Pages tagged “robert plant alison krauss”

Sometimes, the chemistry just works. How else to explain Alison Krauss and Robert Plant’s decision to record an album, go on tour, add more dates, and now, expand it further? Perhaps an alternate explanation is the Grammy-nominated duo’s desire to spread their sweet sounds to the red states, as the new batch of tour dates finds them in Texas, North Carolina, Kentucky, and Tennessee. OK, also purple states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. And, all right, non-states like Ontario.

Maybe we'll stick with that “chemistry just works” explanation after all.

Alison Krauss and Robert Plant on tour:

April
19 - Louisville, Ky. @ Palace Theatre
20 - Louisville, Ky. @ Palace Theatre
22 - Knoxville, Tenn. @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum
23 - Chattanooga, Tenn. @ Memorial Auditorium
25 - New Orleans, La. @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
26 - Birmingham, Ala. @ BJCC Arena

May
5 - Birmingham, U.K. @ Birmingham NIA Academy
7 - Manchester, U.K. @ Manchester Apollo
8 - Cardiff, U.K. @ Cardiff International Arena
10 - Dusseldorf, Germany @ Dusseldorf Philipshalle
11 - Brussels, Belgium @ Brussels Forest National
13 - Paris, France @ Paris Le Grand Rex
14 - Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Amsterdam Heineken Music Hall
16 - Stockholm, Sweden @ Stockholm Hovet
18 - Oslo, Norway @ Oslo Spektrum
19 - Bergen, Norway @ Bergen Bergenshalle
22 - London, UK @ Wembley Arena

June
2 - Roanoke, Va. @ Roanoke Civic Center
4 - Uncasville, Conn. @ Mohegan Sun
5 - Boston, Mass. @ Bank of America Pavilion
7 - Canandaigua, N.Y. @ CMAC
8 - Atlantic City, N.J. @ Borgata
10 - New York, N.Y. @ MSG Theatre
13 - Columbia, Md. @ Merriweather Pavilion
14 - Asheville, N.C. @ Asheville Civic Center
15 - Manchester, Tenn. @ Bonnaroo
17 - Detroit, Mich. @ Fox Theatre
19 - St. Louis, Mo. @ Fox Theatre
21 - Denver, Colo. @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre
23 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre
43 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Greek Theatre
25 - Santa Barbara, Calif. @ Santa Barbara Bowl
27 - Berkeley, Calif. @ Greek Theatre
28 - Lake Tahoe, Nev. @ Harveys
30 - San Diego, Calif. @ Humphreys

July
1 - Phoenix, Ariz. @ Dodge Theatre
7 - Dallas, TX @ Nokia Theatre
10 - Atlanta, GA @ Chastain Park Amphitheatre
11 - Raleigh, NC @ RBC Center
12 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center For Performing Arts
14 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
15 - Cleveland, OH @ Time Warner Cable Amphitheater at Tower City
18 - Lexington, KY @ Rupp Arena
19 - Nashville, TN @ Sommet Center

Related links:
RobertPlantAlisonKrauss.com
RobertPlant.com
AlisonKrauss.com

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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have released a video for “Please Read the Letter,” the second single off of their joint album Raising Sand, released late last year on Rounder Records.

“Please Read the Letter” was written by Plant and Led Zeppelin bandmate Jimmy Page. Director Rocky Schneck shot the video in Los Angeles at a sparsely decorated gothic mansion, meant to portray the haunting sadness of the song’s lyrics. The video debuted recently on the Country Music Television network, and is available at Rounder.com.

As previously reported, Plant, Krauss and their band (led by celebrated producer T-Bone Burnett) will kick off their Raising Sand international tour late next month with four shows in the Southeast. After wrapping up the tour’s European leg in May, Plant and Krauss will return to the U.S. to play an additional 21 dates throughout June and July.

Related links:
RobertPlantAlisonKrauss.com
Robert Plant & Alison Krauss on MySpace
Paste: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss cover Waits, Zandt

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Robert Plant and Alison Krauss have announced their first set of tour dates in support of Raising Sand.

The album was released Oct. 23 on Rounder, debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200 chart and was certified Gold soon after. The album’s first single, “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On),” was nominated for a Grammy this year for Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals. The album as a whole was released too late to be eligible for this year’s awards.

T-Bone Burnett produced Raising Sand, and will lead the Plant and Krauss touring band. The extensive U.S. and European tour kicks off April 20 in Louisville, Ky. After five U.S. dates, the tour will shift to Europe for 11 dates in May before returning to the states for additional dates (TBA) in June and July.

Fans anxious for a peek at the upcoming tour can tune in to the Country Music Television’s CMT Crossroads: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. The special, scheduled to air Feb. 11, features Plant and Krauss performing songs from Raising Sand, as well as music from each of the artists’ personal catalogs.

Current U.S. tour dates are listed below. Tickets go on sale Jan. 25:

April
20 - Louisville, Ky. @ Palace Theatre
22 - Knoxville, Tenn. @ Knoxville Civic Coliseum
23 - Chattanooga, Tenn. @ Memorial Auditorium
26 - Birmingham, Ala. @ BJCC Arena

Related links:
Paste: Plant & Krauss play Today, talk new record
RobertPlantAlisonKraus.com
Rounder.com

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Unlikely pair creates unexpected gem

After the initial double take, it starts to make sense. Former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant showed an affinity for traditional American folksongs as far back as 1970, when he delivered an idiosyncratic, incendiary version of “Gallows Pole.” The next year he recruited über-folkie Sandy Denny to sing on “The Battle of Evermore,” known ever since as the song right before “Stairway to Heaven.” And folk/bluegrass queen Alison Krauss has long expressed her admiration for ‘70s rock bands like Foreigner and Bad Company.

With the maverick T Bone Burnett producing, Raising Sand sounds little like anything Plant or Krauss have recorded in the past. Burnett aims for atmospheric Daniel Lanois territory, with Marc Ribot’s heavily reverbed guitars and Jay Bellerose’s drums pushed way to the front of the mix. Plant is relatively subdued throughout most of these songs, although the old, familiar banshee wail peeks through at the end of The Everly Brothers’ rockabilly classic “Gone, Gone, Gone.” There are several lovely country duets here—“Killin’ the Blues,” Gene Clark’s eerie “Through The Morning, Through The Night” and Doc Watson’s elegiac “Your Long Journey”—where Robert plays Gram to Alison’s Emmylou. But that’s as close as they come to the expected. More revelatory are Krauss’ splendid R&B turn on Little Milton’s “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson” and Plant’s Dr. John impersonation on Allen Toussaint’s “Fortune Teller”—just two of the many eye-openers on this surprising, and surprisingly effective, collaboration.

If you're still trying to wrap your head around the idea of Led Zeppelin's lead mystic Robert Plant teaming with bluegrass sensation Alison Krauss, we have the video evidence ready. And you know what? It's good stuff.

First of all, Stereogum directs us to video of the duo on the Today Show, performing their cover of the Everly Brothers' "Gone, Gone, Gone." Plant and Krauss haven't yet built that sublime vocal connection that fueled the Everlys' best work, but they still mesh quite well. The video itself takes awhile to load (ads and all). If only NBC had posted the video to its YouTube channel. Oh, wait...

Below, we have Plant and Krauss talking about their collaborative album Raising Sand (out now on Rounder) and working with producer T-Bone Burnett. Quoth Plant: "It just felt good."

Of course, he's also keeping busy with that other erstwhile musical project of his, including iTunes releases and reunion shows. Here's hoping that Page, Jones and Son of Bonham are still in as good of shape as Plant.

Related links:
RobertPlantAlisonKrauss.com
Rounder.com
Paste: Alison Krauss and Union Station - Lonely Runs Both Ways

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