Jacob Burleson
Joins Alison Krauss and Union Station Featuring Jerry Douglas for their 2026 Tour
Photo by Thomas Crabtree
One of the most memorable things to come from my many interviews with friend and IBMA Hall of Fame musician J.D. Crowe centered on what he learned from Earl Scruggs. With Crowe and Scruggs both playing the banjo, with each entering the top tier of the players of that instrument, Crowe did learn a lot from Scruggs about technique, drive, and approach. But Crowe also gained a different kind of knowledge from the North Carolina legend.
In my 2002 interview with Crowe for the now-defunct Gritz Music Magazine, run and edited by the late and great Michael Buffalo Smith, Crowe said the following: “If you are going to play music for a living, do it as a business. Don’t give it away. That’s what most of these acts have done through the years, they have given it away. Never do that. Earl Scruggs is still making money. He is smart at it. He knows how to make a dollar, him and his wife Louise. I remember one thing that Earl told me one time. We were talking, and he said, ‘J.D., the trouble with this music is everybody plays too cheap.’ I have never forgot that, and how right he was.”
Right now, Billy Strings is the template. Billy’s talent and love for the music, his approach to performing, and how he communicates with his fans is legendary, yet it is all also combined with what his team has accomplished.
The concept of putting an effective team together in the bluegrass world is not a new concept. Back in the day, manager Ralph Rinzler managed both Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, and his influence particularly helped Doc to find his most successful approach to the music business. Louis Scruggs also became the eminent manager for Flatt and Scruggs, putting them in Carnegie Hall, on TV with the Beverly Hillbillies theme, and putting their music in the hit motion picture Bonnie and Clyde.
The same is certainly true when it comes to the success of Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas. The group is a well-oiled machine when it comes to making great music and putting high-profile tours together. The fact that Krauss has earned 26 Grammy Awards over the years—with her Union Station band members taking home their own Grammy and IBMA awards—speaks to their success.
As we all know, Alison Krauss and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, went on a 15-year hiatus, with everybody in the group branching off to do other projects. Douglas had his own group, as well as the annual Celtic Connection project and the Earls of Leicester band, to keep him busy. Barry Bales became a member of the Earls of Leicester, and Ron Block did his usual musical magic onstage and with his studio. Dan Tyminski created his own band as well.
So, when Krauss and crew decided to regroup a decade and a half later to record the wonderful Arcadia album, Tyminski decided to keep the momentum of his own band going forward and bowed out. In comes the great bluegrass singer and leader of the IIIrd Tyme Out band, Russell Moore, who joined Union Station to both record the Arcadia album and to tour behind it, and he has fit like a glove with his new bandmates.
With the Arcadia album out, Alison Krauss and Union Station, featuring Jerry Douglas, booked a massive tour in 2025. As the troupe began the tour, Krauss and crew did a smart thing by expanding the lineup for the shows by bringing in the legendary Stuart Duncan to play multiple instruments.
The good news is that the band has now set up the second leg of the tour for 2026. But Duncan had to return to Nashville to work on other projects, and that led to a surprise move when Krauss sought out young Jacob Burleson to take Duncan’s place.
All of the above is told to set up the story of Jacob Burleson. The son of Jason Burleson, the banjo player for the legacy bluegrass band Blue Highway. All of a sudden, Jacob was given the chance to step into this Hall of Fame Union Station machine while still in his early 20s, instantly making him the youngest person in the touring lineup.
When I first moved to the High Country of Western North Carolina 13 years ago, I ended up in Avery County, located 20 miles from Boone. It is the county where both Jason Burleson and his son Jacob were raised, and it was there that I first witnessed Jacob playing music while still just a kid. Somewhere in my archives is a video of young Jacob performing with his dad, along with Laura Boosinger and the late and great Western North Carolina fiddle legend Arvil Freeman. As Jacob grew older, his ability to play music evolved with the help of his dad and his mother, Shelly Bowman Burleson.
Eventually, at 17 years of age, Burleson struck out on his own in 2016 and joined the award-winning bluegrass band Volume Five, led by fiddler and singer Glen Harrell. The advice from his father was crucial at that point. Musically, Jacob was ready, yet he was about to join a band of older musicians while still just a kid. That is the kind of father-son or mother-son talk that happens in everyday life all over this country when your kid gets a job.
When Jacob was in his early 20s, he made the big move to Nashville, where he found work as a sideman, sitting in with various bands when needed, and working on other projects when asked. Then, one day in September of 2025, his life changed. “Alison got a hold of me on the Monday after the IBMA World of Bluegrass convention ended in September in Chattanooga,” Jacob said. “Alison texted me first, and then I talked to her on the phone. I think she knew I wasn’t playing with anybody full-time at the moment, so she asked me if I would be interested in playing with Union Station on their 2026 tour. And then, of course, I said yes. I’ve been filling in with a bunch of different people since I moved to Nashville because people knew I was now in town, and I was waiting until later in the year to decide what I was going to do for 2026. Then, I got the call. Alison asked me if it would be OK to run through a few songs with some of the guys in the band first, so we went over and played some songs, and it all went well. Later that evening, she asked me if I wanted to go on tour with them and play the guitar and mandolin.”
Burleson was obviously thrilled to learn he had made the cut, yet for weeks, he had to keep the news to himself. “After the word got out, it has been pretty surreal and overwhelming,” said Burleson. “I’ve known about this for a while now, so it’s just really nice and relieving to have it all come out. The thing is, as far as my generation of bluegrass musicians go, for most of us, Alison Krauss and Union Station are what we cut our teeth on. They made us want to play music at a high level, giving us direction as to the way we wanted to play music going forward.”
Burleson appreciates the tutelage and mentorship that his dad provided during his musical rise. “A lot of my musical growth came from being around my dad and his band, Blue Highway,” said Burleson. Blue Highway is currently celebrating 30 years as a group. “Those guys were so amazing to me, always wanting to get together and play with me. My dad was really great because he gave me a lot of advice that you wouldn’t really get from somebody else in a normal setting. He was not afraid to give me advice that may be too honest or may be too much for others to handle. He let me in on a lot of things that helped me early on when I was really young, yet still on my own and playing with people that were a lot older than me. Playing with Volume 5 was a great experience because it really was like an equal band. Everybody had as much a say in the music as the other guy. That’s also how Blue Highway works. So, that approach was kind of in my comfort zone. I love Volume 5’s music, and I love Glenn Harrell’s singing. I also got to play with Adam Steffey for a year, as well as Aaron Ramsey, Jeff Parton, Patton Wages, and Chris Wade, which was amazing. It was definitely the kind of music I wanted to play as far as being in a bluegrass band. I wouldn’t have wanted to play with any other band at that time.”
Jason Burleson describes his relationship with son Jacob this way. He said, “Jacob called me one day and said, ‘You’re never going to believe who just texted me.’ He then said that Alison was going to call him later that day and that she had something she wanted to run by him.’ That is when she called him and asked if he’d be interested in joining them on the Arcadia tour in 2026. I knew he could absolutely do the gig. I’m reluctant to brag on him, sometimes, because he’s my son, but I can’t think of a better musician or someone who’s more qualified for that gig than Jacob. He can literally play any instrument that he picks up and does it as well as anyone out there. I’d say that even if he was not my son and if I’d never met him before. I would still think he is pretty amazing.”
As far as the advice Jason gave Jacob when he began his full-time bluegrass career as a teenager, the elder Burleson says it was minimal. “I never really gave him any advice on that aspect,” said Jason. “He’s been mature beyond his years for a long time. I remember seeing Ricky Skaggs at a festival a few years back. He had met Jacob earlier that day, and he was really bragging on what a nice, polite young man he was, and that really made me proud. I never gave him any advice on that side of him, either. As for the music side, Jacob knows exactly what to play, and he is a very tasteful musician, so he’s got that aspect covered.”
Still, Jacob had to pass the audition. Jason said, “When I knew that he was going to get together with Alison and the guys and run through some things, I knew he’d be totally prepared and would nail it. He texted after the meeting and said it went extremely well. A few minutes later, he texted back and said, ‘I got the gig!’ I don’t think there’s ever been a dad any prouder of a son than I am of Jacob. This gig is really the pinnacle that any musician could hope to reach. He’s playing with the absolute best of the best, and I’m really thankful to Alison and the guys in AKUS for giving him such a great opportunity. The whole Burleson Family are all over the moon and excited, and proud of Jacob.”
Now that Jacob is able to soak in and prepare for the tour to come, he realizes that another of his bucket list items will happen when he takes the stage with the acclaimed Jerry Douglas. “I’ve always dreamed of getting to play with Jerry Douglas at least once,” said Jacob Burleson. “That has been a dream of mine for my whole life. Jerry has played on most of my favorite bluegrass albums, and he was a huge part of why Alison and Union Station are my favorite band. He contributes so much to every musical project he participates in. He knows exactly what he can do to help the situation, and what won’t help the end result. The Dobro is a very hard instrument to play, and Jerry has perfect command of the instrument, yet he doesn’t show it as much as he could do at any time. He knows that less can be more, especially on an instrument that sounds as pretty as the Dobro. He just naturally brings the level up, and I just can’t say enough good things about Jerry Douglas.”
As Burleson prepares for this great opportunity, he is buoyed by his upbringing in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. “I love it back there in the High Country in Avery County,” said Burleson. “Every time I go back there, even after I’ve moved to Nashville, I realize that I miss the mountain air and I miss everything about it. I love the mountains, but I hope to come back someday. Meanwhile, it has just begun to sink in that I’m about to go on tour with this great band. To me, they’re the most beloved bluegrass band in the world, and maybe ever, and it’s just so crazy that I get to do this. I barely have the words to describe it.”
More information on tickets for the 2026 Arcadia tour by Alison Krauss and Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas can be found at alisonkrauss.com.
