The new record from smoothgrass icons Alison Krauss & Union Station, titled Paper Airplane (Rounder Records), will hit the streets on April 12, 2011. Fans of Krauss will recognize her usual band of all-star pickers and distinctive vocal style. The players are Jerry Douglas (Dobro, lap steel, vocals), Dan Tyminski (guitar, mandolin, lead vocal), Ron Block (banjo, guitar) and Barry Bales (bass, vocals), with Krauss on lead vocal and fiddle. Throughout this record, they maintain a folky, vintage groove that’s not overproduced.

LISTEN: Paper Airplane

Apparently this was not an easy record to make. At one point the recording sessions came to a dead stop when, for just the second time in her life, Krauss was hammered by a bout of migraine headaches. “There have been records that were tough to make, but this one took the cake,” she says. “I make judgments based on how something makes me feel, and because I wasn’t physically well, everything was kind of gray and nothing sounded right. So after we recorded a bunch of things, we took a long break, because it just wasn’t working.”

The Making of Paper Airplane

The record “…represents a trial—like a trying time that has an end,” she explains. “And that’s what everything was to me on this record, including Dustbowl Children,” written by Peter Rowan and sung by Dan Tyminski. “It’s all about a span of time that’s a trial. We didn’t pick that as a theme; we found out what the theme was afterward. Whatever formula we thought there was doesn’t exist. It disappeared, especially this last time out.” (On a side note, Tyminski’s voice was used for George Clooney‘s singing of “I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow” in the film “Oh Brother Where Art Thou.”)

Paper Airplane Music Video

If (like Fiddlefreak) you’re getting burned out on the predictable formula of modern bluegrass music, check out the beautifully austere and poignant Paper Airplane from Alison Krauss & Union Station.

Alison Krauss Website

Preorder on Amazon

Preorder on iTunes

Visit iTunes to pre-order Paper Airplane and receive an instant download of the title track. With your pre-order you will also get an exclusive song, “These Days” when you receive your full download upon album release on April 12, 2011.