Alison Krauss

Alison Krauss' crystalline voice, simultaneously airy and weighty, lends even the saddest songs - and her new Paper Airplane is full of sad songs - a sense of affirmation and pristine beauty. It's Krauss' first album in seven years with her longtime bluegrass band Union Station, and it was one of her most challenging to create, although it doesn't sound that way. Krauss spent several of those interim years working with Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett on the Grammy-winning Raising Sand.

The first time that Alison Krauss sang in public, she was competing in an Annie sing-alike contest sponsored by the public TV station in her home town of Champaign, Ill. In what must have been a horrifying parade, each contestant was required to sing "Tomorrow. " The winner got to play the cheeky moptop in promotions for the show. "The girl who got to be Annie was 7," recalls Krauss. "I was 10, and my consolation prize was to play one of the orphans. " That may have been the last time that Krauss wanted to be younger.

The country music industry could sure use a shot of fresh blood, and it served itself up one last night. Long tall Georgian Alan Jackson took home the Entertainer of the Year award and fiddling virtuoso Alison Krauss was honored four times at the 29th annual Country Music Association Awards show, which was broadcast live for three hours last night on network TV from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. Country traditionalist Jackson, still hot with last year's three-million- selling Who I Am, finally broke through after being nominated in the CMA's top category for the last four years but losing out to Garth Brooks and Vince Gill.

Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) - Jonah Hill; Kristen Johnston; Ryan Adams performs. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) - Robert Downey Jr.; Abigail Breslin; Alison Krauss. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (12:37 a.m., NBC10) Steve Martin; Emily VanCamp; Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.

TOP SONGS 1. "E.T.," Katy Perry with Kanye West. 2. "Rolling in the Deep," Adele. 3. "Just Can't Get Enough," the Black Eyed Peas. Interscope. 4. "S&M," Rihanna. 5. "Down On Me," Jeremih with 50 Cent. 6. "The Lazy Song," Bruno Mars. 7. "On the Floor," Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull. 8. "Look At Me Now," Chris Brown with Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes. 9. "Blow," Ke$ha. 10. " . . . You (Forget You)," Cee Lo Green. TOP ALBUMS 1. "21," Adele.

Long, tall Alan Jackson looks as if he might get his due at last. The Georgia-born traditionalist topped the list with six nominations as the candidates for the Country Music Association Awards were announced yesterday in Nashville. Jackson, still hot with last year's Who I Am (Arista), has been up for entertainer of the year four times running, but this year he's the clear favorite in a field that includes Garth Brooks, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Brooks & Dunn. Gill, who won entertainer of the year in 1993 and 1994 and who will host the show when it's broadcast Oct. 4 from the Grand Ole Opry, garnered four nominations.

The majority of CD buyers are fickle teen-agers, a fact that doesn't bode well for an independent label like Rounder Records, which focuses on folk, blues, ethnic and other cult genres. Yet the highly regarded Cambridge, Mass., label is consistently at the top of its game and regularly snags honors at various industry awards ceremonies. The new documentary "True Believers: The Musical Family of Rounder Records" shows why - almost to a fault. The film, produced, directed and edited by Robert Mugge, profiles the staff, co-owners Ron and Marion Levy, and the roster of a record label that 25 years ago turned away from the prevailing winds in popular music in favor of regional American musicians.

When the folks at Rounder Records decide to take on a new artist, they don't talk about niches, demographics, packaging or airtime. The two governing criteria, says one of the company's founders, are: "Do we like the music, and will it last?" This honest concept, so alien to the marketing of mainstream pop, has defined Rounder Records for a quarter-century. The fruits of the stubborn integrity that has sustained Rounder and its eclectic assortment of artists are celebrated in Robert Mugge's enjoyable and refreshing True Believers.

Emblazoned on the back of the CD booklet that accompanies the Dixie Chicks' Home are the words: "We are changing the way we do business. " The Chicks have also changed the way they make music. With steel-guitar ace Lloyd Maines helping to produce the trio's third major-label release, Martie Maguire's fiddle and Emily Robison's dobro and banjo are prominent in the mix. All guitars are acoustic and percussion is sparse. Turning away from the perky pop-country that the Chicks took to the bank on Wide Open Spaces and Fly, Home (Open Wide/Sony . )

THE GRAMMYS are that annual lovefest when the music industry tries to convince the rest of the world that it still has a pulse. But you know what showed a surprising heartbeat yesterday? The movie industry. For the first time since Christmas 2008, four - count 'em, four - movies opened with more than a $20 million box-office haul. "The Vow" led the way with a ridiculous $41.7 million. Who knew so many people would remember to see a movie about amnesia? In second, with $39.3 million, according to yesterday's studio estimates, was the Denzel Washington-Ryan Reynolds ' action thriller "Safe House.

Late Show With David Letterman (11:35 p.m., CBS3) - Jonah Hill; Kristen Johnston; Ryan Adams performs. The Tonight Show With Jay Leno (11:35 p.m., NBC10) - Robert Downey Jr.; Abigail Breslin; Alison Krauss. Late Night With Jimmy Fallon (12:37 a.m., NBC10) Steve Martin; Emily VanCamp; Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa.

Alison Krauss' crystalline voice, simultaneously airy and weighty, lends even the saddest songs - and her new Paper Airplane is full of sad songs - a sense of affirmation and pristine beauty. It's Krauss' first album in seven years with her longtime bluegrass band Union Station, and it was one of her most challenging to create, although it doesn't sound that way. Krauss spent several of those interim years working with Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett on the Grammy-winning Raising Sand.

TOP SONGS 1. "E.T.," Katy Perry with Kanye West. 2. "Rolling in the Deep," Adele. 3. "Just Can't Get Enough," the Black Eyed Peas. Interscope. 4. "S&M," Rihanna. 5. "Down On Me," Jeremih with 50 Cent. 6. "The Lazy Song," Bruno Mars. 7. "On the Floor," Jennifer Lopez with Pitbull. 8. "Look At Me Now," Chris Brown with Lil Wayne & Busta Rhymes. 9. "Blow," Ke$ha. 10. " . . . You (Forget You)," Cee Lo Green. TOP ALBUMS 1. "21," Adele.

The former governor of Pennsylvania may have been correct when he characterized America as "a nation of wusses. " But if that's so, Led Zeppelin fans are surely the exception to the rule. On Wednesday night, the Philadelphia region was transformed into a fearsome landscape that looked for all the world like the frozen "land of the ice and snow" that Robert Plant once ululated about in "Immigrant Song. " But that was not one of the Led Zep tunes the 62-year-old, gray-goateed golden god sang that night to a packed house of hardy souls at the Tower Theater, during an often-breathtaking 100-minute set with his six-piece knockout ensemble Band of Joy. For the record, Plant and Band of Joy - which shines a spotlight on the luminous talents of guitarist-bandleader Buddy Miller, multi-instrumentalist Darrell Scott, and singer Patty Griffin - did reworked versions of five Zep songs: "Tangerine," "Houses of the Holy," "Gallows Pole," "Ramble On," and, yes, "Rock and Roll.

Kim Richey While she's never had the commercial success of some of her alt-country contemporaries, Kim Richey has unmistakable staying power, and a devoted fan-base to prove it. Touring to plug her recently released sixth album, Wreck Your Wheels , the Ohio native uses her rich alto to great effect on everything from the radio-ready "The Years to Come" to the bluesy, poignant "When the Circus Comes to Town. " Between her honeyed vocals and keen eye for lyrical detail, Richey's songs pack an emotional punch, especially since the majority are about lost dreams and lost souls.

Bilal and the Beatles, Robert Plant and the Killer of Las Vegas share the talent spotlight with new CDs and DVD packages this week. PHILLY'S OWN: It's easy to imagine the "suits" at major recording labels wondering outloud "What are we gonna do with this?" when auditioning the long-in-coming new album from Bilal, "Airtight's Revenge" (Plug Research, A). Taking neo-soul to a higher plateau, with layer upon layer of natural and synth keyboards playing off his limber, dynamic vocal lines, hip-hop percussion, jazz/rock/Eastern guitar jams and spacey, backward-tape loops, Bilal's carnival of funky sounds and light is unlike anything else out there.

Country-pop singer Taylor Swift won album of the year for Fearless, but Beyonc? was the even bigger winner last night at the 52d Annual Grammy Awards as the R&B superstar captured a record-setting six awards. "This has as been an amazing night for me," said Beyonc?, who won song of the year for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It). " She broke the record of five she had held along with Alison Krauss, Norah Jones, Amy Winehouse, and Alicia Keys. Swift took home four golden gramophones.

WASHINGTON - So the Philadelphia music students understood they probably would not meet President Obama at a songwriting workshop at the White House yesterday. But they were a tad disappointed that first lady Michelle Obama wasn't there, either. After all, this was a first-lady event: The White House Music Series, to which Mrs. Obama invites students from around the country to meet professional musicians and discuss their work. Yesterday's theme was country music. And students got to talk with Grammy-winning country stars Alison Krauss and Brad Paisley.