Phish feat. Alison Krauss: If I Could
[purchase]
Alison Krauss was just 22, the youngest cast member of the Grand Ole Opry and two Grammys into her career when her sweet and breathy twang startled the hell out of me on this dreamy, swirling slowjam from Phish's underrated 1994 studio album Hoist.
Eventually, of course, Krauss would become the go-to sidegirl for harmonies and countrygrass credibility. But Krauss was still a true blue bluegrass voice back then, known only to the in-crowd, not yet the Grammy-sweeping cross-over artist she would become with Raising Sand. The track is gorgeous, and the boys of Phish deserve major props for correctly gauging just how much string-band legitimacy and ballad beauty would come of such a guest.