Ron Block

Musician · b. 1964 · Gardena, California
Best known for Banjo

Ron Block has been the banjo and acoustic-guitar voice of Alison Krauss and Union Station for more than three decades, a 14-time Grammy winner whose Christian-faith-rooted songwriting has produced two of the band's most-recorded compositions: "A Living Prayer" and "There Is a Reason."

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  • Born Ronald Franklin Block on July 30, 1964 in Gardena, California; took up banjo at age 13 after seeing Flatt & Scruggs on television, learning at his father's southern California music store, Hogan's House of Music.
  • Co-founded the California bluegrass band Weary Hearts with Eric Uglum, Butch Baldassari, and Mike Bub in the 1980s; later played with the Lynn Morris Band.
  • Joined Alison Krauss + Union Station in October 1991 and remains with the band.
  • Has won 14 Grammy awards as a member of AKUS and on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack (Album of the Year 2002), plus six IBMA awards, one CMA, and one GMA Dove Award.
  • Released the solo records Faraway Land (Rounder, 2001), DoorWay (Rounder, 2007), Walking Song (Rounder, 2013, with Sierra Hull), the all-instrumental Hogan's House of Music (Rounder, 2015, named for his father's store), and Carter's Creek Christmas (2015).
  • Wrote "A Living Prayer," which won the GMA Dove Award for Best Bluegrass Song in 1998, and "There Is a Reason," both staples of the AKUS catalog.
  • Songwriting credits also include cuts by Randy Travis, Rhonda Vincent, Michael W. Smith, and the Cox Family; played and produced sessions for Dolly Parton, Brad Paisley, Clint Black, and Bill Frisell.

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