Alison Krauss Album: “Now That I've Found You: A Collection”

Description :

NOW THAT I'VE FOUND YOU is a collection of new and previously released tracks culled from Alison Krauss's first five albums as well as other artists' albums on which she performed. Personnel includes: Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle, viola); Suzanne Cox (vocals); Ron Block (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, background vocals); Dan Tyminski (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Jerry Douglas (guitar, dobro); Jeff White (guitar, background vocals); Russ Barenberg (guitar); Rob Ickes (dobro); Adam Steffey (mandolin, mandola); Sam Bush, Brent Truitt (mandolin); Tony Furtado, Craig Smith (banjo); Stuart Duncan (fiddle, harp); Pete Wasner (piano); Barry Bales (acoustic & electric bass); Roy Huskey, Jr., Viktor Krauss (acoustic bass); Glen Worf, John Pennell, Todd Phillips, Mark Schatz (bass); Kenny Malone (drums, congas); Harry Stinson, Martin Parker (drums). Producers: Alison Krauss, Union Station, Bil VornDick, Jerry Douglas, Bil VornDick. Engineers: Gary Paczosa, Rich Adler, Bil VornDick. Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee and San Francisco, California. Includes liner notes by Jim Macnie. "Baby, Now That I've Found You" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. This is a Hybrid Super Audio CD playable on both regular and Super Audio CD players. NOW THAT I'VE FOUND YOU is a collection of new and previously released tracks culled from Alison Krauss's first five albums as well as other artists' albums on which she performed. Personnel: Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle, viola); Suzanne Cox (vocals); Ron Block (acoustic & electric guitars, banjo, background vocals); Dan Tyminski (acoustic guitar, background vocals); Jerry Douglas (guitar, dobro); Jeff White (guitar, background vocals); Russ Barenberg (guitar); Tony Furtado, Craig Smith (banjo); Rob Ickes (dobro); Adam Steffey (mandolin, mandola); Sam Bush, Brent Truitt (mandolin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle, harp); Pete Wasner (piano); Barry Bales (acoustic & electric bass); Roy Huskey, Jr., Viktor Krauss (acoustic bass); Glen Worf, John Pennell, Todd Phillips, Mark Schatz (bass); Kenny Malone (drums, congas); Tom Miller (steel drums, percussion); Larry Atamanuik, Harry Stinson, Martin Parker (drums). Producers include: Alison Krauss, Union Station, Ken Irwin, Jerry Douglas, Bil VornDick. Recorded between 1987 & 1994. Includes liner notes by Jim Macnie. "Baby, Now That I've Found You" won a 1996 Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. Since her Rounder debut in 1987, Alison Krauss has been praised by critics and country music fans alike. Revitalizing traditional styles of country music including bluegrass, the singer and fiddler is the focus of much public attention. Her unique, yet firmly-rooted approach to country music has won her several Grammys. Her 1995 release, NOW THAT I'VE FOUND YOU, showcases her ability to shine in a variety of settings. The title track and "Broadway" find Krauss in a more pop country environment; however even her pop music is unique in its smart harmonic structure, and her ability to avoid pat or stock poetic devices. On "Tonight I'll Be Lonely Too," Krauss and Union Station (her almost constant musical companions) switch to a decidedly bluegrass feel, and on "When God Dips His Pen of Love In My Heart," she plunges into a Southern gospel style with help from the Cox Family. Alison Krauss has the remarkable ability to make these diverse musical directions seem logical and congruent. Since her Rounder debut in 1987, Alison Krauss has been praised by critics and country music fans alike. Revitalizing traditional styles of country music including bluegrass, the singer and fiddler is the focus of much public attention. Her unique, yet firmly-rooted approach to country music has won her several Grammys. Her 1995 release, NOW THAT I'VE FOUND YOU, showcases her ability to shine in a variety of settings. The title track and "Broadway" find Krauss in a more pop country environment; however even her pop music is unique in its smart harmonic structure, and her ability to avoid pat or stock poetic devices. On "Tonight I'll Be Lonely Too," Krauss and Union Station (her almost constant musical companions) switch to a decidedly bluegrass feel, and on "When God Dips His Pen of Love In My Heart," she plunges into a Southern gospel style with help from the Cox Family. Alison Krauss has the remarkable ability to make these diverse musical directions seem logical and congruent.

If you're just now reading a review of this six-year-old album you're probably a non-bluegrass fan like me who has just stumbled on Alison Krauss' amazing voice (thank you Coen brothers). So you're clicking through reviews to get a feel for an album that might appeal to you, well stop here - this is the one you're after.

As the title says this is a collection. It's perfectly paced from song to song and gives a full view of the range of AK's talent. There's bluegrass and standards and even gospel. For me the highlight of the album is the relatively obscure and simple Beatles song "I Will", AK's treatment of this just breaks your heart. The title song never sounded better anywhere, in fact I never cared for it until I heard it here. And Alison's classic "Every time you say Goodbye" makes bluegrass fans out of us non-believers. It's hard to leave a song out of the review, I find myself humming the pure bluegrass "Teardrops Will Kiss the Morning Dew" as I type.

Not a dull moment on this CD, not a song not to like. Alison's confident yet sweet soprano puts life and warmth in every song and she's backed on most songs by the talented Union Station and by her own incredible fiddle.

So you can stop sifting through the reviews, this is the Alison Krauss ablum you're looking for. This album may help you, like it has me, discover a delightful slice of American music you've been missing.

Even though I tend towards classic rock as my main musical interest I had heard comments about Alison and her lovely voice and finally decided to check out this album, thinking it was a "greatest hits" album. It isn't: it's a retrospective of her career with a few wonderful new songs added as well. It demonstrates her development as an artist and the wide range of her musical abilities. Most of all, it is a truly enjoyable album.

This album has sold over two million copies and went to the top 15 of the pop music charts and number 2 on the country charts--which demonstrates that her music has wide appeal yet is hard to pigeonhole into one category. Alison and her band Union Station have won a total of nine Grammy awards (so far) in at least three categories (country, bluegrass, and gospel)--and they're still going strong. Yet, putting her into just those three categories still doesn't adequately describe her music: she is truly a unique perform! er.

Part of her uniqueness is that she's achieved her success just by being herself and doing it her way--rather than the usual commercialized way. She is so down to earth in concert you feel like you are listening to her in a park with some friends or could ask her out for coffee afterwards without reservations. She has not bought into the hype and commercialism of the modern music scene; I almost think she wouldn't care about the money, as long as she could still make the music she enjoys--and does SO well.

She has the most angelic, passionate, and achingly lovely voice I've ever heard. I frequently suffer from deep major depression, and Alison's singing is one of the few things that can still touch me in the midst of that. Sometimes I will just play this album or a few special songs over and over and over again when I'm really down in the pit of despair and let Alison remind me there IS still beauty and joy in this world.

This is an album I have giv! en many times as a gift, and it's always been well apprecia! ted. One friend wrote, "I just received nine other CDs from BMG, but "Now That I've Found You" is the one I play all the time." Another friend wrote a thank you note saying, "...I don't think I've ever received a birthday gift that I have enjoyed more. I mean it."

Alison's music is wonderful, and I know of no better album to start sampling it than "Now That I've Found You".

I can't describe how wonderful this recording is, but I'll try. Whether you like bluegrass or not, if you appreciate good singing, good playing, and wonderful melodies, this CD is for you. Many people have talked about how relaxing, soothing and peaceful (not to mention fun!) this collection is. It's that and more. These are songs that you will find yourself singing, humming, and thinking about after just a few listens. Alison does a wide range of covers, including the title track from the Foundations, a song by Bad Company ("Oh Atlanta"), and a wonderful version of the Beatles' "I Will." Now about Alison Krauss...

You can read here and in many other places about the enormous talent Alison has been blessed with. That is obvious in the initial hearing of the CD. I appreciate the talent, but even more I appreciate the love that she has for music. I've seen and heard many performers in several different genres of music, but it is becoming a true rarity to encounter artists who really, truly love what they do. You can tell that Alison Krauss (and Union Station) has a geniune joy in doing what she does. It comes across in the music. That joy of singing, performing, communicating with an audience is sadly lacking with most artists today. Too many artists (some who once had this joy and lost it somewhere along the way) are in music for all the wrong reasons...money, fame, you name it. Krauss will have none of it. She still records for Rounder Records, a relatively small label, even though she's had offers from the big labels. She refuses to perform in big arena concerts because she would lose the close connection she has with her audience. I admire her for her decisions and for her love of her craft. Take one listen to this CD and I think you'll agree.

It took a few albums for the rest of the world to discover what the Bluegrass community already knew about the phenomenal Alison Krauss - her voice is a once-in-a-lifetime gift.

She had recorded about 4 albums when independent label Rounder and Alison came up with the idea of a "Greatest Hits" collection for an artist in a genre that pretty much never HAS a "hit". Now That I've Found You opens with three new tracks - each one of them became a hit - then is filled in with another nine tracks from the previous albums, plus a few gems she recorded as a guest vocalist on other's CDs, such as "I Will" from Tony Furtado's "Within Reach" and "I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby" on Jerry Douglas' "Slide Rule"(a wonderful old Louvin Brother's song that received another wonderful treatment in the recent Louvin Brother's tribute album - check THAT one out too!) Suddenly the young woman had a platinum album, selling millions and zillions of copies in a Genre that no one outside of Bluegrass listened to.

What was going ON?

Bluegrass had a FEW hits in the Rock and Roll era:

Flatt and Scruggs "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" - the music used as the musical theme to "Bonnie and Clyde".

But it was pretty much unheard of for a Bluegrass recording or artist to get much notice outside of the Bluegrass die-hards, unless there was a movie or television tie-in.

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

This CD really IS just a "sampler" of Alison Krauss' voice - but it's a good starter disc for someone who wants to hear the kind of voice that only comes along once a generation....