JULIA WEBER
Assistant Editor
Brad Paisley, Phish, Gillian Welch, Elvis Costello, Def Leppard, Dolly Parton, Sting, Emmylou Harris, Robert Plant, Taylor Swift — relatively few artists boast a list of creative collaborations as robust and far-reaching as bluegrass icon Alison Krauss.
At 7:30 p.m. tonight, Alison Krauss & Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, will bring their signature bluegrass sound to the Amp stage alongside special guest Theo Lawrence.
At 5 years old, Krauss started taking violin lessons but quickly pivoted toward country and bluegrass music; by 8, she was performing in talent contests in and around her hometown of Champaign, Illinois. At 12, Krauss was already performing with a band, was signed to a record label by 14 and had released her debut album Too Late to Cry by 16.
By 17, she had performed with the Grand Ole Opry (she would later officially join the Opry cast at 21) and 18 saw her first Grammy Award nomination for Two Highways.
Since then, she’s enjoyed decades of success in the music industry, bringing bluegrass to contemporary audiences worldwide.
The 27-time Grammy Award winner and National Medal of Arts recipient has been playing alongside Union Station for decades, with the group’s latest release, Arcadia, having been released in 2025 — 14 years since their last album, Paper Airplane — following the departure of longtime Union Station member Dan Tyminski. In the time following, Krauss and Union Station welcomed new member Russell Moore into the group.
“The way he sings, it’s the epitome of that kind of bluegrass singing where there’s just no shuck and jive. It’s just all power, and that’s who he is. Even though he’s from Texas, so he says things a little bit differently, and it’s just wild to hear that in the trio now. He doesn’t change himself. And you hear, just like Dan was always Dan, Russell is always Russell, with how he says what he says,” Krauss said about Moore in an interview with Variety.
Arcadia is the first studio release the group has put forth since 2011’s Paper Airplane, which was received with critical acclaim. Tonight’s performance celebrates the new album as the group continues its Arcadia 2026 tour.
For Krauss, the process of curating an album is an intuitive one. She said the albums she puts forth often contain both new songs she discovered recently and old ones she’s sat with for years.
“For a lot of songwriters, the writing is a tough process; it’s an emotional process. It’s heavy. For me, when I find something it’s only joy,” Krauss said in an interview with ELLE.
In an interview with The Bluegrass Situation, Krauss said songs can resonate with listeners because they allow listeners to change people’s atmospheres and the way they see themselves.
“It’s a magical thing, music in general, and to be a part of it is a really powerful experience. I find it — I don’t know what other word to use, other than magical. It’s costly to your emotions. Done well, you’ll feel it. That’s what we’re here to do,” she said.
