Albums to Buy

I was pretty psyched to hear that Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris are on there too.

The guy who sings that song is actually a member of Union Station, which is Alison Krauss's band. He joined the band recently, so only from "So Long So Wrong" to the present is he part of the band. He sings at least a couple of songs on the album. For my money, though, the best Alsion Krauss album I own is "Everytime You Say Goodbye." There is so much great bluegrass music, including Flatt and Scruggs, the founders of the modern 5 string banjo bluegrass style, but others include JD Crowe, the New Grass Revival, Sam Bush, and others for music with vocals. For music without vocals, I recommend highly "Tales From the Acoustic Planet Vol. 2 : The Bluegrass Sessions" by Bela Fleck and also "Drive" by Bela Fleck. The soundtrack to "O Brother," though, is primarily music that is about the roots of Southern Folk, Blues and Gospel, and the beginnings of American Music. If you like the other music on the album, a great Delta Blues album is "Call Down the Thunder," by Guy Davis. Alison Krauss's albums almost always have a gospel piece of some sort. Chris Thomas King's "Me, My Guitar, and the Blues" is an interesting fusion of old and new genres. Some old Bonnie Raitt albums (priot to the 90s) really explore the beginnings of blues music in the USA and are much better than he pop albums. The Staple Singers are great for gospel, as is Sam Cooke's old music with the Soul Stirrers. And even Alison Krauss does a gospel album with the Cox Family that is quite good. I am very happy to have been turned on to Krauss's music because (besides having a voice like an angel) her explorations into the roots of American music always wield great results.