Alison Krauss & Union Station Album: “Every Time You Say Goodbye”

Being the type of person who the average bluegrass fan would likely string up upon meeting (all-black-wearing-blue-haired-agnostic-death-metal-type), I didn't expect to like this cd much. Having appreciated Alison from afar for a long time though (if you like good music at all, she's hard to avoid because anybody who knows good music knows Alison and asks her to play on their cds), I nearly jumped for joy when I found this disc in the $5 pile at a local festival. So I picked it up, popped it in and then I jumped for joy. I love every track on this cd, with the possible exception of "Cloudy Days." I wouldn't get rid of it though, it's grown on me over time and it really does fit the album. While liking bluegrass hasn't won me any friends among the pierced elite, this is the stuff dreams were made of. Alison's voice is heavenly, and this disc is probably the best exhibit of purest bluegrass she's released to date.

One of my favourite Alison Krauss albums, every song is a gem. Well, really this is as the title says, an Alison Krauss and Union Station album and 5 of the songs have either Tim, Adam or Ron on lead vocals. This album has a wonderful mix of music, a traditional bluegrass instrumental, 'Cluck Old Hen' to soft country romantic ballads, to Christian songs like 'Jesus Help me to Stand'. All mixed with Alisons wonderful fiddle playing and the bands bluegrass sound.

Alison Krauss has done much to popularise bluegrass in recent years. Her early recordings were pure bluegrass - this (from 1992) was the last album of that phase of her career. Her more recent albums have included other influences but I enjoy those too, in a different way.

On this album, Alison and her band, Union Station, work their way through a selection of songs that are generally not well known despite several of them being cover versions. Many of these are old bluegrass songs, but they also include I don't know why (Shawn Colvin) and Lose again (Karla Bonoff). There are also some original songs here including two by Sidney Cox (of the Cox family).

At the time, Union Station was made up of Tim Stafford (guitar), Ron Block (banjo - he also wrote three of the songs here), Adam Steffey (mandolin) and Barry Bales (bass). Alison played the fiddle as well as doing most of the singing. The four men could all sing and each of them can be heard on this album, providing harmony or duet vocals, but Alison is the real star.

If you are unfamiliar with Alison's early music, I recommend that you buy Now that I've found you - A collection, which I've already reviewed. That includes one track from each of her early albums, plus tracks not available on any of her other albums so far. If you have that collection and you are looking for more of Alison's early music, you will enjoy this.

"Now That I've Found You" is a wonderful collection of music to listen to, especially for long road trips! I can get lost in the music and the trip is that much shorter! Wonderful!

Alison Krauss has such an unbelievably soft and sweet voice that you could easily listen to her without any musical accompaniment. As a musician, her Fiddle playing is so tasty that you are amazed that so much talent comes in one package. Union Station is very good also, but it's Alison that makes everything work. When she harmonizes with herself on Lose Again, it's vocal perfection.