I am fairly certain it has been at least a year since my last post so it's good to be back.  On Sunday, I spent the evening watching the Grammy's and having a tweet off with all kinds of weird people.  For the first time since I can remember, I actually watched the Grammy's. Overall, I thought they did a good job this year and enjoyed The Boss, Bonnie Raitt, Bruno Mars, Adele, The Beach Boys along with the highlight of the night which was "The Civil Wars" 60 second intro.  Hell, truth be told, I even enjoyed Taylor Swift and that massive pile of junk for her stage.  Prior to the airing of the Grammy's we had a number of great Americana bands pickup awards in category 59 "American Roots":

Best Americana Album
Ramble At The Ryan -- Levon Helm

Best Bluegrass Album
Paper Airplane -- Alison Krauss & Union Station

Best Blues Album
Revelator -- Tedeschi Trucks Band

Best Folk Album
Barton Hollow -- The Civil Wars

The best part of the night for me though was making up the name FauxJo for Taylor Swift's guitar. I posted on twitter that her guitar was a "Faux Banjo" after I noticed it had a neck like a guitar and as someone clearly pointed out "She's strumming the banjo -- that's a no no".  I got a number of messages, death threats and over the top rambles to leave Taylor alone.  In reality, I wasn't making fun of her or her guitar but was just pointing out that while it looks like a banjo it ain't a banjo.  No big deal right? After a day of thinking about it, I was even more impressed with Taylor in that how many people that popular have ever even worn a FauxJo? Can you imagine how many FauxJo's are being sold right now? To wrap all of this up, it was a good night for music and a great night for Americana / Folk in that we had some very talented people share a very public stage and do well.  Taylor's a part of that even if you don't want to believe it. Congratulations to Levon and The Civil Wars for a big win and kudos to our AmericanaMusic.org group for getting Americana up as a category! 

 

 

Throughout music history there are the rare artists that transcend the genre in which they got their start. In doing so, they often become thought of as an artist without a home or an innovator, depending on your point of view. One artist who has done just that is Alison Krauss. Starting out in the bluegrass festival circuit at a very young age, she soon joined the Missouri based Sally Mountain Show replacing Rhonda Vincent while Vincent pursued a solo career in country music. Krauss began to stand out amongst the crowd with both her fiddle work and her singing and at age 12 recorded her first album with her brothers band. She moved then to Union Station and began to blossom into an artist in her own right, recording her first album with the group for Rounder Records in 1987, at 14 years old.. As she became more of a prominent feature of Union Station, her material began to broaden and her cover of the Keith Whitely song "When You Say nothing At All," reached No. 3 on the Billboard country charts and became the surprise hit of 1995. While keeping roots in the bluegrass genre, Krauss and Union Station began to explore a hybrid of bluegrass, country and Americana. At the same time, Krauss was becoming a sought after harmony vocalist and duet partner, making her mark on many songs including the No. 1 country song "Whiskey Lullaby" with Brad Paisley. Never one to pay much mind to genre borders, Krauss teamed up with Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant and producer T-Bone Burnett to record the Americana Music Association Album of the Year Raising Sand. A Hundred Miles Or More: Live From The Tracking Room is a DVD recorded to celebrate the release of last years Krauss greatest hits collection and was originally aired on the GAC network. The nine songs included on the DVD are recorded live in the studio with members of Union Station (Ron Block, Dan Tyminski Jerry Douglas and Barry Bales) and augmented by Abraham Laboriel, Greg Morrow, Gordon Mote, Stuart Duncan and others. Also joining Krauss in the studio is Tony Rice, who plays guitar on "Sawing On The Strings" and "Shadows," Brad Paisley and James Taylor, with re-recordings of their songs "Whiskey Lullaby" and "How's The World Treating You," respectively. Interspersed throughout are interviews with both Krauss and many of the musicians as they discuss the songs and the artistry of Krauss. For the fan of Krauss this will be a must-have DVD and companion to the CD collection. For more casual fans this offers an excellent look at performer and a chance to sample a range of her material.