by Johnny Loftus
When I've Got That Old Feeling garnered Alison Krauss 1990's Best Bluegrass Recording Grammy, it was an acknowledgement of the talent and poise the former child prodigy had shown through her first three albums. The album's tantalizing blend of tasteful folk and traditional bluegrass certainly deserved the award. But Old Feeling was more important as a footbridge to where Krauss would take her music -- and bluegrass itself -- over the next decade. It blended country and bluegrass with pop elements (the latter being most evident on "Longest Highway") in such an effortless way, the album couldn't possibly be seen as a play for the mainstream. The sentiment behind the gentle sway of "It's Over" and "Wish I Still Had You" was universal; blended into the honeyed voice of Krauss, it was irresistible. At the same time, the playing on "Will You Be Leaving" and "Dark Skies" was not only technically skilled, but startlingly genuine. (
Sam Bush
's mandolin and the dobro leads of producer
Jerry Douglas
were particularly impressive.) The record was imbued with the same old feeling that Krauss and her
Union Station
guitarist
Dan Tyminski
would later draw upon for
O Brother, Where Art Thou?
-- it was a bluegrass album at heart, but it came from a place where emotion and honesty weren't labeled with a genre tag.