Alison Brown facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alison Brown
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Brown in 2006
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| Background information | |
| Born | August 7, 1962 |
| Origin | Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Genres | Bluegrass, Americana, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, musician, Record Producer |
| Instruments | Banjo, guitar |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Labels | Vanguard Records, Compass Records, Ridge Runner Records |
Alison Brown, born on August 7, 1962, is an amazing American musician. She plays the banjo and guitar, writes songs, and even produces music for other artists. Alison is famous for her special way of playing the banjo, often mixing different styles like bluegrass, jazz, and even Latin and Celtic sounds. She has won and been nominated for many Grammy Awards, which are big music prizes! People often compare her unique banjo playing to another famous banjo player, Béla Fleck.
Contents
Early Life and Musical Start
Alison Brown was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She started playing the guitar when she was eight years old. By the time she was ten, she picked up the banjo. When she was twelve, she met a talented fiddler named Stuart Duncan. In the summer of 1978, Alison traveled across the country with Stuart and his dad. They played music at different festivals and contests. Alison even won first place at the Canadian National Banjo Championship! This big win helped her get a chance to play at the famous Grand Ole Opry for one night.
Family Life
Alison Brown is married to Garry West, who is also a bass player. They have two children: a daughter named Hannah West and a son named Brendan West.
College and Early Bands
In 1980, Alison went to Harvard University. There, she studied history and literature. After finishing her studies at Harvard, she earned another degree, an MBA, from UCLA.
While she was still at Harvard in 1982, Alison helped a band called Northern Lights get back together. They had taken a break for five years. Alison joined the band and played with them until 1984. Then, she moved back to California. For two years, Alison worked for a company called Smith Barney. After that, she decided to take a break and focus completely on her music.
Joining Union Station
In 1987, the famous singer Alison Krauss asked Alison Brown to join her band, Union Station. Alison played with Krauss for three years. In 1990, she moved to Tennessee. The next year, in 1991, she was named the Banjo Player of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association. This was a big deal because she was the first woman in the IBMA's history to win an award for playing an instrument! Alison also played banjo on the 1990 album I've Got That Old Feeling, which won a Grammy Award.
In 1992, Alison Brown became the band leader for Michelle Shocked. This experience helped Alison start mixing bluegrass with jazz and folk styles. This was similar to how other musicians like Béla Fleck and David Grisman played.
Compass Records: A Music Company
In the early 1990s, Alison Brown and her husband, Garry West, started their own music company called Small World Music. This company later grew into Compass Records, which they launched in 1995. Compass Records became a well-known music label around the world. They have worked with many artists, including Victor Wooten, Colin Hay, A.J. Croce, and Glen Phillips.
Over the years, Compass Records Group grew even bigger. In 2006, they bought the rights to the Green Linnet music collection. The next year, they bought Mulligan Records, a famous Irish music company from Dublin. These two purchases made Compass Records Group a top company for Irish and Celtic music. In 2017, Compass bought Red House Records, which is a folk and Americana music label. This brought artists like Greg Brown, The Wailin’ Jennys, and John Gorka into the Compass Records family. Since then, Red House has added even more artists to its list.
Grammy Award Wins
Alison Brown has won and been nominated for several Grammy Awards. In 2001, she won the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance. She won this award for her song "Leaving Cottondale" from her album Fair Weather. She worked with Béla Fleck on this winning song. Alison also played on Alison Krauss's Grammy-winning album I've Got That Old Feeling. Her own album, Simple Pleasures (1990), also received a Grammy nomination.
Alison Brown and Her Quartet Today
Alison Brown believes her album Stolen Moments (2005) is her most successful music project. She said about the album, "For the first time, I feel like I've created a true hybrid sound that suggests its influences – bluegrass, jazz, Celtic music – but when taken as a whole isn't any one of these things." This means she felt she truly blended different music styles into something new.
In 2007, Irish America magazine honored Alison as one of their Stars of the South. Her album The Company You Keep (2009) also continued her style of mixing different acoustic music types to create fresh sounds.
Alison continues to travel and perform internationally with her music quartet. Because she is a famous graduate of Harvard University, she was invited to play at the inauguration of Harvard's president, Drew Faust, in 2007. In 2015, Alison received the Distinguished Achievement Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. This award recognized her efforts to help bluegrass music grow. In 2025, Alison worked with comedian and banjo player Steve Martin on a song called "Five Days Out, Two Days Back."
Music Producer
Alison Brown is also a talented music producer. This means she helps other artists create their albums. She has produced projects for musicians like Dale Ann Bradley, Peter Rowan, and Claire Lynch.
Production Credits
- Bobby Osborne - Original (2017)
- The Special Consensus - Chicago Barn Dance (2020)
- The Special Consensus - Rivers and Roads (2018)
- The Special Consensus - Long I Ride (2016)
- The Special Consensus - Country Boy: A Bluegrass Tribute to John Denver (2014)
- The Special Consensus - Scratch Gravel Road (2012)
- Peter Rowan & Nashville Bluegrass Band - Legacy (2010)
- Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen - If You Can't Stand the Heat (2019)
Discography
Ridge Runner Records
- Pre-Sequel (1981) with Stuart Duncan
Vanguard Records
- Simple Pleasures (1990)
- Twilight Motel (1992)
- Look Left (1994)
- Quartet (1996)
- Best of the Vanguard Years (2002)
- Vanguard Visionaries (2007)
Compass Records
- Out of the Blue (1998)
- Fair Weather (2000)
- Replay (2002)
- Stolen Moments (2005)
- Evergreen (2008)
- The Company You Keep (2009)
- The Song of the Banjo (2015)
- On Banjo (2023)
