History Music / AlisonKraussAndUnionStation

* DistinctDoubleAlbum: Their 2002 live album, ''Live''.

* LongRunnerLineUp: The current band has been together for 25 years, but Ron and Barry have been members for 28.

* LongRunnerLineUp: The current band has been together for 17 years, but Ron and Barry have been members for 22.

Alison Krauss & Union Station (sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary {{bluegrass}} band who are one of the best-known and most popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970s British soul songs ("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Creator/{{Disney}} standards ("[[WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}} Baby Mine]]").

[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/akus_6229.JPG]]
[[caption-width-right:300: From left to right: Jerry Douglas, Alison Krauss, Ron Block, Dan Tyminski, and Barry Bales]]

Alison Krauss & Union Station (sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary [[{{Bluegrass}} bluegrass]] band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs ("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Creator/{{Disney}} standards ("[[WesternAnimation/{{Dumbo}} Baby Mine]]").

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Music/KeithWhitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands (the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[note]]("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")[[/note]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Music/{{Shenandoah}}'s single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

Current members:
* Alison Krauss - lead vocals, fiddle, viola
* Ron Block - guitar, banjo, backing and lead vocals
* Dan Tyminski - guitar, mandolin, backing and lead vocals
* Barry Bales - bass, backing vocals
* Jerry Douglas - dobro

Notable Alison Krauss & Union Station albums:

Alison Krauss & Union Station (sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary [[{{Bluegrass}} bluegrass]] band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs ("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Creator/{{Disney}} standards ("[[Disney/{{Dumbo}} Baby Mine]]").

* ''New Favorite'' (2001): Came out the same year as ''O Brother Where Art Thou'' and the related soundtrack, on which several members of the group played. Also featured a cover of the Music/SteelyDan song "Stars".

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Music/KeithWhitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands (the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[note]]("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")[[/note]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Shenandoah's single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

Alison Krauss & Union Station(sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary [[{{Bluegrass}} bluegrass]] band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of Music/TheAllmanBrothersBand song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs ("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Creator/{{Disney}} standards ("[[Disney/{{Dumbo}} Baby Mine]]").

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Music/KeithWhitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands(the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[note]]("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")[[/note]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Shenandoah's single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

* Ron Block - guitar, banjo, backing vocals
* Dan Tyminski - guitar, mandolin, backing vocals

* VocalTagTeam: Dan sings the low tenor harmonies, while Ron sings high tenor. Some songs have Dan or Ron singing lead instead.

Krauss got several more guest singles outside the band, including KennyRogers' 2000 hit "Buy Me a Rose" (which also featured Billy Dean) and Music/BradPaisley's 2004 hit "Whiskey Lullaby".

Alison Krauss & Union Station(sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary [[{{Bluegrass}} bluegrass]] band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of The Allman Brothers' song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Disney standards("Baby Mine").

* ''Different Strokes''(1985): Alison's debut album, recorded when she was 14, a collection of traditional bluegrass songs.
* ''Two Highways''(1989): The first album credited to Alison Krauss & Union Station.
* ''Every Time You Say Goodbye''(1992): The band's first album to win a Grammy.
* ''So Long So Wrong''(1997): The first album with the full current lineup, it won 3 Grammys and was the band's highest-charting album to that point at #4.
* ''Forget About It''(1999): Alison's last solo album to date, though Union Station played on it.
* ''New Favorite''(2001): Came out the same year as ''O Brother Where Art Thou'' and the related soundtrack, on which several members of the group played. Also featured a cover of the Music/SteelyDan song "Stars".
* ''Lonely Runs Both Ways''(2004): Became the group's highest charting album on the full Billboard chart(#29), and featured a cover of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty". After this record's tour, the group took an extended hiatus so the band members could focus on their solo careers and families.
* ''Paper Airplane''(2011): The group's most recent album, released after a seven-year hiatus. It became their first record to debut at #1 on the Billboard Country Chart, and won yet another Grammy.

!Tropes present:
* BittersweetEnding - How a good many of their love songs end.
* CoverVersion - Pretty much at least once an album, and as noted above, their most successful song was a cover of another artist's most successful song.
* DistinctDoubleAlbum - Their 2002 live album, ''Live''.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness - Not so much weirdness per se, but their first releases were almost nothing but traditional bluegrass songs and bluegrass-style. Around the time of ''Two Highways'' they started to branch out.
* {{Instrumentals}} - Goes without saying. They ''are'' a bluegrass band.
* LesserStar - Averted. Alison is the lead singer, but Dan and Ron have also sung lead on various tracks.
* LongRunnerLineUp - The current band has been together for 17 years, but Ron and Barry have been members for 22.
* RecordProducer - An in-house version, Alison and the band have produced their own records since ''Every Time You Say Goodbye''.
* VocalTagTeam - Dan sings the low tenor harmonies, while Ron sings high tenor. Some songs have Dan or Ron singing lead instead.

The band underwent numerous personnel changes in its early years, but the current lineup has been together since 1997's ''So Long So Wrong'', with Ron Block and Barry Bales having been around even before that, since 1992. In addition to the group's releases together, guitarist Dan Tyminski provided the singing voice for George Clooney in ''OBrotherWhereArtThou'', while Jerry Douglas has released more albums on his own than Union Station as a group.

Krauss got several more guest singles outside the band, including KennyRogers' 2000 hit "Buy Me a Rose" (which also featured Billy Dean) and BradPaisley's 2004 hit "Whiskey Lullaby".

* {{Garfunkel}} - Averted. Alison is the lead singer, but Dan and Ron have also sung lead on various tracks.

* LongRunnerLineup - The current band has been together for 17 years, but Ron and Barry have been members for 22.

* TheBigGuy - Dan Tyminski is a good six inches taller than everyone else in the band. He virtually towers over Alison.

* DistinctDoubleAlbum - Their 2002 live album, ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Live]]''.

* MsFanservice - Alison is quite the looker, and has been known to wear...[[AbsoluteCleavage revealing dresses.]]

* LongRunnerLineup - The current band has been together for 15 years, but Ron and Barry have been members for 20.

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Keith Whitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands(the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[note]]("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")[[/note]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Shenandoah's single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

* ''New Favorite''(2001): Came out the same year as ''O Brother Where Art Thou'' and the related soundtrack, on which several members of the group played. Also featured a cover of the SteelyDan song "Stars".

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Keith Whitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands(the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[hottip:*: ("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Shenandoah's single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

Alison Krauss & Union Station(sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary bluegrass band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. They started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of The Allman Brothers' song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Disney standards("Baby Mine").

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Keith Whitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands(the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[hottip:*: ("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")]] It was immediately followed by Krauss guesting on Shenandoah's single "Somewhere in the Vicinity of the Heart".

They first gained national attention with a cover of the late Keith Whitley's signature song "When You Say Nothing At All", which hit #3 on the Billboard Country Music chart in 1994. The group was also one of the only bands(the most notable other example being Splendid) to have their music featured in multiple episodes of ''BuffyTheVampireSlayer''[[hottip:*: ("It Doesn't Matter" in season 2's "When She Was Bad", and "That Kind of Love" in season 6's "Entropy")]]

* BlackSheepHit - No one expected a bluegrass version of a modern country classic to become more popular than the original, least of all Alison and the band. She has said their initial reaction to the song's progress up the charts was "Huh?"

* VocalTagTeam - Dan sings the low tenor harmonies, while Ron sings high tenor.

Alison Krauss & Union Station(sometimes abbreviated '''AKUS''') are a contemporary bluegrass band who are one of the most well-known and popular groups in the genre. Fronted by singer-fiddler Alison Krauss, the group has won 27 Grammys and almost 30 various other awards. The group started out playing mostly traditional bluegrass, but by the time of their first major label release ''Two Highways'', they had begun to branch out, recording a bluegrass version of The Allman Brothers' song "Midnight Rider". As their career progressed, the band continued to explore other forms of music, recording bluegrass covers of everything from 1970's British soul songs("Baby, Now That I've Found You"), to classic Disney standards("Baby Mine").

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness - Not so much wierdness per se, but their first releases were almost nothing but traditional bluegrass songs and bluegrass-style. Around the time of ''Two Highways'' they started to branch out.

* ''New Favorite''(2001): Came out the same year as ''O Brother Where Art Thou' and the related soundtrack, on which several members of the group played. Also featured a cover of the SteelyDan song "Stars".