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Alison Brown |
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"Like James Taylor's voice or B.B. King's guitar, Alison Brown's banjo is an instrument possessed of a unique sonic signature and an inescapable beauty." - Billboard Magazine
"How sweetly she has taught her banjo to sing, whether humming winkingly behind the melody or delivering it with a breathy humanness that is as technically awesome as it is melodically seductive." - The Boston Globe
Alison Brown has achieved success in many areas: a Harvard graduate, record label co-founder and
owner, mother, and, the role that most people know her in: banjo virtuoso. With her tenth release,
The Company You Keep, the usually soft-spoken Brown is speaking up for independent music. "The
Company You Keep isn't solely a statement about me or my band, or about Compass Records, it's
about independent music as a whole. The fact that we are all still here when you see closures,
mergers and percentages down everyday is a testament to real music, good music, music that
matters. We're into our 15th year with this business model at Compass and we're not struggling,
we're thriving."
The title of Brown's new studio release The Company You Keep was originally inspired by the words
of Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes (Don Quixote): "Tell me the company you keep and I'll tell
you what you are." But it wasn't until the project began to develop that Brown realized the title
actually held two separate, but equally important, meanings for her and for her music. "I've been
writing, recording and performing my own tunes for nearly 20 years now," Brown reflects. "And as I
thought about the progression of my sound - our band sound - I began to think about what a
collaborative effort this musical journey has been. After 15 years of recording, performing and
philosophizing about music with (pianist) John R Burr and (bassist) Garry West, I really wanted to
draw that collaborative spirit to the forefront on this album." The Company You Keep features the
musicians she has spent most of the past 15 years performing with: John R. Burr (piano), Garry
West (bass), David Grisman Quintet alum Joe Craven (fiddle/mandolin/percussion) and Larry
Atamanuik (drums) alongside guests John Doyle (guitar), Stuart Duncan (fiddle) and Kenny Malone
(drums) on a set of engaging, upbeat and melodic tunes, many of which were co-written by Brown
and Burr.
The Company You Keep opens with “Crazy Ivan,” a minor hoe-down with an enigmatic odd meter
intro. It’s a great example of the interplay of the banjo and piano. “I came up with the intro figure
on the banjo but when John R played it on the piano it had a lot more power. So, even though the
signature melodic idea of the tune was written on the banjo, the banjo never actually plays the hook
figure.” The band offers its own take on a version of piano accordion virtuoso Maírtin O’Connor’s
The Road West. “I have been a fan of Maírtin’s since we met at the Roisin Dubh in Galway several
years ago. He gave me a copy of his latest record and I loved that tune from the first time I heard
it. He recorded it in Bb and it was challenging to get that pianistic melody to lay right on the banjo.
But we had a great time stretching out on our own arrangement which winds its way through 3
modulations for solos before returning to the head. Adding improvisation sections brought a very
non-Irish approach to the tune but I felt like we really gave it our own twist.” The fifth track, “Under
the Wire” is probably the most bluegrassy tune on the album and the first – and last – tune the band
recorded for the album. “We cut a version of that tune on our first session but as we opened it up
live it really took on majestic sort of Western feel and we just had to re-cut it. I really like the
stately sound of the piano playing what’s essentially a banjo melody on the repeat of the head. I
think it gives a wonderful elegance to the tune.”
According to Brown, The Company You Keep is also a tip of the hat to her approach to business as
one of the co-founders of the Compass Records Group. "I co-founded Compass with Garry West the
same year that I began touring with my own band so the label and the band have grown up in
tandem, even though I didn't release an album on Compass until 1998." At a time when the record
business is being turned upside down, the Compass Records Group has continued to grow and today
boasts nearly 600 releases across the Compass, Green Linnet and Mulligan Records catalogs. "Our
artistic aesthetic is very well described by the idea that the company we've built and sustain (both in
our roster and our staff) reflects our values and musical priorities. We take a very long tail
approach to our business and feel a great sense of pride in having built a business model that is
scaled to be successful with records that may only sell a few thousand units. Some of our smallest
records say more about us as a label than our biggest selling records do."
Compass Records • 916 19th Avenue South • Nashville Tennessee 37212
(615) 320-7672 • Fax (615) 320-7378
Press: stephanie@compassrecords.com • Radio: radio@compassrecords.com
Retail: thad@compassrecords.com • http://www.compassrecords.com
Alison Brown graduated from Harvard University, received her MBA from UCLA and worked as an
investment banker before joining Alison Krauss and Union Station in 1989. She has received 3
GRAMMY nominations for her solo recordings and a GRAMMY award in 2001 for Best Country
Instrumental Performance as well as the International Bluegrass Music Association's award for Banjo
Player of the Year. Praised by both fans and critics alike, her take on the traditionally Appalachian
instrument has earned Brown features on CBS Sunday Morning, NPR's All Things Considered and in
The Wall Street Journal as well as numerous other honors and recognition.
Alison Brown Bio
An internationally recognized musician with a wide-reaching and loyal fan base, banjoist Alison
Brown first came to national prominence when she was asked by Alison Krauss to join her band
Union Station in 1989. Brown had already made a name for herself prior to that by performing
extensively with fiddler Stuart Duncan, amongst others and an occasional pick-up session, which
included Vince Gill, Byron Berline, John Hickman and others.
In the summer of 1978, she traveled the country with Duncan and his father, playing festivals and
contests. A first place finish at the Canadian National Banjo Championship helped her land a onenight
gig at the Grand Ole Opry. And around the time Brown graduated from high school, she and
Duncan recorded a duo album entitled Pre-Sequel which was released on Ridge Runner Records.
Brown's journey to a professional music career took a detour while she attended Harvard, studying
history and literature, then UCLA, where she secured an MBA and went to work as an investment
banker. After taking a hiatus to return to composing and recording music, Brown assembled the
material for her solo debut, Simple Pleasures, which went on to achieve a GRAMMY nomination. A
three-year stint with Alison Krauss and Union Station and a year serving as band leader for Michelle
Shocked followed as did bluegrass music's highest accolade for an instrumentalist: the International
Bluegrass Music Association Banjo Player of the Year in 1991.
In 1995 Brown put her financial background to work, founding Compass Records with her husband
Garry West. Celebrating its 15th anniversary in 2009, the Nashville-based Compass Records Group
is an internationally recognized label group with a catalog of over 600 roots music releases across
the Compass Records, Green Linnet, Mulligan Records and Xenophile catalogs. Compass Records
Group is home to artists such as Colin Hay, Catie Curtis, Lúnasa, Solas, Martin Hayes and The Waifs,
and has been called “one of the greatest independent labels of the last decade” by Billboard
Magazine. Since its inception Compass Records Group (the subject of both Harvard Business School
and Darden Business School case studies) has pursued an ambitious path of growth and met every
goal including the most important one: providing a thriving haven of creativity for artists and a
reliable beacon of quality for music fans.
Brown continues to tour internationally with the Alison Brown Quartet, was personally requested to
play at the 2007 inauguration of Harvard’ first female president, Drew Faust, and was the 2007
recipient of Irish America Magazine’s “Stars of the South Award” for Compass Records’ efforts
towards the “cultivation and preservation of Irish music.” Brown’s discography includes four releases
on Vanguard Records as well as six on the Compass Records label, including the upcoming The
Company You Keep (March 2009). She currently lives in Nashville with her husband Garry West and
their 2 children: Hannah (6) and Brendan (1). |
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