Robert Plant performs second gig with Buddy Miller in San Francisco; circumstances may hint toward Plant's next project

Robert Plant was spotted by a photographer at a mall in Malibu, Calif., for this photo printed by British tabloid The Sun on Sept. 29. Yet four hundred miles from Malibu, Plant made his third and fourth onstage performances all year long in a single weekend. Both times, he played with Nashville session musician Buddy Miller over the weekend in San Francisco, including at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival yesterday.

The San Francisco Chronicle on Sept. 27 highlighted a complete lineup of performers who were scheduled to appear over three days at the free concert at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Almost prophetically, Robert Plant's name did appear in the middle of it all, though not as a scheduled performer.

Update: Footage from the show

He was mentioned only as someone with whom Miller, the expert sideman, has recently played. Other names touted in this capacity were John Fogerty, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris. Interestingly, though, the authors called Miller "a magnet for guests on his set."

During Miller's 11:45 a.m. set on the Towers of Gold stage, Plant was one of two special guests who appeared. He was brought in "to unleash his leather lung wail on the Hank Snow standard 'I'm Movin' On,'" according to Aidan Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle. There's also a remark attributed to Plant in the article: "This is like going to school for me."

As for Miller's other onstage guest during his festival set, Vaziri reports that Emmylou Harris, who later concluded the night with her own set, joined Miller in singing his "Wide River to Cross." Although Miller's tour dates don't reflect it on his own Web site, he'll be accompanying Harris on tour all this month, opening for her.

Plant had also performed in San Francisco on Friday night at a charity show where Miller performed as part of the backing band for Boz Scaggs. Twitter user Stax provided some information about this earlier appearance: "Plant sang several songs with Buddy's band and later sat in with Boz Scaggs and the Blue Velvet Band (with James Cotton). Plant was visibly excited to be sharing the stage with Cotton, singing Jimmy Reed's 'Baby what you want me to do.' To answer your question, yes, one of the songs Plant played with Buddy was 'What You Gonna Do, Leroy.'"

Last year, while Plant and Krauss began their world tour in support of their album Raising Sand, Miller was the capable guitarist at stage right for every show. He did not perform on their album, but Plant did appear on the disc released this March by Buddy and Julie Miller, Written in Chalk.

A year ago, Plant issued a statement saying he would not tour for two years and would not partake in any recording sessions with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones or Jason Bonham. At the time, Led Zeppelin reunion rumors were widely reported in the press, even with one account claiming Plant had agreed to participate in a Zep reunion tour.

Progress on a follow-up album has been the subject of some confusion in recent months. In an interview published in the Sunday Express this August, Krauss was so unsure of how to describe their album because it evidently hadn't yet been recorded and the personnel hadn't yet been nailed down for sure. The Sunday Express's Charlotte Heathcote reported that Plant and Krauss hadn't "even decided whether they should ask influential producer T-Bone Burnett, who gave Raising Sand its stripped-back sound, back on board."

The only date currently on Krauss's official tour schedule is Oct. 12, when she and her band, Union Station, are to perform during the Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. There is no official word on whether Plant will be in Nashville to attend Rounder's celebration.

(Coincidentally, John Paul Jones is scheduled to appear in Nashville exactly one week earlier; he and Them Crooked Vultures are booked for a show at the War Memorial, the band's first show outside of Austin for this tour. From Nashville, the band heads directly to Columbus, Ohio, for a show the following night.)

Over the summer, Krauss and Union Station were recording a new album. A Rounder spokesperson confirmed to LedZeppelinNews.com in June that Krauss was planning to tour with Union Station in 2010.

Robert Plant to join Buddy Miller onstage in San Francisco tonight; John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham also gigging in U.S. this evening

Boz Scaggs is hosting the second of two charity gigs in San Francisco tonight, and word was released only hours in advance that Robert Plant would be making an appearance.

Plant will be sitting in on a song with Buddy Miller, a Nashville native and recent recipient of multiple Americana awards. Miller was part of the touring band that accompanied Plant and Alison Krauss worldwide last year.

Plant really seems to have caught the Buddy Miller bug. Last July, they recorded a track together backstage at one of their gigs. It appeared this March on Buddy's latest album with his wife, Julie Miller. But before that, on Sept. 18, 2008, Plant and Buddy Miller played their song together in front of an audience during their first onstage appearance without Krauss.

The only other times Plant has graced a stage this year were on April 25 at a Womad concert in Abu Dhabi and on Sept. 11 at a charity concert in London, both times with Justin Adams, formerly Plant's guitarist in the Strange Sensation, and Adams's latest touring companion, Gambian musician Juldeh Camara.

Buddy Miller has been doing a lot of things too. The poor guy, who had a heart attack last year, is said to be pulling long hours working every week and suffering from the affliction of not knowing how to say no to people.

But judging from the vacant touring schedule currently shown at www.buddyandjulie.com, he hasn't had anything scheduled since July. This may mean Miller's date book is wide open if Plant suggests they do something a little more permanent together than just tonight's one song at the charity gig.

The other possibility is that Miller simply hasn't gotten his scheduled gigs up on that site and he really is booked. For instance, in addition to assisting Boz Scaggs this week, he's booked to appear at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival tomorrow. There, just as tonight and last night, Miller's part of Boz Scaggs & the Blue Velvet Band, which also features blues harmonica player James Cotton among others. They play at the Rooster Stage at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow, and the festival is a free three-day concert at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Who knows if Plant may show up there too!

Plant's impromptu appearance in San Francisco tonight could not have come on a more interesting night, which is also seeing Jason Bonham at the Mirage in Las Vegas with Slash and Friends, plus John Paul Jones playing twice in one day at the Austin City Limits Festival in Texas: first with Sara Watkins (as confirmed by LedZeppelinNews.com in advance of the set) and second with Them Crooked Vultures. I have been following all three of these events on Twitter tonight.

Buddy Miller, John Fogerty honored at Americana Music Awards

A CD that Robert Plant appears on was named Album of the Year at the 2009 Americana Music Awards ceremony last night.

Multi-instrumentalist and singer Buddy Miller won the Artist of the Year category, while he and his wife Julie Miller picked up Duo/Group of the Year, the category Plant and Alison Krauss claimed a year ago.

Meanwhile, the Buddy and Julie Miller album Written in Chalk received last night's top honor in the Americana Music Association's annual awards ceremony held last night at the Sommet Center in Nashville.

Plant duets with Buddy Miller on one track on that album, "What You Gonna Do Leroy." Also playing lap steel on the track is Gurf Morlix, who was awarded Instrumentalist of the Year.

It was the first time since 2006 that somebody other than Buddy Miller won in that category.

It was another one of Miller's duets on Written in Chalk, with Patty Griffin on the song called "Chalk," that took home Song of the Year. The song was written by Julie Miller.

The Americana Music Association also presented a lifetime achievement award to American rocker John Fogerty. The former Creedence Clearwater Revival singer was on hand to receive the award, one day after performing a surprise set at Nashville's Mercy Lounge.

Miller is among the musicians on Fogerty's latest solo offering, The Blue Ridge Rangers Rides Again. It is the follow-up to a disc of his in 1972.

Plant was not known to be in attendance last night, although it is possible he will rear his head in Nashville again next month as his current record label, Rounder, prepares an evening celebration in honor of the label's 40th anniversary.

Krauss is scheduled to perform with her band, Union Station, at an Oct. 12 event, to be held at the Grand Ole Opry House. The show is to be filmed for an upcoming PBS television special.

As for a second album with Plant and Krauss, it has previously been reported that progress in pre-production this January was sidetracked prior to their Grammy sweep in February.

While Plant was spotted in Nashville midway through the year, a source familiar with behind-the-scenes operations indicated to LedZeppelinNews.com midway through the year that, on one hand, Krauss had "declared a moratorium on all work for 12-18 months with Robert because she wants to do an album and extended tour with Union Station." On the other hand, the source said, Plant was left "frustrated" as he "wants to finish the thing off and be done with it."

The last time Krauss is known to have publicly addressed any further collaboration with Plant came this July, when she commented to the U.K. Telegraph that their second album would "be different, as if we hadn't made the first." The writer of that article said Plant and Krauss had only "listening meetings about potential material" pertaining to their next musical project together.

Robert Plant guest vocal on Buddy & Julie Miller album now available

Robert Plant's guest vocal on Buddy and Julie Miller's song "What You Gonna Do Leroy" is now available for listening and for purchase.

The song, which can be heard in the embedded video above, is available not only on the Millers' album, Written in Chalk, but also as a $0.99 MP3 download.

Buddy Miller, who is recuperating from open heart surgery after a recent heart attack, conducted an interview that is used in an electronic press kit issued by his record label, New West Records (see below).



In the EPK, Miller describes how the collaboration with Plant came about. He says it started with a conversation during Plant's tour last year with Alison Krauss, on which Miller was playing guitar and singing backup:

"Robert just happened to ask, 'Oh, how's it going with the record?' And he said, 'Anything you want me to do? I'm glad to help out. So, I thought about it for a good half-second.

So, I brought out a bunch of mics on the tour, and -- I think it was in Toronto, we had a nice-sized dressing room. So, after our soundcheck at the venue, I asked the guys, 'Hey, can you bring stuff up to the dressing room?' And we moved the pool table out of the way and set up some mics, and he set up a couple of little drums and a bass, and we sang it live, and that's the way it went down. It felt great."

Lyrically, this song echoes the recurring theme present throughout Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song," "Black Dog" and "Black Country Woman." Here, again, is the lovestruck protagonist who brings home his hard-earned pay and gives it to the woman who turns around and gives his money to another man. She's spent his money, took his car. She didn't have to leave him a total disgrace. And the guy, all the while, takes it. He has all the evidence before him saying she's been seeing another man, and yet he can't seem to up and quit her. He admits he should have quit her a long time ago.

"What You Gonna Do Leroy," which bears a traditional country sound, adds some new specifics to the plight of the protagonist, whose name in this instance is Leroy. His woman is getting all fancied up to go to the grocery store when the cabinets were already full. And then there's no word from her by the middle of the night, and she hasn't gotten home. Then she announces she's going to leave home to stay with her mother for a week, but her mother can't confirm this. But instead of leaving this woman (or, perhaps, dumping this never-ending, nagging, doubting woman for another -- for instance, her sister), Leroy finds it sufficient to keep on loving her. His refrain: "Whatcha gonna do when you love a woman like that?"

Miller and Plant trade vocals on the track, sharing and trading off lines and verses. They are joined by fellow touring mates Jay Bellerose on drums, Dennis Crouch on bass, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. Adding lap steel to the track is Gurf Morlix, who once said the following about Plant:

"My theory is if we could somehow remove Robert Plant from the fabric of time, it would therefore remove all the heavy metal stuck-pig-squealing vocals we've been subjected to over the years. Robert Plant was possibly the single most powerful influence on heavy metal. Now, I actually like Robert. I loved the first few Led Zeppelin albums a lot. I think he currently makes good music. He sings well, and is so at ease on stage. He seems very comfortable in his body. I have a lot of respect for Robert.

"We are, of course, speaking hypothetically about cause and effect. I don't think the effect would be all that good for Robert."

On a final note, I find the varying perceptions of Plant among these American musicians hilarious. For all the fun Plant attests to have playing with American musicians, it's funny to find out what they thought of him before they met -- such as in the case of Mike Seeger, who joined Plant and Krauss in recording the final track on Raising Sand. I'll never forget that Seeger told me he didn't know who Plant was before they met in the studio.

Robert Plant to grace two albums set for release in March

Scott Matthews, who supported Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on tour earlier this year, gets a little help from his friend on his upcoming sophomore album. The disc, which is titled Elsewhere, is expected to be released in March and feature one song Matthews had the pleasure of recording with Plant. It is a piece Matthews wrote called "12 Harps."

It is one of two albums to be released in March that feature guest vocals from Plant.

The Galway Advertiser in Ireland last week published a long interview that mentions several things Matthews has in common with Plant. Besides both being singers from the Black Country and fans of the Wolverhampton Wanderers football club, they share some common musical influences.

Both name Jeff Buckley as a powerful and emotional singer, and Matthews's voice has been compared to the late singer's.

As attributed to Matthews in the Galway Advertiser:

"My dad's record collection had a lot of 1960s classics and my mum liked Motown. ... There was always good music in the house. I got into the guitar and discovered Led Zeppelin. I was really into their acoustic stuff like Led Zeppelin III. I got a lot of inspiration from that and the kind of ethnic stuff they did as well.

"I have some issues with my vocals. ... Maybe it's a little insecurity on my part but a lot of people tell me that my voice suits the kind of music I do. Robert Plant himself said that was one of the things he noticed and that he really liked my voice. That was such a good thing to hear and a real boost to my confidence.

"I got to know him before recording the second album and I had a song in mind for him called '12 Harps.' It has leanings towards acoustic Led Zeppelin with mandolins. For me to be singing in the same room with Robert Plant - I was so scared. With [Jimmy] Page, [John Paul] Jones, and [John] Bonham behind him, what he did with his voice back then in Zeppelin is pretty untouchable. The sheer range and dynamic he’s got. He’s 60 now and his voice is more mature and has a real resonance in it. It's one of the stand out tracks on the album!"

Starting tonight, Matthews plays three consecutive nights throughout Ireland, and he says he hopes to play a lot of his new material. He is booked to play at Dolans in Limerick tonight, at Roisin Dubh in Galway tomorrow, at the Spirit Store in Louth on Dec. 6, and at Auntie Annie's in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Dec. 8.

The other track Plant has recorded for another album set to drop in March is called "What You Gonna Do, Leroy." It will be included on Buddy and Julie Miller's Written in Chalk, due March 3 on New West Records.

The track is described in a Dec. 2 press release as "a swampy stomp written by Mel Tillis and originally performed by Lefty Frizzell."

Plant joined Miller onstage on Sept. 18 for a live performance of that song.

This year, Buddy Miller played guitar and pedal steel backing Plant and Alison Krauss on their Raising Sand tour. While Plant and Krauss earned Americana awards in September for Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year, Miller earned his own Americana award for Instrumentalist of the Year.