tavis: good evening. from los angeles, i am tavis smiley. tonight, a conversation with 26-pilot grammy nominated singer alison kraus. she is once again nominated for a best album grammy, her latest is called "paper airplane. she will be joined by her terrific band. a conversation with the most decorated female recording artists in all of grammy history and performance coming out right now. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one

conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning made possible by kcet public television] >> ha please welcome allison krause to this program, her 26 the grammy award is the most fertile in music history. her latest cd is called "paper airplane." it is up for best bluegrass album of the year. in just a few moments, she will join by her band and a couple of

special guests. here is a video for the title track. ♪ ♪ ♪ tavis: good to have you on the program. i have been dying to ask you, what is it about bluegrass that everybody wants a piece of? my friend yo-yo ma was here, he

has a project now. a number of artists are trying to get some of this bluegrass' thing. what is happening? it is like a magnet attracting people to try their hand at it. >> a couple of things. the musicianship and bluegrass is color when you see the folks with us today. sam bush, a jury, ron, dan, barry. the improvisation as celebrated like crazy in bluegrass music. but for me, the real draw is the message which is a very simplistic message. when days were simpler and you always love the girl next door, home was the best place to be, you never wanted to leave. that is the nature of the music i am drawn to.

tavis: is that what americans are drawn to? >> i think so, that simple life. tavis: tell me about paper airplane, how did you approach this one? gosh because we have been together as many years as we have, we have to travel and do other things. you have grown together, we started as teenagers. every place you go, you bring that experience back here. whether it is your work life, music live, or the musical life. i would love to see this whole band go out together and change. it is like the last one, it has its own stand and represents a piece of time for all of us. we approached it differently. i don't know if we approach it

differently, because we don't approach any of them the same period in which follow what we feel like we have to record. i want to be satisfied -- it seems to come over and over. tavis: you started to hit on at a moment ago. you started to talk about lyrical content, being able to save the words. where it ranks for you in regard to the process. >> practically, i much better at fixing or changing a melody. everything has lyrics, it has to be true for me to say it. anytime i have reported something because it was catching or clever or something, i have always regretted it and it never lasts for me when i sing it.

when it is true for me, and never gets old. things were recorded 25 years ago, i still can feel better after i sing it. tavis: since you went there, i am going to go there. since you went there, i am going to follow you. i recognize it takes a bit of courage but i am sure you are up to the task. you mentioned that when you made mistakes in your career, you did certain things that you regretted. it is easier to focus on your success because you have had so much of it. you think of a couple mistakes that you made, things you might have done differently. is there one or two that you might share with me that you wish you had done differently? you are so successful these days, one can't imagine that allison krause ever made mistakes or wishes that she could do something over again. >> if there is a lyric i didn't really connect to enough, it is a mistake because it is not

true. life is too short to have anything come out of your mouth that isn't true. especially when you express this part of yourself through singing. it is always a mistake and it makes my stomach turn. he be think he will deal with it better later, but you never do. as far as big mistake, the whole thing is comprised in the first place. i don't have a lot of regret because i don't have a lot of expectations other that i wanted to be satisfied musically. i don't have a lot of regret or i should have done this or this, because it has all but a surprise, really. tavis: in what way? how has success caught by surprise? >> i thought this was something i would enjoy on the weekends, and it is really an exciting -- sam bush, i saw him play with

his revival in louisville, ky about 26 years ago. i knew every word that he was singing. no one will ever know our words to sing. i just never thought i would get to do this for a living. i never thought it would happen, i was going to be a choir director. i loved the idea of picking songs and working on harmonies. i love the process, the way the director would get everyone to sing alike. i loved that part of it. when i was 19 or 20 and nobody else had another job, we were traveling in a 77 van with plaid and sides. tavis: what you feel like, all these years later, to look out

at an audience and you see them and you hear them singing your lyrics? >> is amazing. we just got back from overseas and we see it over there. that is really amazing. and to know that you are doing what you feel led to do, people respond to that. i think that is a cool thing when people respond to truth. of itt even know how much has to do with the sound of your voice. it is just when you believe it, people react to it. people respond to truth and other people and it is something that you can't shy away from. >> i believe what comes from the heart reaches the heart. what is the trek, maybe that is the wrong word, keeping a band together this long?

history is replete with bands that stayed together for a while and then they split up. there are a few still together, but it isn't the easiest thing to do. >> i feel like we should have had some sort of lesson taught us. it was outside of us being able to control that, because those are very big personalities, all of them. the main thing that i think about is that you have to let people know how valuable they are. and whatever that means, however you see that, in needs to be there for the cross. you have to respect people's differences, and respect their eccentricities. that is just the way it is. you don't have to understand everything, you just have to accept it.

the commitment to the band is bigger than any personality differences. personality differences really are nothing. tavis: if the ban did not go on for another 30 years, the reason for going your separate ways would be what? >> i would hope that is not the case, i am very proud of what we have done together. what i see myself, it is always in a situation with them. tavis: what is the best part, the blessing of playing with the same guys year in and year out? >> there are many blessings, but this is how i feel like i am really myself, with them. when i hear music that i think we can do, because i hear it with them and the fact that i am a part of this, i think any other person would do the same.

tavis: is impossible these days, i suspect this will be the case, in a good interview or any decent interview, we have to talk about the rubber plant project because the impact of that is still some monumental. i went back and doing some research, and i was tickled by a number of people that were skeptical when the word got out that you were working on this project. >> we were skeptical. [laughter] tavis: i did not see you quoted in any of those articles. tell me more. >> let's give it three days. we will see you next time. and i said, it is great, we went in for the three days and really had a great time. the point was to really set our own ahoy tastes aside.

to produceidn't want any of this, so we called t- bone. tavis: not a bad call. >> we put our own tastes aside because we knew it had to be something other than our control issues. that is what we did. i think it turned out very moody and had a personality. at the end of it, we're going, ok. but the company was very fun, we had a great time. a lovely person. tavis: were you skeptical musically of the collaboration or something other than that? mosher just musically. he says, i have never some harmony before. this will be fun. it is a duet record, but it is not all duets. it was about the collaboration

together, whether not we were sitting at the same time, i thought it had a real identity. the surprise was fun, i think, to see the two of us. it is a very romantic thing, and because of the contrast, it really works. tavis: i am a music lover, so i am curious about this. i get your skepticism going into it, musically. what happened in the studio? when did you know, this can work. >> probably the second song. one of the things that is really beautiful about him is that he is such a great castor, he always gets a huge peonalities. he has a band that he uses pretty steadily on his recordings. we got together and it sounded like nothing else that we had worked on, we knew it was

interesting. we were a long, kind of for the ride. tavis: at least five times, you have used the word identity. it leads me to ask how you would describe your of identity at this point. once you have so many records and awards, you tend to be defined by your success, your defined by writers, interview worth, and others, but it strikes me every time you say it. how you define your identity at this point in your life? >> the closest thing that could identify about identity is in the material that i choose to sing. there are a couple tunes on here, one of them as a paper airplane. i think that what i choose to saying, they are words that a

woman would say at her very last bit of being able to explain herself and lost love. levin, when you think of what they have, they have pride. they are cool, they don't show emotion, and it is the only way that you can show strength and really be respected. the lyrics that i choose our that stuck below where you do speak about what those things, the loss in the pain without pride. tavis: this is a simple point to make, but i make it because i am struck by this reality. the notion of love, the concept of love is inexhaustible. every year, every month, every

day, somebody is putting out a record about love and is the most inexhaustible subject in the history of the world. >> because it is inexplicable, everybody is trying to explain it. tavis: i have figured out why that is, because people are trying to explain it. when you guys were doing paper airplane, was the content selected prior to what we hear, these 11 songs? or did that happen organically? got it had been awhile since we recorded and i am always collecting things. we hadn't recorded together as a band for about six years at that point. i had just come off the record with robert what i just had -- both of us had kept our opinions to yourself, and it was hard to

get back into that mode and i was having migraine headaches allot. i had a real hard time judging if i thought something worked and taught. when you are in the studio, you have a very black and white feeling about what you hear. it is either great or you hate it. of the answers are perfect, because if it doesn't work, and you won't go back there. i wasn't feeling well, so we had to take a break and we got together and i said, i don't think we have got everything we need. they said, let's take a break. i came back with a paper airplane, about five new ones. tavis: that as a serious comeback. a dozen guys come back.

how do you process these 26 grammy awards? i can't read my brain around that. quincy jones is a friend of mine and has been on the show many times. whenever i go to his house, i have been there a gazillion times. i go to the same place, and the room he had built, all of these grammy awards. i sit there and the calomel the time to make sure they are still there. i read them again because i want to see what saw that was for. it is mind-boggling to walk into our room and see that many grammy awards. how do you process 26 and counting since you are nominated this year? >> and we wonder what happened, there must of been a mistake in there. you were caught record and it is likely on the one you are ever going to make. to be recognized at all, it is

pretty great. don'tt look back and i look too far ahead, it is about a span of time. i don't spend too much time thinking about it, thinking about the recording. if it is awful, we can't deal with it or if it is satisfactory, we are moving on. tavis: not that i have been invited to your house, but if i were to break into your house, not that i would do that either, but where are the grammy awards? >> i don't keep a lot of work stuff out because i have a son. tavis: i would have to go in search of it then. now i know where to look when i come by. her name is allison krause, her band is union station, the new

project of this year is called "paper airplane." we tried a couple of times to get her on the program earlier this year and for various reasons, we cannot make the day to work. we were determined and thankfully, her team was also, determined to make this visit happen before the year closed. now i am more delighted to hear alison and her band. stay with us. the latest disk is called "paper airplane below, by her band featuring jerry douglas and special guests sam bush, she is performing "my love follows you where you go. " goodnight from l.a. and keep the faith. ♪

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[applause] >> for more information on today's show, visit tavis smiley at pbs.org. tavis: hi, i'm tavis smiley. join me next time for a conversation with iconic cellist yo-yo ma, plus a special performance from his new cd. we will see you then. >> every community has a martin luther king boulevard. it's the cornerstone we all know. it's not just a street or boulevard, but a place where walmart stands together with your community to make every day better. >> nationwide insurance supports tavis smiley. with every question and every answer, nationwide insurance is proud to join tavis in working to improve financial literacy

and remove obstacles to economic empowerment one conversation at a time. nationwide is on your side. >> and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> be more. pbs. >> be more. pbs.