Alison Krauss could have sung anything and it wouldn't have mattered to Christi Vance and Ashley Fricton.
"We are pretty much huge fans," said Ms. Vance, who phoned her friend Ms. Fricton the minute she heard the radio spot about Alison Krauss and Union Station being Saturday night's headline Riverbend act.
"She's all I've listened to for the about the last year," said Ms. Vance, 32, of Talking Rock, Ga. "She puts so much emotion into everything she does. I just love her."
To start the show, Ms. Krauss sang "Let Me Touch You for Awhile."
Before the show began, Jamie Dunkel, another Krauss "fanatic," according to her boyfriend, Steven Nance, had waited three hours in the sun to get a hillside seat to see her favorite singer.
She had forgotten her sunscreen, she acknowledged, but for the time being, all she cared about was seeing Ms. Krauss.
"I loved it when she remade 'Down by the River.' She has such a pure voice, and she pulled that off perfectly," said Ms. Dunkel, 21.
Mike and Tena Large, of Knoxville, decided on the spur of the moment to drive from Knoxville to see the show. But they came prepared: They brought fold-up lawn chairs with sun shades.
"I'm a country fan, but I grew up on rock 'n' roll," Mr. Large said. "I like her album with Robert Plant. When they melded the bluegrass with rock, it was pretty unique."
Ms. Krauss, with 26 Grammy Awards, wowed the audience.
But neither she nor the band have been twiddling their thumbs.
Ms. Krauss joined rocker Robert Plant and T-Bone Burnett on "Raising Sand," an album that helped her garner her newest five Grammy Awards.
Guitarist/banjoist Ron Block and guitarist/mandolinist Dan Tyminski each made solo albums, and guitarist Jerry Douglas made two.