Raising Sand

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were in Chattanooga's Memorial Auditorium last night. What a concert!! Thanks to Jimmy, who stood in the ticket line early in the morning, we had great seats on the 10th row, center. I don't know what I expected, except that I was fascinated by the idea of these two being on the same stage together. The show, honestly, was pure magic!

Alison Krauss, who has one of the purest voices in any music genre, combined with Plant's intense but now more mellow style produced moments that were really haunting and breathtaking at the same time. Take the "grass" out of bluegrass and add a little gospel to Plant's heavy metal, and you might get an idea of what this collaboration produced - bluesy, spiritual and honky tonk - amazing. This is clearly two seriously seasoned and talented musicians comfortable enough in their own skin to venture into new territory.

The other pleasant surprise for me was that T Bone Burnett was on the stage. He produced their album "Raising Sand" and, at age 60, is going strong and clearly in charge of the band of equally talented musicians including Buddy Miller, Stuart Duncan (who played with Alison as part of Union Station), Dennis Crouch on bass and Jay Bellerose on drums - and, oh by the way, Alison Krauss on fiddle!

The high point of the night for me was Alison singing "Down To the River to Pray" from O Brother, Where Art Thou along with Plant, Miller and Duncan as the backup trio. I could have listened to that one song over and over again.

I'm definitely getting this CD - check it out!
http://www.rounder.com/index.php?id=album.php&catalog_id=7038