Alison Krauss

Alison Krauss has an angelic voice. She was born in Decatur, but was raised in Champaign, Illinois. Alison was a happy child but tended to get bored easily, so her mother kept trying to find things for her to do. Her parents felt that she was getting bored because of her intelligence.

At the age of five, she began studying classical violin. Alison did well at the it, but was not satisfied with the music style and eventually switched to bluegrass. She then started playing the fiddle. By the age of eight, she was good enough to start entering local talent shows. She did well in these shows and at the age of ten, Alison had her own band. When she was 13, she won the WalnutValley Fiddle Festival Championship. The Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass in America named her the most promising fiddler in the midwest.

She performed with a band called Silver Rails, but later changed their name to Union Station. John Pennell, leader of the band, invited her to join them after losing their fiddler. She then signed with Rounder at 14, and released their first album in 1985. Her contract designated alternate albums with Union Station. The band releases one with her and she does a solo album.

Over the past 21 years, she has been one of the most prominent in her field of bluegrass. She has won 26 Grammy awards, two albums of the year, and also produced albums. She has won more Grammy's than any female artist in the history of the Grammy's.