November, 2019
Alison Krauss & Union Station
Alison Krauss' vision for her live show was inspired by Songs from the Mountains - a book about the appalachian people and their music. Lighting designer Paul Normandale created a backdrop that would reveal itself in 3 parts throughout the show, using light and projections. The video content brief was sepia, monochrome, appalachian scenes which would take the audience through a story. The tour of Paper Airplane, which is the artist’s first album of all-new recordings in partnership with her remarkably skillful and renowned band Union Station, started in June 2011 and I was able to see the show for the first time in the UK at the Royal Festival Hall in November 2011. The players—Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Dan Tyminski (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal), Ron Block (banjo, guitar) and Barry Bales (bass, vocals), with Krauss on lead vocal and fiddle—are five distinct personalities who come together to form something truly unique as a band.