the UK home for americana music
This week in our occasional series in which we ask the Americana UK staff writers and contributors to give us a handle on the what, whys and wherefores that got them into the genre, Tim Martin goes up before the beak to explain himself to the gathered hoard. Apparently he’s not a punk or a heavy metal drummer (at least not anymore if ever he was). Read on to find out exactly where he does stand… Continue reading “What Is This Americana Thing Anyway…?”
Well this beats finding out that George Bush Jr. had the Thrills on his iPod. Alison Krauss has been chosen to receive the National Medal of Arts which will be presented by President Trump on Thursday at a special ceremony. Other artists to receive the award include actor Jon Voight (who’s a known Trump supporter) and the bands of the United States military, and marks the first recipients of arts and humanities medals of Trump’s presidency, because let’s face it, arts are for the weak -and as for humanity! Continue reading “Er… Alison Krauss to receive arts award from POTUS”
In the first run through the alphabet of Americana we focused on some artists who weren’t particularly big names. For the start of this pass at the A to Z we are looking at someone with 27 Grammy Awards and a stack of gold and platinum records. Alison Krauss started recording with Union Station in 1987 at the age of 16. Initially she enjoyed patchy success with her early singles and albums. The 1995 compilation ‘Now That I’ve Found You: A Collection’ was her breakthrough, with The Foundations ‘Baby, Now That I’ve Found You’ and ‘When You Say Nothing at All’, originally a hit for Keith Whitley pushing the album to the upper reaches of the country charts. Continue reading “AmericanA to Z – Alison Krauss (and Union Station)”
Legacy Recordings have announced the release of ‘Johnny Cash: Forever Words’ – a collaborative album consisting of songs created from Johnny Cash’s unknown poetry, lyrics, and letters set to music by an array of artists on Friday 6th April. The album features new performances by Chris Cornell, Ruston Kelly & Kacey Musgraves, Rosanne Cash, Alison Krauss & Union Station, Kris Kristofferson & Willie Nelson, Brad Paisley, John Mellencamp, Carlene Carter, Elvis Costello and The Jayhawks. Continue reading “New Cash tribute album features Jayhawks, Mellencamp and others”
Alison Krauss is phenomenal. Whether you look at figures like her record 27 Grammy Awards, millions of records sold, career longevity or simply judge her from the purity of her vocals, Krauss really is one of the stand-out performers in modern music. Windy City is her first solo record in 18 years, after she took a hiatus to record music with her Union Station band. The album is a tribute to older classics, with tracks such as those originally performed by artists like Glen Campbell, Bill Monroe, Willie Nelson and The Osborne Brothers. With a sensitive touch provided by producer Buddy Cannon, it’s a masterpiece of music re-interpretation and a fitting ode to the giants on whose shoulders present artists stand on. Continue reading “Alison Krauss ”Windy City” (Decca/Capitol, 2017)”
But crucially is evasive when it comes to the mayonnaise vs salad cream question. What is she trying to hide? Alison Krauss took the time to chat to Guardian readers this morning – The whole webchat is over at the Guardian site here and covers some really interesting topics including what British female singers have inspired her (“Sonia”), plans for a live album (“yes, I have a tour planned with Climie Fisher”) and why she picked Brenda Lee songs (“loved her cookery programmes in the eighties”). Paraphrasing, probably best to go and have a look at her reponses yourself. “Windy City” is out in the UK now, number 1 in Amazon’s Country Chart and already garnering some lovely reviews – look out for ours shortly. Continue reading “Alison Krauss chats to Guardian readers about all kinds of stuff”
“Windy City”, the new album by Alison Krauss goes live today in the UK and she was on BBC Breakfast this morning chatting about it and meeting Adele in Nashville: “I had been getting messages from all over the country that she had talked about us in her show and it was very endearing and very sweet, when she came through Nashville I saw her play and she was adorable… she was amazing when we met, very kind and generous. It was quite the compliment.” She also exclusively revealed that a new album with Union Station is currently being considered – “I would love to do another band record with Union Station, I’ve got a folder of great songs sitting behind my desk”. You can watch the whole interview on BBC iPlayer (it’s right at the end to save you scrolling). Continue reading “Alison Krauss: new Union Station album on the way?”