Alison Krauss So Long So Wrong CD

Alison Krauss & Union Station: Alison Krauss (vocals, fiddle, viola); Dan Tyminski (vocals, guitar); Ron Block (vocals, guitar, National guitar, banjo); Barry Bales (vocals, electric & acoustic upright basses, arco bass); Adam Steffey (vocals, mandolin, mandola).
SO LONG SO WRONG won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. "Looking In The Eyes Of Love" won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Country Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Little Liza Jane" won the 1998 Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.
Personnel: Alison Krauss (vocals, tenor, fiddle, viola); Ron Block (vocals, tenor, guitar, banjo); Dan Tyminski (vocals, bass voice, guitar); Adam Steffey (vocals, mandola, mandolin); Barry Bales (tenor, acoustic bass, upright bass).
Audio Mixer: Gary Paczosa.
Recording information: Battery; Compound; Dark Horse; Dog House; Seventeen Grand recording; Sound Stage; Woodland STudios.
Editors: Don Cobb; Jake Nicley.
Photographer: Peter Nash.
Arrangers: Dan Tyminski; Adam Steffey; Alison Krauss; Ron Block; Barry Bales.
After mainstream success happened for Alison Krauss & Union Station, one would have rightly expected a commercial sweetening of their sound, resulting in diminishing (or even abandoning) the simple but very unique thing that brought them into the public eye -- and eventual public acclaim -- in the first place. But the group's first new recording in the wake of the surprise success of Now That I've Found You: A Collection finds Alison Krauss & Union Station happily keeping their eclectic focus firmly on the prize stretched before them with no silly attempts to court the hat-hunk-of-the-month or the boot-scoot-boogie crowd. Despite the media's singling out of Krauss as country's new bluegrass solo diva, Union Station (with Krauss as simply a featured member of it) remains very much a group, and that's the real refreshing news here. It is that collective spirit that remains the reoccurring theme and the resounding musical point being made here, and it is the solid anchor that roots this album into place from beginning to end. Krauss' expert evocative way with a ballad is on full display here, with "Deeper Than Crying" and "It Doesn't Matter" featuring her on violas, adding a new voice to Union Station's sound. But the lead vocals are passed around among Krauss, mandolinist Adam Steffey, guitarist Dan Tyminski, and banjoist Ron Block, while Krauss' fiddle work in a backup capacity is an integral part of the sound as well. All in all, this is a totally un-gimmicky album that flies in the face of what usually happens when mainstream success comes calling. And, as a result of that commitment to quality and musical focus, one that makes you want to play it again when it's all over. ~ Cub Koda
Twenty-five-year-old Alison Krauss has singlehandedly revived popular interest in bluegrass, and SO LONG SO WRONG finds her own popularity at a peak: It follows up her 1995 collection NOW THAT I'VE FOUND YOU, which sold an astonishing 2 million copies. SO LONG SO WRONG sticks to the combination of contemporary bluegrass ballads and traditional songs that has proved so successful for Krauss. The slower songs provide ample room for her to display her quietly haunting singing. On songs like "It Doesn't Matter," "Find My Way Back to My Heart" and "Happiness" (co-written by Krauss' brother Viktor), Krauss keeps her clean, clear soprano deceptively simple and unadorned; she doesn't overpower the listener or rely on gimmicky vocal effects.
Union Station guitarist Dan Tyminski is an excellent bluegrass vocalist in his own right, and he sings lead on three of the album's best cuts, including a fine version of the traditional song "I'll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers." The one instrumental, "Little Liza Jane," doesn't suffer from its lack of vocals. For just as much as the members of Union Station can sing, they all can play. Mandolinist Adam Steffey squeeze more notes into the 1 minute aRolling Stone (5/1/97, p.54) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...a voice that Nashville would die for: powerful but understated, emotionally trasparent and achingly irresistible....music this subtle and self-effacing is rare in any category....combining the hooks of pop melodicism with the purity of mountain spirituals..."
Entertainment Weekly (3/28/97, p.66) - "...The key is Union Station's deft and impeccably layered ensemble playing, which blends the instrumentation and inflections of bluegrass with the sophistication and dignity of other forms. Krauss...is as riveting as a whisper in the ear..." - Rating: B+
Q (6/97, p.134) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...this....crystalises all that is good about Alison Krauss & Union Station..."