I've spent the last few weeks listening again to most of the Alison Krauss catalog, from her first solo album to the latest ("Paper Airplanes") with Union Station. Hearing them in sequence allows you to follow her developing style, not that it needed 'developing', because she was fully-formed on the very fist album (when she was something like 14 years old?)
Alison's been able to rely on various band members over the years for great songs, and she has a knack for finding other songwriters' material that she interprets in her own style. It takes a truly talented performer who can make a Beatles song sound like their own. I'd bet that after her first few albums, word got out and and songwriters were beating down her door.
It was quite a hoot to hear how Alison's vocal style changed over the years. She had a clear, ringing tone at the beginning, perfect for bluegrass, but by the 3rd or 4th album, she added more breath to her voice; she'd found the coo that she still employs today.
I'd mentioned in an earlier blog post how we'd seen Alison Krauss and Union Station in the early days (Wednesday, November 10, 1993) and how much fun they seemed to be having on stage. Cut to the official AKUS live album from 2002 and it's all business. I'll have to watch the DVD of the concert again -- maybe with the longer playing time of the DVD, we get more glimpses of band interaction. And man, I'd like to know the background story of Union Station. She employed them on her second album, and slowly (like Wilco) members left until by 1998 or so, she had the band that she still performs with today. "Paper Airplanes" is the latest album, and my wife and I both agree that it's good, it just sounds like they're on autopilot. They've got their style down pat. James Taylor has admitted in interviews that he's more of a craftsman these days that an "artist", and maybe that's what's going on with Alison. Of course, I haven't followed the whole story -- didn't really like the "Raising Sand" album she recorded with Robert Plant, and the subsequent tour meant Union Station was on hiatus for a while, so maybe "Paper Airplanes" is a tentative step back into the saddle.
