And that's all for today …
Guardian contributor And I hope I didn't sound like a schmuck! If there's anything stupid in there, it's because of the guy who was typing...
My mother chose the fiddle
Gramercy asks:
What made you choose the fiddle?
Guardian contributor My mother chose the fiddle. My brother was already taking piano, and she suggested the violin. And I was up for it!
HJ G asks:
What keeps your energy levels going during an intense project (recording or touring) how do you look after yourself so you are at your best?
Guardian contributor I don't look after myself very well; my energy level is pretty bad! If I could pick one thing, it would be to get good sleep, but that doesn't always come...
RadioTed asks:
Have their been any British female singers that have inspired you, influenced you or admired down the years?
Guardian contributor Sandy Denny. Actually John Waite gave me a CD of Liege and Leaf - he introduced me to Fairport Convention. She's just so innocent and beautiful, there's no way not to respond to her - it was an immediate love. And Eva Cassidy, she was always one of those people where you'd be in a store and you'd hear it on the speakers - who's that?? It was always Eva Cassidy.
I have lots of male singers I love from England too - Paul Rogers, John Waite, Robert of course, Steve Marriott. And Frankie Miller from Scotland. I always thought that English male singers reminded me a lot of bluegrass singers - there's a gruffness, and a quality to it that comes from the same place, a blue collar place.
And of course, everyone's so proud of Adele. If justice ever showed up in the music business, it showed up right there, that's for sure.
bekindtoall2012 asks:
You once stated in an interview that you would never be Ella Fitzgerald... but now you get to perform for her tribute. You must be thrilled. You could sing circles around her if you let yourself. Are you excited? Have you had time to consider song selections? So proud of you btw!
Guardian contributor I'm excited about that show. Intimidated to tell you the truth - I was going to be looking at songs today. Have any suggestions?
Guardian contributor Also, no-one is ever going to sing circles around Ella Fitzgerald!
Winning a Grammy for So Long, So Wrong was really amazing
richard160458 asks:
One last question - you have won so many awards and currently have the most grammy’s for a female artist. which of your awards means the most to you?
Guardian contributor I always find if you make a record, it's the first and last one you're ever going to make. You feel cut off from the past and from the future. So it's hard to look back, and to look forward - because all you're doing is looking forward and looking back! When we won for So Long, So Long, that was really amazing, for us as a band. I felt like we had done something new, and I don't mean new for us, but new in general. I hadn't heard it before, at least. I was real proud of that record, for us.
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ID0548542 asks:
I’ve lived all my life in Scotland apart from a year when I was a small boy, around the time you were born, when I lived in Champaign Urbana, which I believe is your home town. I have great memories of that time, everything was bigger, bolder and brighter than I was used to, I even had a great time at school there (I still remember us hatching chickens in an incubator). I’ve never been back though. Do you still visit, has it changed a lot and is it worth a return trip?
Guardian contributor I say his return trip is definitely worth it, if he thinks about it. I remember catching chickens in an incubator as well! That was a big deal. We did it in my house - my mother did it too. I wonder which school he went to... I went to Booker T Washington school - I'd like to know where he went!
I don't get back often. All my people have moved to the same area in Tennessee now, but I don't ever forget what the land looked like. The look of that area is tied to my musical memories as much as anything. The land, especially the wintertime I remember more than anything - the sky was the same colour as the earth, it was field, no beans, no corn, just long long flat plains of land with a house here and there when you drove on the highway. So when you looked out the window, you kept waiting to see the house that was coming up for miles. When you listened to music, you really had a chance to listen, because there wasn't a whole lot to look at - so there was a lot of daydreaming. I wonder how much of who you are is what happened to you, and how much is what you daydreamed about. I listened to that music, and I thought about the people in those songs, and I thought about what it looked like and what that life was that they were singing about. And I made those stories happen in Illinois - they happened in Illinois, on that land, in my mind.
Trinitant1 asks:
Where would you like to be in twenty years’ time, both personally and in your career?
Guardian contributor It's an interesting question - I'm grateful for everything that's come my way. I've never been somebody who's looked too far ahead, with goals. I don't set too many goals for myself, other than to do what's in front of me at the time.
What is your greatest achievement?
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lowriser asks:
You said that you tried with Robert Plant to make a follow up but it didn’t really work. However the live shows with Plant were very well received. Any plans to release a live album?
Guardian contributor We haven't talked about a live record, but we continually talk about collaborating again - it was a wonderful experience for us, and those who worked on the project. I think it was too close to the last one when we tried again - we needed a little more time. We went right back into the studio. Who knows if you listen to them now...
I admire John Waite's songwriting and singing style
richard160458 asks:
What made you choose to sing “Missing You” by John Waite on 100 Miles or More?
Guardian contributor He had asked me to sing MIssing You as a duet with him on Downtown Journey of the Heart, which was a look back at the hits of his career. He'd always wanted to make a duet of Missing You, and it was a track we were both proud of, and seemed like a natural addition to 100 Miles of More. I admire his songwriting and his singing style, I think it's the perfect reflection of his personality - which put up with absolutely nothing he didn't have time for. He's extremely strong in his beliefs, and played no games whatsoever in the music business or in life.
Joanna Ryan asks:
How different was the experience of making Raising Sand against making Union Station records? Would you consider doing such a collaboration again? PS. Raising Sand is one of my favourite albums, I love it!
Guardian contributor Yes, I would consider doing a collaboration again, with both. Both are very different. Raising Sand was an experiment, really, for Robert and myself. We went in there for three days and said: well, if it doesn't work, see you next time! It was very lighthearted, and easygoing, with no expectations, and Robert is a lot of fun. He kept everybody laughing the whole time. My job was to be a singer for that project, just as Robert was - it was to support the duet. Band records are... you have a history of being together for a long time, I love how those records change as we change as we get older, have experiences, come back together and grow as a unit, just as people grow. They're not as lighthearted recording sessions as Raising Sand was, hahaha!
People's personalities, they become more developed, I guess, and I think the reason that our band is what it is is because of those differences. And we've been incredibly lucky to have this long history together, I wouldn't trade it for anything, it's what I'm most proud of. Each one of them has such a personality, an equally interesting musical personality to go with it, and those things need to be honoured and held up, and admired. In a similar way, without the long history, that's why I believe Raising Sand was interesting to people - there's such a romance in contrast.
Remind Me, Dear Lord is a favourite of mine
Clocksandwatches asks:
What is your favourite hymn?
Guardian contributor I have a lot. Probably my favourite is Remind Me, Dear Lord. "Roll back the curtain of memory now and then, show me where you brought me from and where I could have been. Just remember I'm a human and humans forget, remind me, remind me dear Lord." That's the one that's been wearing me out lately! It's just so kind, it's kind to be reminded - reminding you of the love.
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richard160458 asks:
Alison, can you tell us about your working relationship with producer buddy cannon?
Guardian contributor He's very easygoing, and very decisive about his instincts. He's very funny, and extremely dry-witted. He's extremely honourable to people and their talents, and is very interested in the way people naturally are, and that's what he wants to capture - he doesn't want to contrive anything, and if anything does feel contrived, he'll throw it out of the window. And at the same time, he's up for anything.
actionhero500 asks:
Are you still a big Dolly Parton fan? I saw you in concert with Union Station, which was great. Would you like to play the main stage at Glastonbury?
Guardian contributor Absolutely - she's one of the most impressive humans I've ever met in my life. She never ceases to amaze me. I don't get to see her very often but when I do, it's an inspiring experience just to be in her presence. She's so positive and encouraging – everything wonderful you could imagine her being, will never live up to what she actually is. And that's the truth.
verbillion asks:
Alison your voice is so beautiful and your delivery is so perfect, yet your singing sounds so effortless and natural. Do you have a training routine to keep your voice world-class or does it just come naturally?
Guardian contributor I started to see a voice coach during the making of this record, because I was developing all kinds of bad habits, and nastiness! I wasn't singing clearly, and I felt lost. I sought out a vocal coach I had heard about for 20 years and he really saved me - his name is Ron Browning, and he gave me some exercises to do, but the most important was really a mental reworking of making sure I wasn't too bogged down with other responsibilities when I really needed to be focusing on nothing, and just be a storyteller.
He gave me one exercise that everyone in the band used to make fun of but it really saved me: I was at a show in Portland, Oregon, and I could feel my throat closing up and I called him up in an emergency - help, what do I do? He said to find something with a one-sided angry conversation with. I found a tree and starting pointing at it, and getting mad at it - some people started arriving for the show so that looked a bit strange! So I got my phone out and started pretending that I was having an argument on that. I kept having this one-sided conversation until it was time to play the show, and I was able to sing. And Barry, our bass player, came up and asked: what in the world just happened? He said, I've been singing with the Osmond brothers for 45 minutes, warming up, and you've been yelling at a tree! And everything's fine! So if you're ever at a show and you see me backstage, that's what I'm doing. If I'm in the studio, I'll yell at the tyres of my car. It's pretty weird, but hey! When you're angry, you're in control, there's nothing blocked - you're opened up. You don't scream, but you're using an angry tone - no-one ever has talking problems, only singing problems, because you're contriving something. You can't be fake - you've got to be really mad! It changed everything for me. He also has a lot of exercises that he said would make a difference, but I'm not as committed to that as I should be...
Guardian contributor And thank you so much for your compliment - that's very generous!
butterfly1 asks:
Will you be doing any concerts in London to promote Windy City also will you be doing work with Union Station again?
Guardian contributor Yes, we hope to come back to London to play, and we have plans to go in the studio again with Union Station soon.
There have been songs in my past that have been hard to get through
Rembetis asks:
Congratulations on ‘Windy City’, beautiful and soulful, thanks so much. Much of your material is so raw and emotional, that I wonder whether you ever find it difficult to keep your own emotions in check when performing live or in the studio?
Guardian contributor Sometimes. Sometimes it's been difficult, not too often, but there have been songs in my past that have been hard to get through. It can be a bit distracting, and make me feel pretty silly, but I'm still grateful nonetheless to be so connected to what your work is. It isn't going through motions, even though you've sung something a million times - it's wonderful to know you love something so much. Dimming of the Day was a difficult song for me to sing for years - actually wondered if I could ever sing it without it bothering me. Jacob's Dream, I had to get used to before I could even sing it - I had to reread the lyrics and every time I did, it would wear me out. Then I had to get into the mindset of just being a storyteller on that one. It was about two little boys dying in the woods - it was terrible. And the chorus in that song, where the kids are pleading and not understanding why no one would come to get them, and not even understanding that they were lost... it's terrible!
Then there's a song called I Don't Believe You've Met My Baby, that wore me out every time I sang it live, it was hard to get out. It's hard to explain. There was another one I never did sing, called Tiny Broken Heart, that was written by Charlie Louvin, and I had the lyrics printed out and I couldn't even read through them without it making me bawl my eyes out - that was the worst of the worst! I had the opportunity to sit and talk with Charlie about this song, and it was a true story, about a little girl next door who he knew and thought was so beautiful, and they were going to move away. He was saving his money to try and keep them from moving, and at one point asked his father: "Daddy buy the farm, so they can stay, give them all the toys that dear Santa gave, give the all my pennies in my penny bank..." It's so intense! It's the sweetest. It always seemed to be Charlie Louvin songs - Broken Engagement, I could never get through. "Though you leave me for another, I hope we'll meet again someday, in that far off sweet forever, there our love won't end this way." I would love these songs so much. Dream of Me... gosh... when I sang that in the studio you see the story in your mind, and you can be taken aback by what you end up seeing. When I would go on tour, my son Sam would put my records on when I was gone, and this one - it's always been a love song, but it reminded me of my son, and so that wore me out. Singing it wore me out. Of course, he's older now, but when he did stay at home, he'd get homesick for me.
richard160458 asks:
I really love the songs on your new album and I am wondering why/how you picked the Brenda Lee songs?
Thank you again.
Guardian contributor Losing You was what I remember as the first song we chose to record for this record. I love the melody, and as the words were going by it seemed completely natural and a no-brainer for me to do for myself. It just felt true to me. We were looking for another song, and because Losing You was a favourite of mine, I went back into her catalogue and found All Alone Am I from a live TV program - I can't remember which country - but with a huge symphony orchestra, with her singing as a very young girl. I love the lyrics and melody of that - I thought it was a match for Losing You, the two fit together.
jinbad asks:
Who are you listening to? who makes you stop in your tracks and say “wow!”
Guardian contributor I like to go into the bowels of YouTube and dig around in there. Some of my favourite people to revisit are Mahalia Jackson, and the old Tom Jones shows where he would sing duets. There's one between Luciano Pavarotti and James Brown, doing Man's World, that I love. I also love the duet between Glen Campbell and Stevie Wonder, doing Blowin in the Wind. I also like Rosetta Tharpe. I tend to revisit the same things over and over. There's also a version of This Song's For You, from a Willie Nelson TV special, which featured Leon Russell, Willie Nelson, and Ray Charles.
Alison is with us now
Alison is joining us live from the Guardian offices.
Post your questions for Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss is a country music legend, the woman who brought bluegrass into the mainstream with a host of spellbinding records that have won her 27 Grammys, more than any other singer in history.
She recorded her first album at the age of 16 and won the first of those Grammys at 19. But it was her contributions to the hugely successful O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack that brought her fame, bolstered by later collaborations with Robert Plant, Gillian Welch and mainstream country star Brad Paisley.
She is now releasing Windy City, her first solo album in 17 years, and is joining us to answer your questions about it and anything else in her career in a live webchat, from 1pm GMT on Monday 6 March. Post them in the comments below, and she’ll take on as many as possible.
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Thank you for writing in. It's amazing to hear and to know that there are people interested, in what in the world I'm doing! I hope everyone has a wonderful day, and see you next time.