Alison Brown

Alison Brown has the rare ability to be successful in both the right- and left-brained worlds. Recognized for her talent on the banjo at an early age (at 12, she jammed with a 10-year-old Stuart Duncan), Brown took time off from her touring career to graduate from Harvard University. She then went on to UCLA, where she earned her MBA. Brown gave the traditional business world her best shot, but she was destined for more than investment banking and returned to her first love, music. In 1989, she joined Alison Krauss and Union Station, becoming the only female ever to win the Banjo Player of the Year Award from the International Bluegrass Music Association. After working as music director for Michelle Shocked, Brown teamed up with bassist Garry West to form Compass Records. Celebrating 10 years of producing and distributing work by artists including Kate Rusby, Lœnasa, Paul Brady, Glenn Tilbrook, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Pierce Pettis and many others, Brown reflects with Blum on creating an artist-centric record label and the harsh realities facing young musicians looking for their first big break. Brown also records for Compass, continuing to build her repertoire of folksy, jazzy, bluesy songs with her skillful banjo playing at its center. Her newest release, "Stolen Moments," welcomes guest turns from John R. Burr, Stuart Duncan, Robbie McIntosh, Andrea Zonn, Beth Nielsen Chapman, Mike Marshall, Sam Bush and the Boomchicks.