This fact may be hard to believe, but throughout their long and storied career the Preservation Hall Jazz Band have never released a studio album consisting entirely of their own original compositions. The legendary New Orleans act will change all that come July 9, with the release of That’s It! via Sony Legacy. The 11-track record, which was recorded at the band’s home-base at 726 St. Peter Street in the French Quarter, was co-produced by Pres Hall’s own Ben Jaffe and My Morning Jacket front man Jim James, who has been championing the band over the last handful of years.
In advance of the record’s release, Preservation Hall has released this behind-the-scenes look at the making of the album. Let’s check it out…
List Time: 15 Oddest Walk-On Songs of 2013 MLB season
Finally, it appears that we may finally have an answer to ongoing “are they” or “aren’t they” story surrounding the relationship between former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant and rootsy songstress Patty Griffin, who have been romantically linked since 2011. The pair, who appear together on Griffin’s new studio album American Kid, had been previously thought to have eloped last summer, despite conflicting reports to the contrary. Earlier this week in an interview with Billboard Griffin set the record straight, telling the industry rag “We’re not legally married, no,” while also going on to speak about their musical connection, “We get a lot of energy from each other’s singing. We both have similar places that we come from as singers-a lot of emotion, and sometimes the emotion overrides technique. He inspires me. He goes far and deep.”
Long before becoming a member of Robert Plant’s Band Of Joy and eventually tying the knot with the former Led Zeppelin front man, Patty Griffin released a string of critical acclaimed albums that showcased her brand of gospel-tinged Americana. The talented singer-songwriter, who has been covered by the likes of Emmylou Harris, Solomon Burke and the Dixie Chicks, will release her latest studio album, American Kid, via New West Records on May 7. The album is her first since 2010′s Grammy-winning Downtown Church.
Griffin, who will play the opening night of Celebrate Brooklyn’s summer concert series at the Prospect Park Bandshell on June 5, got some heavyweight help for the album’s lead single Ohio. Joining her on the Middle Eastern-infused track is none-other than her husband – Robert Plant – with the duo blending vocals to create a hauntingly beautiful sound. Let’s check it out…
Over the last month Robert Plant and his latest band, The Sensational Space Shifters, have been appearing on a handful of festival bills, including the ones for High Sierra and the inaugural edition of JamBase Live. So it just seemed like a matter of time before the former Band of Joy front man would drop a full slate of North American dates to keep him busy between fest slots. Yesterday we got just that, as news surfaced that Plant & Co. have lined up a 16-date headlining run that kicks off at the Palladium in Dallas on June 20, and wraps roughly a month later with a gig at Brooklyn’s Prospect Park Bandshell on July 27.
If you’re not into a night with Plant, then maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
Former Page and Plant front man Robert Plant will play the High Sierra Music Festival this summer along with his current band – The Sensational Space Shifters. Plant leaps to the top of the bill on a lineup that also includes headliners Primus, Thievery Corporation and moe.
Robert Plant will have a busy few days on the Fourth of July Weekend as he’s also headlining the first annual JamBase Live festival at The Gorge on July 6th and the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival on July 7th. During a recent tour of New Zealand and Australia Plant and the Space Shifters focused heavily on rearranged Led Zeppelin material in their sets.
The 2013 edition of High Sierra takes place from July 4th – 7th in Quincy, California. Tickets for High Sierra are currently on sale through the event’s website.
What is it about today that has led to incredibly cool backstage videos surfacing? On top of the footage of Buddy Miles and Phish we came across this morning, we’ve found a video of The Who’s Roger Daltrey shooting the shit with Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin that was filmed in 2002.
Plant was aboard The Who’s North American Tour in the summer of 2002 as the opening act. This clip shows Robert conversing about all sorts of things with Daltrey and they get so into their conversation that they lose track of time. At the end, Plant’s tour manager alerts him that he’s running late and we see Plant quickly jet the room backstage and head to the stage. Check it out…
Earlier this month the lineup for this year’s Forecastle Festival, which takes place in Louisville from July 12 – 14, was announced and included HT faves The Black Keys, Alabama Shakes, Jim James, The Avett Brothers and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Today, festival organizers have revealed a batch of additions to the lineup headed up by Robert Plant and his Sensational Space Shifters ensemble.
Boys Noize, Sarah Jarosz and Inc have also been added to the Forecastle Festival lineup. Plant, who recently opened an Australian Tour with a set filled with Led Zeppelin classics, has only played two North American gigs with his latest band since forming the group early last year. Before heading to Louisville, Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters will perform at The Gorge for JamBase Live.
As the story goes, following Led Zeppelin’s well-received one-show reunion at London’s 02 Arena in 2007 Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones were ready to bring the show on the road. Robert Plant demurred leading his former band mates to search out another lead singer, though they wisely never went through with the Plant-less Zeppelin. In a feature on Plant that aired last night on the Australian version of 60 Minutes, Plant tells reporter Tara Brown that not only should the blame for the lack of a Zeppelin tour not be laid at his feet, but that he has “nothing to do in 2014,” inferring that he’d be open to another reunion next year.
In explaining his side of the story of Brown, Plant said, “[Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones] are Capricorns. They keep shtum. They don’t say a word. They’re quite contained in their own worlds and they leave it to me.” When Brown says Plant is the bad guy for not reuniting the band, he turns it around on Page and JPJ, “You need to see the Capricorns because I’ve got nothing to do in 2014.” This is a much different response than the one Robert generally gave at a press gathering for the recently released Celebration Day, when he said “If we’re capable of doing something, in our own time, that will be what will happen” after chiding a reporter.
Now that Jimmy Page doesn’t have the “Robert isn’t interested” response to fall back on when asked about a possible Led Zeppelin reunion, we’re can’t wait to see how he responds to future queries.
You can watch the entire 16-minute feature on Plant here…
Over the weekend, The Continental Club in Austin hosted a pair of benefit concerts for injured and uninsured Austin musician Michael Fracasso and the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians medical assistance program simply billed as “Patty Griffin and Her Driver.” For those that haven’t been keeping up on Ms. Griffin’s personal life, they were in for quite a treat as when she finally welcomed “her driver” to the stage about a third of the way into her set it turned out to be none other than former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant. Griffin recorded and toured with Plant as a member of Band of Joy back in 2010; while more recently the two have been romantically linked and rumored to have eloped this past summer, something Plant originally denied – but has since been confirmed.
Backed by Griffin and her three-piece band, Plant mixed tunes from Griffin’s solo catalog with material from Band Of Joy’s lone studio album and a healthy dose of rearranged Led Zeppelin classics. While there is currently only a handful of videos that have been uploaded to YouTube from Saturday night’s show, we wanted to share one of the better ones that we found. Watch as Plant & Co. deliver a fiery Texas blues-infused version of Black Dog, which included some audience assistance…
Set List:
Flaming Red, Chief, House Of Gold, Love Throw A Line, Poor Man’s House, I’m Gonna Miss You When You’re Gone, No Bad News, Ohio, In The Mood, Black Country Woman, Cold As It Gets, What Is And What Should Never Be, Tangerine, Rich Woman, Going To California, Angel Dance, Black Dog
There’s no denying that Robert Plant will always be best known as the oft-shirtless singer for Led Zeppelin. In recent years though, Plant has turned his attention from bombastic arena-sized rock to the more subtle sounds of American roots music, first pairing with Alison Krauss, and more recently assembling an impressive group of roots musicians – Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Byron House and Marco Giovino – to form The Band Of Joy. On July 10, Plant & The Band Of Joy’s February 9, 2011 show from the Nashville War Memorial will be released on DVD as Live From The Artists Den.
The sixteen song set features a healthy dose of rearranged Zeppelin classics, mixed with material from Plant’s last two Americana-tinged albums, and handful of traditional folk songs. Let’s check it out the band’s haunting, psychedelic-tinged take on Zep’s Gallows Pole…
Last night, Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy’s lengthy world tour brought them to the historic Greek Theatre in Berkeley, CA. The 18-song show leaned mostly on Zeppelin classics, mixed with material from his last two Americana-tinged albums. During their three-song encore Plant & Co. nodded to two of the Bay Area’s iconic psychedelic rock acts by offering covers of Jefferson Airplane’s She Has Funny Cars and a Grateful Dead-inspired take on the traditional tune And We Bid You Goodnight that was sandwiched in between a take on Gallows Pole…
Robert Plant & The Band Of Joy will play the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles tonight and will also make several high profile festival appearances in the coming months including a stop at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Prince has added another NYC show to his schedule – February 7th at Madison Square Garden. No word yet on who will open that show, but it was announced today that Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings have been tapped to open The Purple One’s January 18th sold out performance at the same venue. Tickets for the February 7th concert go on sale this Friday.
In other news, Rolling Stone published an interesting interview with Robert Plant in which the former Honeydrippers front man discussed the Led Zeppelin reunion, his failed follow-up with Alison Krauss and his upcoming new album. You must be a subscriber to read the whole article online, but this piece provides some highlights from the piece.
Finally, Pearl Jam will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in 2011 with two reissues, a new documentary, a festival and hopefully a shit-load of shows. Both Vs. and Vitalogy will get the re-issue treatment, while the Cameron Crowe-directed Pearl Jam Twenty doc will also be the basis for a book and soundtrack. The band’s website also promises “a number of special events and new, unexpected releases!” and a “20th anniversary destination weekend bash sometime in late summer.” [PearlJam.com via CoS]
Earlier this fall Robert Plant released his latest foray into the world of roots-rock with Band Of Joy via Round Records. The album, named in honor of the experimental blues band he played in with John Bonham prior to forming Led Zeppelin, features Plant backed by an impressive band of top-notch roots musicians including Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Byron House and Marco Giovino.
Plant & Co., who played a brief summer tour, have confirmed that they will head back on the road for a 15-date North American tour that will kick off on January 18 in Asheville, NC at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium and includes a high profile stop at New York’s Beacon Theatre on the 29th. Joining Plant as the opening act will be DUOLOCO otherwise known as Cody and Luthor Dickinson of the North Mississippi All Stars.
Despite being known as the front man for Godfathers of Hard Rock Led Zeppelin, in recent years Robert Plant has shown his affinity towards the subtle sounds of folk, bluegrass and Americana. In 2007, Plant achieved unexpected runaway success with the release of Raising Sand, his unconventional pairing with Alison Krauss, which netted the pair a slew of Grammys including Album Of The Year. While the duo are rumored to be plotting a follow up, Plant has decided to go all the way back to his pre-Zep days for the inspiration for his latest folk-leaning release – Band Of Joy.
The record, named in honor of the experimental blues band that Plant played in with John Bonham prior to forming Led Zeppelin, features the impressive backing band of top notch roots musicians Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott, Byron House and Marco Giovino. The album, which will hit stores on September 14, will feature a mix of traditional folk tunes and covers including a take on Los Lobos‘ Angel Dance from the 1990 release Neighborhood, which Plant just released a video for…
Plant recently wrapped up a short US tour, and will now head across the pond for a string of European dates beginning on September 2 in London.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, Canadian indie-pop collective The New Pornographers have somehow managed record and tour behind four critically acclaimed albums, all while the band’s members pursue their successful solo careers. AC Newman, Neko Case, Dan Bejar & Co., will release their fifth studio album Together on May 4 and have recently announced the details for a lengthy North American tour, where they will be joined by The Mountain Goats, The Dodos, The Dutchess & The Duke and Imaad Wasif at various stops along the way. The 32-date trek kicks off with a high profile appearance at the Sasquatch Festival in George, WA on May 31.
If you not into a night with the indie-pop collective, than maybe you’ll be interested in hitting one of these recently announced tours…
Finally, despite persistent Led Zeppelin reunion rumors that have circulated since the band’s one-off performance in 2007, the seminal hard rock act will remain dormant, though its surviving members are keeping themselves busy with other projects. After the runaway success of his unconventional pairing with Alison Krauss, former Zeppelin lead singer Robert Plant has revealed the members of his new band consisting of Patty Griffin, Buddy Miller, Darrell Scott , Byron House, and Marco Giovino – dubbed the Band Of Joy. Plant & Co., who will release their debut later this year via Rounder Records, have lined up a short 12-date summer run to showcase their new material that kicks off on July 13 at the Orpheum Theater in Nashville, TN.
back in 2010; while more recently the two have been romantically linked and rumored to have eloped this past summer, something Plant originally denied – but has since been confirmed.
on May 4 and have recently announced the details for a lengthy North American tour, where they will be joined by The Mountain Goats, The Dodos, The Dutchess & The Duke and Imaad Wasif at various stops along the way. The 32-date trek kicks off with a high profile appearance at the Sasquatch Festival in George, WA on May 31.
