I recently picked up an Alison Krauss’ Too Late to Cry. It’s a good album, especially when you consider that she was only 16 years old when she recorded it! I didn’t realize that it was her debut effort when I bought it. (Wikipedia is a good source for stuff like that.)

I’m a fan of Krauss and Union Station, perhaps not quite as enamored as host’s son Nick, but a big fan nonetheless. So, when I saw this CD at Fry’s electronics (I can’t walk by a CD display without looking), I had to get it. I think I have every other CD she has done.

This one was different, her voice has definitely improved with age, but the musicianship was phenomenal even then. This predated Dan Tyminsky and Ron Block, but Jerry Douglas was featured. The instrumental Dusty Miller is, in a word, awesome. Too Late to Cry is an interesting time capsule, capturing who Krauss was then, and foreshadowing who she’d end up to be. This is especially evident in her cover of Rodney Crowell’s Song for Life. I’d heard this one before on a Kathy Mattea CD that came out at about the same time. I like both versions.

It’s worth picking up, if you’re a fan, but probably not, if you’re not.  If you’re not a fan, buy A Hundred Miles or More and you will be.