Burlington, MA – On Tuesday, July 21 Rounder recording artist, Alison Krauss and Union Station will participate in the ongoing White House music series celebrating the arts and demonstrating the importance of arts education. This event will feature Country Music artists Alison Krauss and Union Station and Brad Paisley. Krauss and Paisley will participate in an educational workshop from 2-3 PM where 120 middle and high school students from across the country will come to learn about the craft of songwriting and the genres of country music including bluegrass, honky tonk and rockabilly.
Forty students from the W.O. Smith/Nashville Community School of Music in Nashville will be able to attend the once-in-a-lifetime trip to Washington, D.C., concert and educational workshop at the White House, thanks to the Country Music Association underwriting all their travel costs with funds from CMA Music Festival and “Keep the Music Playing,” which supports music education. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan will make opening remarks at this workshop. The afternoon session will be moderated by Jay Orr of the Country Music Hall of Fame and will also feature a song performed by the student and professional songwriters who collaborated through the Hall of Fame’s Words and Music Program.
The musicians will then perform at 7:30 PM. President Obama will make remarks at this evening event. The Country Music Celebration is presented with assistance from The Country Music Association, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and produced by the Grand Ole Opry and Great American Country Television. The event will be held in the State Dining Room and East Room and are pooled press. Famous Grand Ole Opry Announcer Eddie Stubbs will emcee the entertainment portion of the evening. Union Station members Barry Bales, Ron Block, Jerry Douglas and Dan Tyminski will join Alison at this prestigious event.
The music series, hosted by First Lady Michelle Obama, celebrates the arts and arts education. It launched last month with a focus on Jazz and will continue in the fall with Classical music.
Krauss signed to Rounder Records as a precocious 14-year-old fiddler from Champaign, Illinois. She has, over two decades with the label, become the most recognized face in contemporary bluegrass, a critically acclaimed artist who has brought modern sophistication to the genre while respecting its traditions. She has also managed to sell upwards of 11 million records and garner 26 Grammy® Awards, the most for any female artist in Grammy® history. Yet Krauss has consistently worked to honor her influences, like contemporary bluegrass pioneer Tony Rice, to promote discoveries like the Cox Family, and to offer her skills as producer, most recently to country star Alan Jackson.
Krauss’ latest album, Raising Sand (Rounder), a collaboration with Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett, won five Grammys® at the 2009 51st annual Grammy® Awards including top honors for Album of the Year and Record of the Year (“Please Read The Letter”) as well as Best Contemporary Americana/Folk Album, Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals (“Rich Woman”), and Best Country Collaboration With Vocals (“Killing The Blues”). These Grammy® wins come on the heels of a CMA award for Musical Event of the Year, Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year honors at the Americana Music Awards, and a nomination for the Mercury Prize’s Short List.