So Long So Wrong

The purpose of this review isn't to give even a thumbnail history lesson of the evolution of Bluegrass and a comparison to more popular and "mainstream" forms of music, but it is important in having a complete appreciation of this album to recognize the historical rarity of a "popular" or "breakout" Bluegrass artist or band or recording. In the past half-century before Alison Krauss the number of Bluegrass recordings which received any degree of popular airplay could be easily counted on one hand:
Flatt and Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - the music used as the musical theme to "Bonnie and Clyde".
Flatt and Scruggs "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" - the theme to "Beverly Hillbillies"
"Dueling Banjos" - from the soundtrack to "Deliverance"
"Rocky Top" - by the Osborne Brothers
"Fox on the Run" - by the Country Gentlemen

Then along came Alison Krauss, with her stunning crystalline voice that caught the attention of the Bluegrass community while she was still a teenager.

She recorded several albums which were among the most well-received in the Bluegrass community leading up to 1995 when her label, Rounder, persuaded her to put together a few new recordings with mostly previous releases, some as "guest star" on other CDs to come up with the compilation "Now That I've Found You"(It may have been called "Greatest Hits" for an artist that had HAD a "hit").

That CD stunned everyone, sold 6 million copies and suddenly Alison Krauss was the hottest female voice in Nashville - winning a handful of CMA awards.

Under the expectations of THAT success Ms. Krauss and her band, Union Station, went to the studio to record the follow-up album.

Many on either side of the "Bluegrass Purist" fence were expecting the next CD to be the "Sell-Out" CD - full of steel guitars and guest duets with Barbra Streisand.

What came instead was THIS CD, "So Long So Wrong", an album that celebrates the Bluegrass heritage that these musicians hail from in addition to showcasing the extraordinary contemporary talents of Alison and Union Station.

Newcomers to Bluegrass expecting a recording with nothing but Alison's voice were likely put out a little that some GUY was singing the lead vocal on several of these cuts. Alison knew that Dan Tyminsky was an extraordinary vocalist YEARS before Dan was chosen to do the singing voiceover for George Clooney in "O Brother Where Art Thou?"

The CD is one of the prominent ones that Alison jokes about in which her lead vocals are predominantly on beautiful but sorrowful ballads like "Deeper Than Crying" and "Find My Way Back to my Heart." These tracks are beautiful and they're NOT "straight bluegrass" for you purists - Ron Block trades in his trusty 5-string for some tasty acoustic guitar work and these are closer to folk or even just "unplugged pop" than to bluegrass. The Dan Tyminski tracks are rollicking rip-roaring bluegrass monsters like "I'll Remember You, Love in my Prayers" and "The Road is a Lover".

This CD is one of the very best by Alison Krauss and Union Station, and that is saying something. If you're a fan of Alison, or maybe you just heard something about "those musicians on the O Brother soundtrack" this is a recording you just have to add to your collection.

I've already tipped my hand, so I will tell you that the bluegrass component of this album is about the best that can be heard in the genre's more contemporary incarnation. And while Alison is clearly the star, the boys in the band more than hold their own, both vocally and instumentally. Dan Tyminski is a terrific singer and guitarist - his voice blends superbly with Alison's on "Blue Trail of Sorrow" and particularly "The Road is a Lover," which also features some great train-like bowing from Alison. Banjoist Ron Block takes Scrugg-style picking to a higher level - his driving solo on the title track blows me away every time I hear it. And Adam Steffey's mandolin playing ranks among the best.

What more can be said about Alison's voice? It's clear, emotive, and haunting. My only complaint about Alison these days is that she is growing less and less inclined to cut loose on the fiddle. I've read her statements of getting away from "flashy playing for its own sake," but she's far too talented on that instrument to let it collect too much dust.

For those whom skip over the non-Alison tracks, or complain that the guys sing to much - Alison is following in the best tradition of the original bluegrass bossman himself, Mr.Bill Monroe, who handed over the reigns repeatedly to such (later) stars as Lester Flatt, Jimmy Martin, and Peter Rowan. Alison Kraus and Union Station is a BAND - and a damned fine one at that. I just hope that she doesn't follow the path of the late Keith Whitley, Marty Stuart, Dolly Parton, and Ricky Skaggs (although we got him back), forsaking bluegrass completely.