today
February 4, 2005
Alison's allure
Fans flock to hear her velvet-smooth voice
BY TOM BREEN
FLORIDA TODAY
With her velvety voice and soothing on-stage presence, Alison Krauss has brought thousands of new fans to bluegrass music after winning national acclaim in the mid-1990s with "Now That I've Found You: A Collection."
And at 8 tonight, Krauss, for the third time, comes to the King Center for the Performing Arts in Melbourne to entertain diehard bluegrass aficionados as well as folks who simply love her voice.
"For people who know what bluegrass is all about, Alison and her band (Union Station) are among the best, awesome," said Britt Holbrook of Palm Bay, a bluegrass guitar player and singer who has an avid following of his own across Brevard County.
Krauss' fiddle playing is excellent, Holbrook added, but it's her voice that sets her apart from other performers.
Some bluegrass fans like faster and harder songs, but Krauss, whose music has crossed over into many genres, needn't worry about losing a fan or two as her success mounts.
As she continues to draw attention to bluegrass and its origins, a lot of people want to know exactly what this music is.
"It's got a hard drive to it," the late Bill Monroe, considered the father of bluegrass, once said. "It's Scott bagpipes and old-time fiddling. . . . It's blues and jazz, and it has a high lonesome sound. It's plain music that tells a story. It's played from my heart to your heart, and it will touch you."
The name, by the way, came from Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, whose origins were in Kentucky.
For Krauss, it clearly has been her ability to play from her heart to "your heart" that wows audiences, especially when she does emotional songs such as "When You Say Nothing At All."
A child prodigy, like many gifted performers, Krauss grew up in Champaign, Ill., playing the violin at 5 and taking classical music lessons, according to her biography.
By age 10, she had moved away from classical, forming her own bluegrass band. By 12, she had won the Illinois State Fiddle Championship, prompting the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America to name her the Most Promising Fiddler in the Midwest. And by 14, she had signed a recording contract.
Her debut album, performed with her Union Station band, came in 1987, but it wasn't until 1995 that the bluegrass world, and everyone else, began paying attention after she released the landmark "Now That I've Found You: A Collection."
By 2000, her reputation was secured, especially after she sang on the soundtrack for the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
That same year, Krauss, now in her early 30s, made her first appearance at the King Center. Now, five years later, she's back.
"If you put the radio on, and you hear her voice, you immediately know it's her," Brevard guitar player Holbrook said. "Once you hear her, you never forget her."