Tag: Lucinda Williams

MIXTAPE: Growing Up Hardly Strictly with ISMAY

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

I consider myself to be amongst the luckiest of music lovers. Growing up, I saw some of the most incredible roots artists from backstage while holding my Jack Russell terrier and playing with my cousins. When I was 8 years old, my grandfather Warren started a free bluegrass festival in San Francisco called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. These artists shaped me since they were the first ones I watched perform, but the connection went on to become even deeper. When my grandfather passed away in 2011 I started performing music, and the larger community of Hardly Strictly was where I found my encouragers and mentors.

This is a compilation of the artists who I heard from and listened to as a child, and those whose songs I learned when I first became a musician. – ISMAY (AKA Avery Hellman)

“Dark Turn of Mind” – Gillian Welch

Just after high school I spent time working on some small homesteads with a farm labor trade for room and board. This was the same time that The Harrow & the Harvest by Gillian Welch came out – a literary masterpiece. Every time I listen to this record it reminds me of those homesteads and my borrowed car with a faulty battery. It brings me back to the day I arrived late to a new farm in West Virginia while my roommate was still sleeping and how odd it felt to be in a house with a stranger. I got up in the morning to make sourdough toast with an egg wondering what that person who was asleep in the loft of that ’80s wood cabin would think of me.

“Concrete And Barbed Wire” – Lucinda Williams

In the ’90s I was fortunate that my mom had great music taste. She took us around in a magenta suburban car and played Lucinda Williams. She said us kids used to sing along with silly accents to the words “concrete and barbed wire.” It took me another 20 years to fully appreciate Lucinda Williams and the masterful lyricist she is. Over the last four years, I’ve been working on a documentary about her, and it’s been so rewarding, because Lucinda’s music is the kind that gets better the more you know it.

“Dallas” – The Flatlanders

My grandfather was not a professional musician for most of his life, but in the final years he played in a bluegrass band with his friend Jimmie Dale Gilmore. What a kind man Jimmie is, with a voice that reminds me of a dove fluttering away. Because of this relationship he had with my grandfather, I heard about this record Jimmie made with his band The Flatlanders that was lost for 40 years. It was raw and made me feel like I was under a tin roof in Texas. It’s said that this tape helped mark the birth of alt-country.

“The Times They Are A-Changin'” – Odetta

A few years ago I was asked to perform at an event that compared and contrasted Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. I’m more of a Cohen person, so I had more trouble finding a Dylan song that felt like it would fit my feel. That was when I came upon this remarkable Odetta cover and I was inspired. She changed the whole feel of the song to make it her own. In 2008, she performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass just two months before she passed away, it was one of the final times she ever performed.

“St. James Hospital” – Doc Watson

I know that most people know Doc for his flatpicking, but I’ve always been much more drawn to the fingerpicking style of guitar in general. “St. James Hospital” feels like a fascinating departure from the more well known Doc Watson performances, and I love hearing him playing in a less linear fashion. This shows he can do it all. In the music that I’ve recorded I sometimes feel a bit out-of-the-norm and nowhere-to-belong, but this song feels similar to one I recorded called “A Song in Praise of Sonoma Mountain.” Hearing “St. James Hospital” makes me feel less out-on-a-limb in roots music.

“Permanent” – Kenneth Pattengale & Joey Ryan (The Milk Carton Kids)

As I started playing music I found this record by The Milk Carton Kids before they had that name, and played under Kenneth Pattengale & Joey Ryan. Listening to this song now, it is still unreal that it was all recorded live at a concert. It was deeply inspiring to see artists like Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings generating a new live sound that was somehow very modern and yet felt like a continuation of original folk music. As if the ’80s and ’90s had never happened! What a gift. Then, seeing The Milk Carton Kids take that torch and carry it on was so exciting for me as a 19 year old.

“Boulder to Birmingham” – Emmylou Harris

I listen to Emmylou every year on Sunday night at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. Her silver hair and steadiness feel beyond time. I can’t believe she is still here, with that same strong presence since I was just 8 years old. As a performer she has a strong sense of worthiness to the audience, a sense of mutual respect for the relationship between listener and performer. I hope that I can hold just a bit of her steadiness within myself.

“Restless” – Alison Krauss & Union Station

I was in 6th grade and didn’t much enjoy recess out on the playground. I brought my CDs over to an empty classroom, and sat in the back listening to Alison Krauss & Union Station. Sometimes I’d show these CDs to my friends. This was before I figured out that it was cooler to be listening to rock music. But I loved that music, and the songs were amongst the first I tried to learn in singing lessons.

“The Silver Dagger” – Old Crow Medicine Show

Old Crow Medicine Show was playing at Hardly Strictly as they rose up in mainstream culture. I appreciate the edge that this recording preserves. There’s even a moment where it sounds like someone might have dropped something or hit their instrument on another (01:35). I wish more recordings kept imperfections preserved within them.

“Pretty Bird” – Hazel Dickens

Part of the reason that my grandfather started Hardly Strictly Bluegrass was because of his love of Hazel Dickens. They were from very different backgrounds, but they became friends and saw the common humanity in one another through music. She played every year until she died. This is my favorite song of hers. What is beautiful to me about Hazel’s take on bluegrass is the imperfections and raw emotion. She brought her whole self to the song.

“Harlem River Blues” – Justin Townes Earle 

I can still picture Justin on the stage with his impeccably curated suits. Back around 2018, I opened a show for him in Santa Cruz, California. He drove up to the venue in a red convertible, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. Just a guy and his ride. He was very kind to me and I wish I had more chances to see him play again. May his music never fade away.

“Tiniest Lights” – Angel Olsen 

When I was 20, I went into a record shop in Ohio. The guy there said they only really carry more obscure records. No problem, I thought, I was here for Captain Beefheart and PJ Harvey. But when I asked, he said those artists were too well known. He pointed me towards Angel Olsen and I heard something in songwriting I had never heard before. My world opened up, and I knew there was so much more that was possible after listening to “Tiniest Lights.” She performed at Hardly Strictly in 2015 and her voice was as real and penetrating as the recordings.

“If I Needed You” – Lyle Lovett

What’s better than Lyle Lovett playing a Townes Van Zandt song?? We listened to Lyle a bunch when I was a kid. No, I’m not from Texas, but I do love those Texas songwriters.

“Long Ride Home” – Patty Griffin

The first time I performed at Hardly Strictly (although somewhat tangentially) was at an artist after party. I chose this song, because it had a fun fancy guitar line I could play with my beginner fingers. Someone who was performing came up and said they thought I was talented. I think that might have changed my life right there. It was the first time anyone had come up to me and said I was good enough to do this as a job, not to mention amongst professional musicians.

“Are You Sure” – Willie Nelson

Willie played Hardly Strictly in 2003 and I remember that big black bus sitting behind the main stage. I can’t even imagine the thrill of the audience members, his fans are as dedicated as they come. I heard this song at a recently released film that is fantastic called To Leslie.

“Little Bird of Heaven” – Reeltime Travellers

This band was part of that wave of old-time style artists that came at the same time as Hardly Strictly. The vocals are so unexpected, but real and honest. One of their band members became a mentor of mine and helped me get my start in the music business and I am forever grateful.

“Essay Man” and “The Golden Palomino” – ISMAY

These are two songs from my latest release, Desert Pavement, that would never have happened if it weren’t for Hardly Strictly. I am trying to find my way with my own version of folk, and can’t help but be inspired at what a rich trove of artists I have to draw from.

Photo Credit: Aubrey Trinnaman

BGS Class of 2023: Reading Recommendations

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

I call January my reading month. To be clear, I do of course still scan words and decipher syntax throughout the remaining 11 months that fill the calendar, but I always seem to start and finish the most books in the first month of the year. I don’t think it’s because I have a romantic notion of what my new self will be like in this new year – always reading and writing more or doing xyz to “better” myself (though if I’m being honest, that’s probably part of it). Rather, I think it’s more so that in the hangover of the holidays, when the gatherings are over, and there are months of dreary winter to look forward to, I take comfort in the ability to transport myself to another time or place, or simply get lost in someone’s thoughts for hours at a time. 

This community, as much as any, understands the import of passing stories on – allowing a new generation to take the torch and keep honored traditions burning while evolving its culture and extinguishing the shameful parts of its priors. That’s why we at BGS compile notable books that tell the stories by or about these genres’ songs and songwriters and the scenes, places, and events that made them. 

Maybe you’re like me, looking for ideas of books to get lost in this winter, or maybe you are looking for a way to turn the page on the calendar and become your most “badass self” (we’ve got a book for that). You might be here looking for a last minute gift idea for that special music-loving person in your life. In all those cases, you’ve come to the right place! 

We’ve got a book by an esteemed songwriter who waxes poetic on the art form he loves. We’ve got titles about how certain times in certain places scenes have blossomed and sub-genres formed so palpable that listeners can identify a song by its roots. We’ve got biographies of famous musicians, and some of whom have looked back at their own lives and careers. Find all that and more in our list of reading recommendations, organized by categories below: 

Sense of Place

Night Train to Nashville: The Greatest Untold Story of Music City, Paula Blackman

Drawing on stories from her grandfather, E. Gab Blackman, a 30-year radio executive at WLAC, Paula Blackman shares the story of how the Nashville radio station became a pioneering source for Black rhythm and blues music in the 1940s and ‘50s. Seeing the opportunity to reach a more diverse audience – not, as Paula notes, to be a “white savior” – Gab teamed up with disc jockey Gene Nobles to play “race records.” In Night Train, Blackman also profiles William Sousa “Sou” Bridgeforth, the owner of New Era Club, a prominent Black nightclub in Nashville that blossomed as a result of the new artists being spun on WLAC airwaves, many of whom were introduced to Gab by Sou. Fitting that the story of Nashville, in the time leading up to the civil rights era, is told through the music played on the AM radio speakers throughout the city. 

This Must Be the Place: Music, Community and Vanished Spaces in New York City, Jesse Rifkin

Country and Midwestern: Chicago in the History of Country Music and the Folk Revival, Mark Guarino

In Their Own Words

World Within a Song: Music That Changed My Life and Life That Changed My Music, Jeff Tweedy

Wilco frontman and New York Times bestselling author Jeff Tweedy follows up on Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back) and How To Write One Song with a gushing love letter to songs. In it, Tweedy dedicates chapters to many (but clearly not close to all) of the songs that have resonated deeply with him for one reason or another. From Bob Dylan to Billie Eilish, from The Clash to ABBA, Tweedy sheds any and all pretense of what might be considered “cool” in his selections. 

Wayward: Just Another Life to Live, Vashti Bunyan

In Wayward, Vashti Bunyan, an English singer-songwriter, recounts her early career in the mid ’60s leading to her debut release, Just Another Diamond Day, in 1970. Disillusioned by its lack of success (at the time) and the fact that her songs, life, and career were all dictated by men, she left the music industry entirely before re-emerging in the early 2000s. Pick this up for the story of what happened in between, how she reclaimed her life, and is taking her second act in music on her own terms. 

Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You: A Memoir, Lucinda Williams

3-time Grammy award-winning songwriter and now New York Times best-selling author, Lucinda Williams, recounts her upbringing and bumpy ride to fame. Once getting feedback from a record company who said her music was “too country for rock and too rock for country,” Williams stayed the course, and became one of the greatest and most influential songwriters of our time.

On Banjo: Recollections, Licks and Solos, Ben Eldridge

Born in Richmond, VA, Ben Eldridge fell in love with roots music watching WRVA’s Old Dominion Barn Dance. In this memoir-meets-tablature book, he recalls his path from upbringing to moving to D.C. to become a mathematician, and ultimately going from jam sessions to forming a group that would change bluegrass henceforth – the Seldom Scene. This conversational book with pictures that set the scenes even comes with licks and transcriptions for banjo playing fans. 

TransElectric: My Life as a Cosmic Rock Star, Cidny Bullens

This book starts with a bang! And I’m not even talking about the foreword from Elton John. As just a 24-year-old Cidny (then referred to as Cindy) had shown up uninvited to a live recording session for Dr. John at Cherokee Studios in Hollywood, and eventually found himself starting an impromptu jam with Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, Dr. John, and Joe Cocker. This retrospective traces his arc from a backing vocal career in the drug-fueled ’70s for the likes of Elton John and Rod Stewart, and having trouble finding his footing as a solo artist who had expectations of how a woman could behave and perform. Bullens settled into the life of a typical suburban mom, experienced a personal tragedy, and eventually found his true voice. 

Nashville City Blues: My Journey as an American Songwriter, James Talley

Biographies & Histories

Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the ’70s 

George Harrison: The Reluctant Beatle, Philip Norman

Oh, Didn’t They Ramble: Rounder Records and the Transformation of American Roots Music, David Menconi

Oh Didn’t They Ramble chronicles the comprehensive history of the quintessential folk record label for the last 50-plus years. With extensive access to Rounder artists, staff, and founders Ken Irwin, Marian Leighton Levy, and Bill Nowlin, BGS contributor David Menconi is able to tell Rounder’s story, from its humble but audacious and idealistic beginnings to becoming one of the most influential record labels in the history of recorded music. 

The Downhome Sound: Diversity and Politics in Americana Music, Mandi Bates Bailey

How-Tos

Light Beams: A Workbook for Being Your Badass Self, Valerie June

Like I mentioned, this workbook/journal might be coming just at the right time as you resolve to become your most “badass self.” But even if you’re reading this well into the new year, then there’s no time like the present! Published on Jack White’s Third Man Books, Valerie June’s Light Beams offers its readers “contracts and agreements, self-healing wishes and spells, and maps and prescriptions in exercises” on a journey to self-love and waking up with a promise of choosing kindness and shining like a “badass.”

Y’all Eat Yet?: Welcome to the Pretty B*tchin’ Kitchen, Miranda Lambert

How To Produce A Record: A Player’s Philosophy For Making A Great Recordings, Pete Anderson

Other

Western Chill, Robert Earl Keen

As a set that features a double sleeve album, a DVD with music videos for every song, a graphic, illustrated novel that explains the writing process, and a songbook with lyrics, notes, and chords so the purchaser can play along, this title certainly belongs in a category of its own. 

 

Photos: AmericanaFest Pre-Grammy Salute to Lucinda Williams

Posted on by Justin Hiltner

Few artists are more associated with Americana music than Lucinda Williams, even as her incredible career is hard to categorize. Her Grammy wins range from Best Country Song (“Passionate Kisses”) to Best Contemporary Folk Album  (Car Wheels on a Gravel Road) to Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (“Get Right With God”). Just a few days following her 70th birthday, the Americana Music Association hosted an impressive all-star tribute concert at the fabled Troubadour club in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 4. The intimate performances underscored Williams’ versatility as a songwriter, with each of the performers putting their own personal stamp on her songs without ever losing the straightforward and often sensual lyricism that she’s known for.

Enjoy photos from the AMERICANAFEST Pre-Grammy Salute to Lucinda Williams:

All Photos: Erika Goldring, Courtesy of the Americana Music Association.

LISTEN: Schaefer Llana, “It’s Gonna Take Some Time”

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Schaefer Llana
Hometown: Batesville, Mississippi
Song: “It’s Gonna Take Some Time”
Release Date: October 26, 2022
Label: Big Legal Mess Records

In Their Words: “I was on the road with Jimbo Mathus, playing in his rock n roll band. We were outside of Boston, and I was missing the love of my life — my dog Ralph Stanley. Jimbo was sleeping in the back of the Murder Van, and the rest of the band had gone off to explore the city. I stayed back, grabbed the van’s Stella guitar, and found a patch of grass. Lucinda Williams was the only thing I was listening to that week, and I think she moved through me when I started strumming. The words fell out of my mouth. I showed Jimbo my song when he woke up, and we started playing it a few nights later.” — Schaefer Llana

Photo Credit: Ziggy Mack

LISTEN: The Tallest Man On Earth, “Metal Firecracker” (Lucinda Williams Cover)

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Tallest Man On Earth
Hometown: Dalarna, Sweden
Song: “Metal Firecracker” (Lucinda Williams cover)
Album: Too Late for Edelweiss
Release Date: September 23, 2022
Label: ANTI-

In Their Words: “This past year, I’ve spent a lot of time touring but also writing and recording an album that I’m wildly proud of and which will see the light of day eventually. But in the small hours in between trips and sessions, mostly in my house in Sweden and an AirBnb in North Carolina, I lo-fi recorded some covers here and there. Many times as a reset button for my own song writing, to cleanse the palate from my whirlpool mind while writing songs. A little document of songs I had on my mind during those nights.

“I was in the middle of my teenage punk rock years when somehow a copy of Car Wheels On a Gravel Road made it into my stereo. Little did I know at the moment it would stay in there for 24 years and counting, being one of the most important albums in my wildly shuffled bag of influences.” — Kristian Matsson, The Tallest Man On Earth

Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez

BGS 5+5: Sophie & the Broken Things

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Sophie & the Broken Things
Hometown: Nashville, Tennessee
Latest Album: Delusions of Grandeur

Answers by: Sophie Gault

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

Lucinda Williams. In high school, I had the 1998 Austin City Limits DVD with the Car Wheels band, and every night I’d stay up for hours playing my guitar with it on repeat. It was like this world I could escape to and I learned a lot from it, from guitar playing to singing to songwriting. That was the most formative thing ever for me, musically.

What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

My fondest memory of being on stage is getting to play at Americanafest last year where I got to sing with Logan Ledger and trade guitar licks with Jules Belmont.

What inspired your new single, “Golden Rule”?

I got home late one night from my mail sorting job and came up with the melody. Then I kept working on the words on my drives from Nashville to La Vergne where my job was. I really wanted to write a song for working-class people. And I mentioned DC because it’s a really nostalgic place for me. My mom used to work at a healthcare nonprofit there and I went to preschool there. They used to take us on day trips to the free museums, the Capitol, the Lincoln Memorial, and other landmarks. I remember one of the preschool teachers writing the Golden Rule on a chalkboard and teaching what it meant. That’s a vivid memory. I really love the wind chime percussion on this. Lemmy Hayes makes all his own percussion so it’s always exciting to see what he’s going to choose.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

When I was 12 I had a crush on this guy who liked Linkin Park. I wanted to impress him so I decided to learn the guitar. I don’t think it ever worked but I stuck with it anyway, haha.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

A bowl of Tom Yum soup and Shovels & Rope.

Photo Credit: Laura Partain

BGS 5+5: Lisa Lambe

Posted on by Editor

Artist name: Lisa Lambe
Hometown: Dublin, Ireland
Latest Album: Wild Red

Which artist has influenced you the most … and how?

I always say Joni Mitchell taught me how to sing! Since I was 15 years old, I have listened to Joni Mitchell. She is a true poet with a golden voice and she is a true artist. Her songwriting is a huge inspiration. I remember being 15 years old and hearing Blue for the first time. I think that was a really defining moment for me — hearing an artist with a voice like Joni’s and a songwriting canvas beyond anything I had ever heard.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

When I was 3 years old, I stepped on the stage of the old Victorian theatre in Dublin to be in my first theatre show. I think since that moment really I knew what I wanted to do! I think in my teenage years listening to Joni, Stevie Nicks, Lucinda Williams, Jean Ritchie, Kate Bush and Emmylou Harris, it was a real time of music discovery for me. Coming to Nashville to make my first solo album, Hiding Away, in 2015 was a special defining time — and although at this point I was an established musician for many years then, it seemed like all the roads were leading to Nashville and a place that musically was so important and inspiring to me for a long time.

 

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What’s your favorite memory from being on stage?

I love the intimacy of small shows, but equally I think one of the great memories was performing at Red Rocks in Colorado. At one point in the show to hear the wave of sound of the crowd singing back to me on stage in that natural amphitheatre in the balmy summer air was something kind of magical. One of the nicest shows ever!

Which elements of nature do you spend the most time with and how do those impact your work?

Nature is a huge element in my songwriting, mostly because I tend to write my albums in quiet rural places where the landscape is a huge part of the vista and the feeling. This current album, Wild Red, was written in the wilds of West Cork, Ireland, on the edge of the southernmost part of the country, looking out to the wild Atlantic. The songs are inspired by being immersed in the landscape and nature. Local folklore and old stories are also part of the tapestry of this current album, and if you listen closely, you can hear the crackling fire in the background of some of the songs!

What other art forms — literature, film, dance, painting, etc. — inform your music?

I studied acting and drama in Trinity College Dublin so theatre and dance are a huge part of who I am as an artist and performer. Telling stories is something really important to me and especially telling a story through song. It’s always about the story! Wild Red is inspired by a lot of local folklore and old stories, and for me, that was just a real gift to be able to take inspiration from things around me and craft new ideas from the lore that is so steeped in the fabric of the West Cork landscape.

Photo Credit: Dora Kazmierak

BGS 5+5: Noel McKay

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Noel McKay
Hometown: My hometown is really the little Central Texas Hill Country community of Pipe Creek. I currently live in Nashville, Tennessee.
Latest album: Blue, Blue, Blue
Personal Nicknames: I think that in the US, Noel is a sufficiently unusual name that I never really got a nickname. It’s a fairly common name in the UK, as it turns out.

Which artist has influenced you the most… and how?

The artist that influenced me the most is Guy Clark. Guy took a shine to one of my songs when I was a young songwriter. He did a lot of nice things for me and I won’t ever forget it. As I began to dig into his catalog, I realized the depth of his work. Of course, I will never live up to the expectations that come from being spoken about favorably by such an amazing writer but, every day, I try to anyway.

Since food and music go so well together, what is your dream pairing of a meal and a musician?

With the pairing of food and music in mind, I would love to sit and eat Cajun food with Lucinda Williams somewhere in the Atchafalaya Basin. So much of her work has had a huge impact on me.

What was the first moment that you knew you wanted to be a musician?

The moment I knew I wanted to be a performing songwriter was when I was 11 or 12 and hearing Randy Newman’s records Sail Away and Good Old Boys. The very sharp expressions of his worldview really appealed to me and made me feel like it was possible to sing about something besides hedonism. Up to that point, the TV show WKRP in Cincinnati had been showing me a sort of cartoonish example what musicians were supposed to be like.

What rituals do you have, either in the studio or before a show?

I have a few rituals in the recording studio. When cutting basics, I find that it’s best to avoid caffeine for the purposes of keeping a relaxed vibe. When singing, I do lots of breathing and drink tons of water. When in mixing, I like to have books with lots of pictures, i.e., vintage guitars, famous painters’ works, sculpture, archaeology, things that allow me to be partially distracted so that my ear remains engaged, but I don’t micromanage or obsess over a small part of the bigger song picture.

If you had to write a mission statement for your career, what would it be?

If there’s a mission statement for my career, it is this: “You Do It Or You Don’t.” I’ve tried both.

Photo credit: Aisha Golliher

LISTEN: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “High and Lonesome”

Posted on by Editor

Artists: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Song: “High and Lonesome” (written by Robert Plant and T Bone Burnett)
Album: Raise the Roof
Release Date: November 19, 2021
Label: Rounder Records

In Their Words: “It’s such a far cry from everything I’ve done before. I love the whole kaleidoscope of music that I’ve explored, but this is a place where you can think within the song, you can decide how to bring home an emotion. It’s another blend that we’ve got, and long may we have more of them.” — Robert Plant

“One of my favorite parts of this is the songs and songwriters that I had never heard of. Working with Robert, and with T Bone, is always a great education in music history.” — Alison Krauss

Editor’s Note: Plant and Krauss’ 2007 album, Raising Sand, won six Grammy Awards. Like its predecessor, Raise the Roof was produced by T Bone Burnett, and features twelve new recordings of songs by legends and unsung heroes such as Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, Anne Briggs, Geeshie Wiley, Bert Jansch, and more. The collection also includes “Can’t Let Go,” written by Randy Weeks and first recorded by Lucinda Williams.

Photo credit: David McClister

LISTEN: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, “Can’t Let Go”

Posted on by Editor

Artists: Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Song: “Can’t Let Go”
Album: Raise the Roof
Release Date: November 19, 2021
Label: Rounder Records

In Their Words: “We wanted it to move. We brought other people in, other personalities within the band, and coming back together again in the studio brought a new intimacy to the harmonies.” — Alison Krauss

“You hear something and you go ‘Man, listen to that song, we got to sing that song!’ It’s a vacation, really — the perfect place to go that you least expected to find.” — Robert Plant

Editor’s Note: Plant and Krauss’ 2007 album, Raising Sand, won six Grammy Awards. Like its predecessor, Raise The Roof was produced by T Bone Burnett, and features twelve new recordings of songs by legends and unsung heroes including Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, Anne Briggs, Geeshie Wiley, Bert Jansch and more. The collection also includes a Plant-Burnett original, “High and Lonesome,” and “Can’t Let Go,” written by Randy Weeks and first recorded by Lucinda Williams.

Photo credit: Frank Melfi