Alison Krauss & Union Station on BBC Radio Two

By Ivon Evans On Wednesday, September the 27th, I listened to Nick Barraclough's new country show on Radio Two. It promised a session from Alison Krauss and Union Station, specially recorded for the programme. I don't normally listen to this show, but I was interested to see how a Bluegrass act would come across on this type of programme, which usually features modem Nashville pop-type country music. I listened to most of the programme before AKUS came on. Nick introduced the group without making much reference to Bluegrass music. The group members were introduced as: Alison Krauss, fiddle and vocals; Ron Block, banjo, guitar and vocals; Barry Bales, bass and bass vocals; Dan Tyminski, guitar, mandolin and vocals; and new member Jerry Douglas on Dobro. It was also announced that the group now featured drums, but the drummer wasn't named. They did five numbers including, I think, an instrumental. The only title I can remember is the title track from her latest CD, Forget About It. That song title, I would say, sums up the performance, which had a very bland sound throughout. The banjo could hardly be heard at all, but the drums were mixed right to the front. The whole session had no bite to it - it was as if all the drive had been taken out of bluegrass music. The performance was very professional, but had no life in it. I am a big fan of Alison Krauss' early material but I do feel that she has lost her way a bit. Nick Barraclough raved about her, but I don't think it did Bluegrass music any favours. It did nothing for traditional bluegrass music and I don't think it gave any non-bluegrass fans an incentive to listen to bluegrass music. All in all a rather disappointing performance and a great chance to promote bluegrass music was missed. Alison Krauss is still worth listening to, but seek out some of her earlier stuff such as Everytime You Say Goodbye or So Long So Wrong on the Rounder label. Ivon Evans, Sunderland UK 1st Dec 2000