Krauss, Rounder, and radio

Twelve years ago, Rounder Records co-founder Ken Irwin listened to an unsolicited demo tape from a Champaign (Illinois) bluegrass band. The band were okay, but the singer was something else again -- a 14-year-old fiddle-contest champion named Alison Krauss. Rounder signed her up. Krauss has been picking up awards and accolades ever since -- from the Country Music Association and International Bluegrass Music Association, plus a Nashville Music Award as Best Vocalist (1996) and a handful of Grammys going all the way back to 1990. It all culminated in 1995's Now That I've Found You, a compilation of previously released and unreleased material that scored double platinum (two million sold) on Billboard's pop-album chart. A big boost for traditional acoustic country music and bluegrass, and for Rounder in particular, it was the company's first platinum disc ever -- the only other Rounder releases that ever came close are blues stomper George Thorogood and the Destroyers' first two albums, which are certified gold (500,000 copies).

Through it all, Krauss has stuck with Rounder, even though the stories of major-label suitors have become the stuff of music-biz lore. "Next to my wife, and a few early girlfriends, I have never pursued a woman harder than I have Alison Krauss," Asylum Records boss Kyle Lehning told the New York Times. "She's had offers from just about everybody," concurs Rounder promotion and marketing man Brad Paul. And he quotes MCA Nashville's Tony Brown: "I've got a contract in my desk drawer with Alison's name on it anytime she's ready to sign."

But Krauss has been adamant about sticking with Rounder. She and Union Station pick and produce their own material, and Krauss has gotten to produce and perform with her friends the country/gospel singing Cox Family. "I really like those guys at Rounder," she told the Times. "I've got everything I want." She's shunned big production, and the new album is no different. "No drums, no electric guitar," points out Brad Paul. In the meantime, with some personnel changes and the seasoning of experience, Union Station have become one of the most respected bluegrass bands in the business.

Not that the marketing of Krauss hasn't been shrewd. Her commercial breakthrough was precipitated by her participation in the multi-artist Keith Whitley: A Tribute Album. (BNA). The album's first single, a group vocal, had gone flat at radio. Krauss's manager, Denise Stiff, recommended that BNA join forces with Rounder to promote Krauss's cover of "When You Say Nothing at All," which was on both the Whitley tribute and the upcoming Krauss/Rounder CD, Now That I've Found You. It took off and in the process helped spawn the "Americana" format that favors artists like Krauss, Chris Smither, John Hiatt, and other artists who fall between the cracks. This is a format that's also been good to Rounder, giving airplay (and sales) to artists like Slaid Cleaves, Barry & Holly Tashian, and the Cox Family, plus the label's Nanci Griffith back catalogue.

But even with all Krauss's success, Paul still finds some traditional country outlets resistant. "I keep hearing that country radio seems to be getting stale, too many of the same `hat acts,' and they all sound alike. Well, here I've got an artist that everybody knows who she is, she's a proven commodity, and she doesn't sound like everybody else. That would seem to be a good antidote for what people feel is ailing country radio right now."

-- Jon Garelick

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Alison Krauss
Krauss, Rounder, and radio
Alison Krauss discography

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