Alison Krauss and Union Station

Life must’ve been hectic for Alison Krauss early in her career. After all, most 14-year-olds don’t have to balance puberty with band practice, awards ceremonies and recording first albums. Krauss has been in the spotlight (albeit the dimmer spotlight of bluegrass) since her talent-contest days at age 8. But she’s weathered her celebrity well and advanced her career beyond youthful success. If Corey Feldman played bluegrass, he’d still be stuck in the genre’s twangy traditions (if it’s even possible to fiddle on that much blow), but Krauss and Union Station mix adult contemporary and pop without being sucked into formulaic mainstream country. Even her look has been progressive. From the awkward, teased-out twentysomething on the cover of 1995’s platinum-selling Now That I’ve Found You to her current incarnation as a blond bombshell on Lonely Runs Both Ways, Krauss has made bluegrass beautiful in more ways than one.