Alison Krauss and Union Station

Alison Krauss and Union Station
with Tim Easton
The Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA October 13, 2001

I made a startling conclusion a while back. I like hillbilly music. Sitting in a theatre watching O Brother Where Art Thou with my son, he noted the fact that I was singing along (poorly, he had to add) to most of the songs. “Big Rock Candy Mountain,” “Man of Constant Sorrow,” “You Are My Sunshine” — hell, I knew them all. In this age of cynical pop and gang recruitment rap, I rediscovered my love of what has come to be known as “roots music.” Still can’t sing it a lick, but I find myself listening to more and more of it.

One person who can sing it is Alison Krauss. Graced with an angel’s voice and none-too-shabby fiddling skills, Krauss has become a star in a form of music that most people — at least, the people who read and write for magazines like this one — have long overlooked. She became the youngest member of the Grand Old Opry ever when she joined at age 22, and since then has released several good selling albums featuring her crack band, anchored by Dan Tyminski, former member of The Lonesome River Band, and more notably, the singing voice of George Clooney in O Brother. So when Krauss played the Fox, I went. So did a lot of other people — the show was a near sellout.

Michelle Shocked

Arkansas Traveler
Michelle Shocked
Mighty Sound

A decade or so before America discovered its own music via the soundtrack to O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Texas songbird and all-around hellion Michelle Shocked created a work of art that combined the best of America’s-and the world’s – players on a record that has achieved classic status since its release in 1992. Formed largely from duets between Shocked and her guests, Traveler is both a stirring, vibrant album, and a music lesson, at the same time. Starting off with “33 RPM Soul” with Pops Staples, to the heartfelt pairing of The Band’s Levon Helm and Shocked on “Secret to a Long Life” and on through numbers with Uncle Tupelo, Taj Mahal, Alison Krauss, and Doc Watson, the original release of this record also brought “out of towners” such as Hothouse Flowers to the party. The reissue adds six songs, including a great “Blackberry Blossom” with The String Cheese Incident, and “Worth the Wait” with guitarist Dan Crary. It’s hard to imagine improving such a beloved record, but Michelle Shocked has done so. Its blend of rock, folk, bluegrass, and country was unusual in 1992, but not so now. Now, as the kids would say, it’s all good.

Originally published Amplifier, 2004