ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, April 23, 1997 TAG: 9704230009
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NASHVILLE, TENN.
SOURCE: JIM PATTERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS
Alison Krauss, master of the ethereal ballad, is hooting - loudly, indelicately and persistently.
The 25-year-old musician is looking at old photographs of herself in one of her band member's scrapbook.
``Oh my gawd!'' she screeches. ``Not much I can do about some ugly pictures!''
Krauss, thin and blond, has seen her every fashion risk and hair style regularly plastered in local newspapers ever since she won fiddle contests as a child.
The clippings multiplied when her 1995 compilation CD, ``Now That I've Found You: a Collection,'' sold more than 2 million copies and catapulted her fame beyond the bluegrass world. She subsequently was named the Country Music Association's female vocalist of the year.
During the height of Alison Krauss fever in 1995, the singer regularly was stricken with migraine headaches. Two years later, mainstream country music radio stations have moved on to new phenomena, such as LeAnn Rimes. Krauss says the migraines are a thing of the past and she has learned to live with the costs of celebrity.
``I think you can easily disappoint the people you meet,'' Krauss says. ``I remember there was this little girl in Virginia who was sick, and this guy gave me her picture and said, `Call her on the phone and say hi to her - she loves you.'
``I lost that picture that had her number on the back. See, they don't know that I lost it. ... They just think I'm a jerk!''
Coming off a two-month vacation, Krauss is visibly refreshed and high-spirited as she anticipates the release of her band's first album of all-new material in five years.
``So Long, So Wrong'' is out on her longtime label, the independent Rounder Records. It is definitely a band album, mixing traditional bluegrass (a short, burning instrumental of the standard ``Little Liza Jane''), lead vocals by other members of her band, Union Station, and hypnotic ballads that are Krauss' trademark (``It Doesn't Matter'' and ``I Can Let Go Now'').
Krauss remains devoted to fellow musicians Barry Bales, Ron Block, Adam Steffey and Dan Tyminski. The band has been billed as Alison Krauss & Union Station for several years.
``If I was going solo, I would ask all those guys to play on the record,'' Krauss says. ``I mean, would you want to leave that format? They're the greatest. ... Those guys are my best friends.''
The band will perform Thursday night at Salem Civic Center.
Krauss grew up roller-skating to classic rock in Champaign, Ill. She won ribbons and trophies at bluegrass fiddle contests, and her first album, ``Too Late to Cry,'' was released by Rounder when she was 16.
Alison Krauss and Union Station perform Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Salem Civic Center. Tickets are $19.50 and are available by calling the box office at 375-3004 or (800) 288-2122, Ticketmaster locations, or charge-by-phone at 343-8100.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Fiddler, singer, producer and bandleader Alison Krauss,by CNBwho was named Country Music Association female vocalist of the year
in 1995, has released an album of all-new material called "So Long,
So Wrong." color.