When Led Zeppelin icon Robert Plant first released his first collaborative album with country-bluegrass star Alison Krauss entitled ‘Raising Sand’ it was seen as a musical triumph due to beautiful harmony and mesh of different sounds and genres. Even with the different genre pairing, the two worked fantastically together and although their first album as a collaborative unit was released in late 2007, their friendship and bond have continued to this day.
The pairing continued with a new album released late last year entitled ‘Raise The Roof’. That follow-up received generally positive reviews from critics. During a recent interview with The San Diego Union Tribune, Plant touched on the chemistry he has with Krauss and compared that to his contemporaries, such as Bob Dylan back when Dylan toured with the legendary Paul Simon in 1999. Credit to the outlet for the below.
Q: Robert, does Alison’s precision and consistency as a singer serve as a musical anchor that makes it easier for you to make those twists and turns?
Plant: No, not really. I just think whatever it is that’s going on is almost unspoken. And we can’t be that unpredictable or it would sound like a mess, and it doesn’t. There’s no point in going off (track) when you’re singing harmonies because it could be worse than it already is! I can understand Paul Simon’s struggle with Bob Dylan because I think that Bob enjoys himself in his songs. And, normally, he’s singing alone himself, apart from that thing he did with Johnny Cash (in 1969).
Also in the very same interview, Plant continued to discuss their musical chemistry by stating the following:
Plant: “We’re very intuitive… My phrasing is sometimes questionable, so it’s like a workshop we have and it’s really interesting. It’s developed nicely, especially recently when we played through Europe earlier this summer, from Scandinavia to Poland. We came of age as an entity, you and I, Alison, and the band.
