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Robert Plant
Carry Fire
Though Robert Plant has returned to the Welsh borders, he retains the sensibility—and the soul—of an itinerant troubadour. His diverse musical points of reference stand out like pins on a map, from Austin, Texas to Timbuktu, Mali. Plant treasures transience. On his second Nonesuch album, Carry Fire, Plant reflects on the experiences, the emotions and the sounds of where he’s been, and he ruminates on where he—and our world—might be headed. Bittersweet songs of love remembered and of time passing, are juxtaposed against cautionary tales, of people and nations that have failed to learn the familiar lessons of history. “I’ve filled many British passports,” says Plant. “It’s like I’m just moving through the spheres. I feel like a mariner who has spent so much time in so many different ports of call, experiencing so many different adventures and scenarios. So perhaps this collection is more ‘pictures at twelve’ rather than ‘pictures at eleven’.” “May Queen” starts the album on an upbeat note, percussive psychedelic folk, with Plant’s vocal alternating between seductive and yearning. “Carry Fire,” on the other hand, is a kind of haunted desert blues, bolstered by a pulsing rhythm, ghostly backing voices, and a viola chasing the melody of an electric oud. The anthemic rock beat of “New World” visits the everlasting story of immigration, expansion and the disastrous effects on existing cultures. “Carving Up The World Again” is a more contemporary glimpse of “trouble at the border” and the futile palisades and walls. The sole cover is a pounding, trip hop-style take on Ersel Hickey’s 1957 sweet and simple rockabilly hit, “Bluebirds Over The Mountain,” reconceived as an otherworldly duet for Plant and the Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde, two iconic voices that intertwine beautifully. Once again Plant collaborates with the Sensational Space Shifters, his well-matched band of brilliant, eclectic players with whom he’s been touring, on and off, since 2002: longtime guitarist Justin Adams, keyboardist-programmer John Baggott, bassist Billy Fuller, drummer Dave Smith, and guitarist Liam “Skin” Tyson. Collectively, the group—which evolved out of an earlier Plant backing combo, Strange Sensation—has its roots in folk and world music, and the still-influential Bristol Sound of Massive Attack and Portishead, propelled by the juggernaut Howling Wolf/Led Zep legacy. Even before they’d developed a repertoire of their own, Plant and the Space Shifters had a unique live sound, a heady mix of American roots music, Celtic folk, reverberating trip hop, and hypnotic Middle Eastern and African grooves. They employed this sonic arsenal to reinterpret old blues standards, Led Zeppelin classics, and Plant’s earlier solo work at festivals and on concert tours. That exploratory approach became the foundation for Plant’s acclaimed 2014 Nonesuch debut, lullaby….and the Ceaseless Roar, his first album of original compositions since 2005. On Carry Fire, Plant and the Space Shifters make what Plant calls “a mélange a trois”: “It’s a very British thing, the Bristol thing and then the element of North African and West African drum rhythms brought together with plaintive melodies.” Plant added a new voice to this polyglot sound by inviting fiddle and viola player Seth Lakeman, a luminary of the British folk scene, as a guest star on these sessions, much as he did with Gambian musician Juldeh Camara, on lullaby. While Plant wrote the words, the group collectively brainstormed the basic tracks, encouraged by Plant to bring the same sense of fearlessness and spontaneity they display on stage. As guitarist Justin Adams told the New York Times, Plant “can create an atmosphere where suddenly lightning is more likely to strike. In collaborative music, it’s often not a question of careful writing and composition and all these sorts of things. It’s more the spirit of the moment when things come together in a flash. And he’s an expert on that.” “Some things were really spontaneous.” Plant corroborates. “I’d been singing ‘Bluebirds’ live with the band for a while. I approached Chrissie because I wanted a female voice. It’s such a retro-esque part for her, a 1957 rockabilly song…and now we’ve screwed it to the ground and put it through the Bristol sonic mill. That one came straight away. And ‘Carry Fire’ was very immediate. Justin has a beautiful electric oud line from which it developed. I’m inspired by the rhythmic grooves we create. We specialize in hypnotic moments of atmosphere and sounds. And of course there’s the bendir”—a North African hand drum—“underneath many of these rhythms”. Plant produced the album himself with contributions from all the musicians, with the help of engineer Tim Oliver, who was also on board for lullaby. With Oliver, Plant assembled layers of backing vocal tracks. They provide a lushness to the otherwise brooding “A Way With Words,” enhance the dreamy sensuality of “Season’s Song,” and help to dial up the romantic drama of “Dance With You Tonight.” Plant even uses some unlikely pop harmonies to serve as counterpoint to the main voice on “New World.” “We recorded it in a studio next to Peter Gabriel’s ‘Real World,’ not far from Bristol and Bath in the West Country. It’s a real hive of industry there. Working alongside the main studios, we’d encounter many artists from around the world. It’s an inspiring atmosphere. You meet Welsh singers, African players from Niger, and American Bluegrass goddesses passing through. It’s a creative place”. Plant has never been an artist to rest on his laurels. He’s a multiple Grammy Award winner, most recently for Raising Sand, his collaboration with Alison Krauss; as a member of Led Zeppelin, he’s a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee; and, in a 2011 Rolling Stone poll, readers named him the top rock vocalist of all time. On the closing track, “Heaven Sent”—a song he calls “the anthem of my being”—he describes a restless, journeying spirit: “All that’s worth the doing is seldom easy done/All that’s worth the winning is seldom easy won…” “It’s about intention,” said Plant of his latter-day career and his current work. “I rejoice in my previous work but must continue the journey to new worlds, after all there are so many songs that are yet to be written. The whole impetus of the band has shifted, moved on its axis somewhat to allow more air and light to come in. Ultimately that makes for more exciting, and interesting landscapes of mood, melody and instrumentation.
—Michael Hill
ROBERT PLANT ANNOUNCES NORTH AMERICAN TOUR
HEADLINE DATES BEGIN SEPTEMBER 17 IN PHILADELPHIA, PA
WITH NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS
FESTIVAL APPEARANCES ALSO SET THROUGH SEPTEMBER
PRESALES BEGIN WEDNESDAY, MAY 8 AT 10 AM (LOCAL)
GENERAL ON-SALE STARTS FRIDAY, MAY 10 AT 10 AM (LOCAL)
Robert Plant has announced a series of North American dates. The tour – which once again sees him accompanied by The Sensational Space Shifters – begins September 13 at the Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival in Fredericton, NB, with headlining dates starting September 17 at The Mann Center in Philadelphia, PA with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats. Headlining and festival dates then continue through September and into October, culminating October 3 at the Les Schwab Amphitheater in Bend, OR.
Fan presales begin tomorrow, May 8 at 10 am (local) – fans can sign up for access now at www.robertplant.com. Local pre-sales follow on Thursday, May 9 at 10 am (local). All presales conclude Thursday, May 9 at 10 pm (local). All remaining tickets will be released to the general public on Friday, May 10 at 10 am (local). For complete details and ticket availability, please see www.robertplant.com.
In addition, Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters will appear at a number of upcoming North American festivals, including among others: Fredericton, NB’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival (September 13), Indianapolis, IN’s Outlaw Music Festival (September 20), and Louisville, KY’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival (September 21).
ROBERT PLANT AND THE SENSATIONAL SPACE SHIFTERS
NORTH AMERICAN TOUR 2019
SEPTEMBER
13 – Fredericton, NB – Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival *
17 – Philadelphia, PA – The Mann Center #
20 – Indianapolis, IN – Outlaw Music Festival *
21 – Louisville, KY – Bourbon & Beyond Festival *
23 – Clear Lake, IA – Surf Ballroom
25 – Moorhead, MN – Bluestem Center For The Arts Amphitheatre
27 – Missoula, MT – KettleHouse Amphitheater
29 – Spokane, WA – First Interstate Center For The Arts
OCTOBER
1 – Salt Lake City, UT – Eccles Theater
3 – Bend, OR – Les Schwab Amphitheater
* FESTIVAL PERFORMANCE
# CO-HEADLINE WITH NATHANIEL RATELIFF AND THE NIGHT SWEATS
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Plant’s internationally acclaimed latest album, Carry Fire, is available via Nonesuch/Warner Bros. at all digital music retailers and streaming services, as well as via www.robertplant.com. Rolling Stone named the album among the “50 Best Albums of 2017,” writing, “With a title that evokes primal discovery and heroic burden,Carry Fire finds Plant nuancing the mystic stomp of yore for darkening times…It proves that Plant’s athletic power, like his musical idealism, burns undiminished.”
2018 saw Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters draw ecstatic critical acclaim at each and every stop of the epic Carry Fire world tour. Brooklyn Vegan declared Plant to be “ageless and ever-evolving,” adding, “Plant’s legendary pipes are still capable of scaling heights, and the Sensational Space Shifters are an impressive collection of multi-instrumentalists more than capable of living up to one of rock’s most enduring legacies.” “Using Americana blues as its foundation, (Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters) were a combined force of musical contradictions that they blended into a unified and glorious force of nature,” wrote The Aquarian Weekly. “Sporting a boyish grin, Plant delighted in challenging the crowd to take on the Space Shifters dynamic flow of its arrangements like a rock ‘n’ roll shaman.” Uproxx simply declared Plant to be “the greatest singer in rock and roll history, filling the atmosphere in each space with his iconic voice, a little deeper in register than it once was perhaps, but no less powerful or engrossing. His innate understanding of dynamics and control defy comprehension. He oozes charisma, dashing off jokes in between song, while cradling and sashaying his mic stand like a newfound lover… While the mane might be a little grayer than it used to be, this lion can still roar with the best of them.” “One of the great frontmen in rock and roll history, Plant commands the stage with a youthful exuberance, twirling the mic stand and working the crowd into a frenzy,” raved Forbes, noting, “Robert Plant has consistently tried new things, nostalgia be damned…Things are far more interesting when he follows his muse wherever it leads.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT ROBERTPLANT.COM AND NONESUCH.COM
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ROBERT PLANT ANNOUNCES DIGGING DEEP BOX SET
LIMITED EDITION 7″ SINGLES COLLECTION INCLUDES 16 HITS AND RARE B SIDES,
REMASTERED VERSIONS AVAILABLE ON VINYL FOR THE FIRST TIME
EIGHT-DISC BOX SET CELEBRATES SECOND SEASON
PREMIERE OF ACCLAIMED PODCAST,
DIGGING DEEP WITH ROBERT PLANT
PRE-ORDERS AVAILABLE NOW
DIGGING DEEP WITH ROBERT PLANT SEASON TWO PREMIERES TODAY
DIGGING DEEP BOX SET ARRIVES ON DECEMBER 13
Robert Plant is celebrating the second season of his hugely popular podcast, Digging Deep with Robert Plant, with the release of a very special limited edition 7’’ singles box set. DIGGING DEEP includes 16 A-sides and rare B-sides spanning three decades, remastered versions available on vinyl for the first time. The eight-disc collection also features restored artwork from the original 7’’ releases, packaged in a bespoke hardback book. DIGGING DEEP will be available worldwide via Plant’s own EsParanza label on Friday, December 13; pre-orders are available now.
PRE-ORDER DIGGING DEEP
DIGGING DEEP collects two songs from each of Plant’s eight acclaimed solo albums, highlighted by 10 iconic tracks which reached the top 10 on Billboard’s “Rock Songs” chart, including the #1 classics, “Little By Little,” “Tall Cool One,” and “Hurting Kind.” The box set also includes a number of songs featured on Digging Deep with Robert Plant, including “Big Log” and “Tin Pan Valley,” both of which are discussed at length in the podcast’s second season.
Digging Deep with Robert Plant begins its second season today with the premiere of a brand new episode. Five additional new episodes will be rolled out in the coming weeks, culminating with the official release of DIGGING DEEP.
Robert Plant’s music is the result of a lifetime striding around the globe, from The Midlands to Morocco, from Nashville to North Wales, and the influences and friends collected along the way can be heard in his songs. Digging Deep with Robert Plant sees him delving into his back catalogue to revisit tracks from this remarkable history while also telling stories of inspiration, collaboration, and intervention. The podcast has fast proven a popular and critical success, with its first season earning close to 1 million streams/downloads in just three months. Digging Deep with Robert Plant is available from Apple, Spotify, and YouTube, with new episodes available every two weeks.
Meanwhile, Plant is currently wrapping up a series of North American headline dates, with remaining shows set for Salt Lake City, UT’s Eccles Theater on October 1; Bend, OR’s Les Schwab Amphitheater on October 3; and an appearance at San Francisco’s Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival on October 5. The tour – which once again sees Plant accompanied by The Sensational Space Shifters – included a number of other North American festival appearances, including Fredericton, NB’s Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival, Indianapolis, IN’s Outlaw Music Festival (September 20), and Louisville, KY’s Bourbon & Beyond Festival. For updates and ticket availability, please see www.robertplant.com.
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ROBERT PLANT
DIGGING DEEP
(EsParanza)
Release Date: December 13
TRACKLISTING:
Vinyl 1:
Side A: Burning Down One Side
Side B: Like I’ve Never Been Gone
Vinyl 2:
Side A: Big Log
Side B: In The Mood
Vinyl 3:
Side A: Too Loud
Side B: Little By Little
Vinyl 4:
Side A: Ship of Fools
Side B: Tall Cool One
Vinyl 5:
Side A: Hurting Kind
Side B: Tie Dye on the Highway
Vinyl 6:
Side A: Calling To You
Side B: 29 Palms
Vinyl 7:
Side A: Song To The Siren
Side B: Morning Dew
Vinyl 8:
Side A: Shine It All Around
Side B: Tin Pan Valley
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