It’s been 14 years since bluegrass fans have heard Alison Krauss‘ angelic voice on a new album of songs with Union Station. But Arcadia is poised to snap that dry spell.
Alison Krauss & Union Station self-produced the timeless 10-song album that embraces the hope and tragedy on which much of the genre was built. Arcadia will be available on March 28.
“A lot of people, they say, ‘Why do you want to do these sad songs?’” Krauss explained. “To me, they’re not sad. They (are songs) of hope and encouragement because there has to be a survivor to tell these stories. And a lot of times, people don’t want to hear a sad story face to face, but they will listen to poetry and music. And to me, that’s what this means.”
Krauss debuted Arcadia this week at Welcome to 1979, a vibey recording studio in West Nashville. The studio owners greeted guests at the door and proudly offered tours of their expansive, eclectic building. Dozens of people piled into the room where the studio hosted the event. Guests lounged on gold, crushed velvet couches. For ambiance, strings of clear lights artfully hung from the ceiling and table lamps topped with white feathered shades gave the room a warm glow. Krauss said she wanted to record Arcadia in the space, but that timing didn’t align.
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Alison Krauss: “Why Do You Want to Do These Sad Songs?”
The celebrated singer teamed with Down The Road Records, founded by some of the same people who started Rounder Records. Ken Irwin signed Krauss to Rounder in 1985. Krauss said her heroes, including Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, and J.D. Crowe, released her favorite albums on Rounder. Three years ago, she heard about Down The Road Records. She asked Irwin if there was room for Alison Krauss & Union Station.
She said Irwin was the one who told her she needed to speak for a few minutes to introduce the album. Krauss, who is soft-spoken and shy, didn’t know what to say. She figured it out.
“I don’t know where this music would be these days without (Rounder’s) passion for it,” Krauss said. “I’m always like, ‘They’re the evangelists of bluegrass and folk.’ I’m so proud to put this record out with them.”
Krauss estimated she’s gathered songs for Arcadia for the last 15 years. She has file cabinets of songs and cassette stapes – some as old as 40 years. She said she finds songs she loves and then saves them for the right time. Even with decades of material at her fingertips, Krauss struggled to find the song with which to start her album. Her son, Sam Bergeson, solved the problem for her during the pandemic.
Alison Krauss’s Son Found First Track
“He comes upstairs, and he goes, ‘Listen to Jeremy’s song, which is this guy Jeremy Lister,’” Krauss said. “He’s one of my favorites. And he played this tune of his. I remember sitting in bed like this and saying, ‘Oh my gosh, that sounds like a first song. And, it was.”
Lister’s “Looks Like the End of the Road” opens Arcadia, and Krauss said the song “broke my heart.”
“Bluegrass, for me, is like the stories of an idyllic life,” she said. “It’s loyalty and survival. It is a wonderful, tight-knit community where people are loyal to each other. And in my mind, all those tunes kind of live in that 1945 time when the war is ending.”
She talked about Norman Rockwell’s paintings and how that idyllic story is how bluegrass songs live in her head.
“That’s what we wanted to share with you on this record, and the kinds of songs,” she said, describing her sonic contemporary reflections of history.
Arcadia is Contemporary Reflections of History
After Krauss had her first song in place, the singer grappled with what to name the album. She poured over the song list, but no word combinations stood out as a title. She called her friends the Cox family, whom she describes as bluegrass royalty. Krauss asked where they were playing, and when Sidney Cox told her Arcadia, the word sparked interest.
“I said, ‘What does that mean?’” Krauss said. “So, I’m getting on my phone to look at what it means, and it means an imaginary paradise. And which, to me, is exactly what these songs are all, they’re my paradise.”
To support Arcadia, Alison Krauss & Union Station will tour for the first time in a decade.
Arcadia tracklist
1. Looks Like The End Of The Road (Jeremy Lister)
2. The Hangman (Viktor Krauss & Maurice Ogden)
3. The Wrong Way (Robert Lee Castleman & Dan Tyminski)
4. Granite Mills (Timothy Eriksen)
5. One Ray Of Shine (Sarah Siskind & Viktor Krauss)
6. Richmond On The James (Alison Krauss & G.T. Burgess)
7. North Side Gal (Jonathan David McPherson)
8. Forever (Robert Lee Castleman)
9. Snow (Bob Lucas)
10. There’s A Light Up Ahead (Jeremy Lister)
(Photo by Randee St. Nicholas)
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