Alison Krauss

Alison Maria Krauss (born July 23, 1971) is an American bluegrass-country singer-songwriter and musician. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in 1987. She was invited to join the band with which she still performs, Alison Krauss and Union Station (AKUS), and later released her first album with them as a group in 1989.

What seems to be an unlikely pairing of former Led Zeppelin vocalist Robert Plant and bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss is actually one of the most effortless-sounding duos in modern popular music…

Essential Alison Krauss is a brand newinspired selection of songs [ut together by Alison herself, which displays her development as a vocalist, fiddle player and producer; from her early signing to Rounder Records at 14 years old, up to the present day. The tracks are drawn from her extensive back catalogue, truly representing Alison's commitment to Bluegrass and American traditional music styles, combined with her unique ability to contemporise the sound and take it to a very wide mainstream audience. She has a unique talent to select contemporary songs and sing them in a traditional style. It was these factors which drew Robert Plant into collaborating with Alison in the American roots world and the massive worldwide success of Raising Sand. What this collection proves more than anything is that Alison Kraus's music is timeless–her tracks from 1995 remaining as relevant today.[/quote]

A Hundred Miles or More carries the subtitle A Collection, and what a curious collection it is–cuts from soundtracks, side projects, and tribute albums, plus guest duets on other artists' albums and five previously unreleased tracks. In other words, this is a collection of Alison Krauss performances that have never appeared on an Alison Krauss album, though it holds together better than such a grab-bag approach might suggest. Highlights such as her duet with Brad Paisley on "Whiskey Lullaby" and her a cappella rendition of "Down to the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou? will be familiar to most Krauss fans, though it's doubtful that many share her infatuation with retro rocker John Waite (with whom she revives his "Missing You" and duets on a cover of Don Williams's "Lay Down Beside Me."). Other projects represented range from Disney to the Chieftains to the Louvin Brothers (she duets with James Taylor on their "How's the World Treating You." There's minimal contribution from her Union Station band–making this a solo release by default–and little information to indicate whether the previously unreleased tracks were outtakes from earlier releases or recently recorded for this one