| Alison Krauss Facts |
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Name: |
Alison Krauss |
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Birth date: |
July 23, 1971 |
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Birth place: |
Champaign, IL |
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Hair color: |
brown; currently dyed blonde |
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Eye color: |
green |
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The little fiddler girl: |
Christmas, when she was 5, Alison received her first fiddle from her parents. "My brother was taking piano lessons, and my folks thought it would be cute to see if I'd take to the violin." |
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Early talent: |
Began classical violin lessons at age 5; entered her first adult fiddle contest at 8 (she came in fourth); won the Illinios State Fiddle Championship at 11; secured a deal with Rounder Records at 14; recorded her first album when she was 15. |
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Band: |
Union Station - Bary Bales, bass and vocals; Ron Block, banjo, guitar and vocals; Jerry Douglas, Dobro; Dan Tyminski, guitar mandolin and vocals; Dan recorded the singing voice for George Clooney, leader of The Soggy Bottom Boys, in the film O Brother Where Art Thou?. |
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Musical heroes: |
The Cox Family; Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys; J.D. Crowe and the New South, whose 1975 self-titled album she describes as "the best record ever. I bought it as a teenager, and it's just perfect." |
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That '70s girl: |
Alison proudly professes her passion for roller-skating and '70s rock bands Foreigner and Bad Company, whose "Oh, Atlanta" she recorded and included on Now That I've Found You: A Collection |
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How she picks her songs: |
"I'm always on the prowl," she explains. "I can't just enjoy records, because I'm always looking. The sadder the song, the better. If it makes me feel like crap, then I have to do it." |
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Influential singers: |
folk-pop singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin, Suzanne Cow and Rhonda Vincent - "the first female that I ever heard sing bluegrass." |
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Producer: |
Alison produced Nickel Creek's critically acclaimed debut album, plus "Sweet Music Man" for Reba McEntire's Greatest Hits - Volume III and four albums for The Cox Family. |
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Label: |
Rounder |
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CMA Awards: |
1995 Horizon Award, 1995 Female Vocalist of the Year, 1995 Single of the Year for "When You Say Nothing At All," 1995 Vocal Event of the Year for "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart" with Shenandoah.
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Grammys: |
To date, she has won 10, both solo and with Union Station, including 1997 Bluegrass Album for So Long, So Wrong, 1996 Best Country Collaboration with Vocals for "High Lonesome Sound" with Vince Gill and 1995 Best Female Country Vocal Performance for "Baby, Now That I've Found You."
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Platinum Albums: |
Now That I've Found You: A Collection (2 million 1995)
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Billboard Top 10 singles: |
"When You Say Nothing At All" (No. 3, 1995), "Somewhere In The Vicinity of the Heart" (No. 7, 1994)
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