Alison Krauss & Union Station

Alison Krauss has won more Grammys than U2, Aretha Franklin, and Bruce Springsteen. She's the best-known bluegrass artist making music these days. And her contributions to the landmark O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack and 2007 collaboration with Robert Plant, Raising Sand, have made her one of the world's most prominent Americana traditionalists. Krauss was just 14 when she scored a record deal because of her expert fiddle playing. She also boasts one of the most crystalline voices in music and an adventurous spirit that's carried her beyond bluegrass' boundaries. Her 14th album, Paper Airplane, came out last year. Best of all, Krauss isn't a spotlight hog. She generously shares center stage with her longtime band Union Station, with multi-instrumentalist Dan Tyminski frequently handling lead-vocal duties. Time and again, Krauss and her group prove that, in the right hands, bluegrass can transcend the woods of Appalachia. -- Michael Berick