Alison Krauss Playing, Not Performing

            As a renowned fiddler and country music artist, Alison Krauss has established herself as an artist and acquired a fan base allowing her to be successful.  Not including her tour with Robert Plant associated with the album Raising Sand, Krauss has been touring since 1989 promoting music from her album Raising Sand with Robert Plant, her currently newer album Paper Airplane, and other music that she has released since that time.  Coming to terms with the fact that real country music is personal, one of the biggest aspects of a country artist’s success would most certainly be their live performances.  So what about Krauss’ live performances makes her so good?  Is it the softness in her voice?  The passionate strumming of the violin?  The honky tonk sound resonating in the background?  Or is it something else?

After looking at reviews on Ticketmaster regarding concerts she has played throughout the country, she definitely keeps her audience satisfied with her more recent performances.  The complaints from more of her performances in 2011 don’t seem to be with her talent, but more often regard the songs she plays being slow and less popular, and the set not being loud enough.  One of the audience members from her performance at Regency Park in Cary, North Carolina writes, “Of course, the talent of the band is awesome without question,” (Ticketmaster).  Other common complaints about live performances address audience members’ discontent with opening acts, and Allison not showcasing her voice enough by allowing her fellow band members, Union Station, to take over for a while.  Looking at a more positive review, a person who watched the show at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore, Maryland on Saturday, April 14, 2012 wrote among many positive reviews, “I understand all the grammies now,” (Ticketmaster).  Let’s take a look at a couple of Krauss’ live performances to figure out what it is that makes her audience so partial towards her and her talents.

As a country singer it is important for one to realize that publicity and popularity are not the reasons to be writing, recording, or performing a song.  Country is much deeper than that.  Allison sings slow songs in order to connect with her audience in the best way possible, through emotion.  By stimulating a soft spot within her audience members, Krauss reaches a much more personal side of them and wins them over with her angelic voice.  She is telling them, I have been through your worst times and so has everyone else in the room singing along to this song.  She unites people who have sides that are lonely and hurt, making them realize that they are not alone.  She creates a connection with her audience through use of story and experience, just as any respectable country artist would.

Unfortunately, it is somewhat difficult to find videos of Allison Krauss performances that include captions of the audiences that show what kind of audiences Krauss attracts, however, her on-stage mannerisms show a lot about the type of artist she is and the type of audience that would listen to such an artist can be identified.  As you can see in the video below, Krauss performs two of her songs, “Daylight” and “Sinking Stone,” at the Manchester Apollo on July 13, 2012.  “Sinking Stone,” from the Allison Krauss & Union Station album Paper Airplane, is one of the most often played songs by Allison Krauss in the previous year of 2011 (Set List FM), so apparently there is something special about the song – emotional appeal (see the lyrics).  

            During the performance of these two songs Krauss and her bandmates create a small story by linking them together with a musical transition rather than stopping after “Daylight” and playing again.  “Daylight” is a song about being lost – the narrator is scared because something is wrong and doesn’t know what to do about it (see the lyrics).  “Sinking Stone” follows up with a narrator that is ready to do what needs to be done no matter how hard it is.  This is a crucial part to country music.  Krauss & Union Station take songs from separate albums and strategically place them so they make sense together, for the purpose of the audience’s enjoyment.  They successfully create a story for the audience to follow.

            The transition between the songs also implies that the music is the main thing Krauss & Union Station are focused on.  Though multiple comments on the Ticket Master review forum characterize Krauss as being funny and personable, none of the videos I found of the band included much interaction between performers and audience.  It seems that many of Krauss’ fans are mellow, music-lovers.  During the performances there is scarcely any yelling or cheering; people pay their respect by listening.  Krauss creates this ambiance herself, especially with her slow songs like the ones performed above.  The band is focused on delivering the song with passion every single time.  As you watch Krauss & Union Station, you can tell how much they love what they are doing and how much passion they put into it.  Their audience feeds off of this passion.

The video above shows the more rustic and rowdy country that many people are more familiar with - though still somewhat polished since this live performance was for Krauss' first live album debut.  As the band performs they are nodding their heads, smiling at the sounds they are making, moving closer and further from one another, and looking at each other; the band shows great chemistry.  The crowd chimes in on occasion to applaud certain instrumental solos.  It’s great to see the band perform without vocals.  It really brings out the country in Krauss & Union Station.  This video does show the audience briefly and gives it a little bit more personality.  The audience is versatile, the music made for any person of any age.  One of the audience members shown in the video of the song “Choctaw Hayride” is holding a baby.  Allison Krauss upholds a family style as many country artists do.  Also there seems to be a huge group of middle-aged adults at the show – ones with families or beginning to start them.  Allison promotes good values not only in her music but also in her performances.

Krauss' performances mostly take place in two types of venues - either concert hall type venues or park/festival type venues.  As both videos display, there are two sides to Krauss.  She has the ability to the soft and sweet.  In this form, most often enjoyed by the concert hall crowd, she comforts the audience members through emotion and reaches out to them.  She makes a deep connection with the people watching her.  On the other hand, Krauss is able to fiddle until she drops.  She rowdies up the crowd and gets them on her feet.  This showcases her honky tonk side.  The arrangements in these types of performances are very country and this is where her bluegrass training begins to shine with color.

As you can tell from both videos, Krauss is more than happy to share the limelight with her fellow band mates.  She does not hog the spotlight for herself and even her reviews from concerts reveal that she generously shares the stage with Union Station.  Alison is not selfish, she really cares about delivering real music to her audience and that is why she is able to gain so many followers.  She is able to step back, not only for her band to be noticed, but also so she can showcase her fiddlin’ talents that originally had her noticed at a young age.  Her spectacular voice accompanies the twanginess of the music but it seems that Krauss generally sticks to a more soft core form of country in the most traditional way possible.  Alison Krauss & Union Station are less concerned with putting on a performance and more concerned with putting on a show which generates a genuine, more mature audience.

Citations

1.      Ticketmaster, “Alison Krauss and Union Station Fan Reviews – Ticketmaster,” Ticketmaster Entertainment, http://reviews.ticketmaster.com/7171/861222/alison-krauss-and-union-station-reviews/reviews.htm?sort=rating (accessed November 1, 2012).

2.      Set List FM, “Alison Krauss, Songs played by year: 2011,” setlist.fm, http://www.setlist.fm/stats/alison-krauss-and-union-station-1bd6b170.html?year=2011 (accessed November 1, 2012).

3.      Cowboy Lyrics, “Song: Sinking Stone,” CowboyLyrics.com, http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/krauss-alison/sinking-stone-32581.html (accessed November 1, 2012).

4.      Cowboy Lyrics, “Song: Daylight,” CowboyLyrics.com, http://www.cowboylyrics.com/lyrics/krauss-alison/daylight-1386.html (accessed November 1, 2012).

5.      YouTube, “Alison Krauss & Union Station – Daylight & Sinking Stone, Manchester Apollo 13^th July 2012,” FilmsFromMyLife, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgIkDbywQOs (accessed November 1, 2012).

6.      YouTube, “Alison Krauss + Union Station – Choctaw Hayride 2002 Live stereo HD widescreen,” sheerfolly2, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaiT2ignyEc&feature=related (accessed November 1, 2012).