Robert Plant & The Band of Joy To Tour USA

[Avacado]

Get onto Robert Plant Newswire. All videos on there from the Memphis show. From what I heard so far, Robert sounds HOT!!!! My heart is pounding!

[justawoman]

Here's a You Tube video:

http://www.youtube.com/user/colbruce#p/u/12/rXCqsMIINMo

There are several places on You Tube now with snipets of songs from the concert(s).

Like Avacado said, he sounds (and looks) HOT!!!!! The man can still rock!!!! Love how he reworked some familiar songs. Definitely has a bluegrass, country, blues-rock sound (does that make sense?) in a VERY good way.

Can't wait for the Houston show!

[kiss of fire]

A really nice review from the July 15th show at the Robinson Center Music Hall in Arkansas.

From the Arkansas Online.

http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/jul/16/robert-plant-pleases-still-strong-voice/

[dpat]

He's become the Mild Man of the Midlands.

This new direction puts me to sleep.

But I believe he's always wanted to be a very laid back singer. I prefer rock music. Rockabilly music can rock, too. But I don't believe he's putting enough swing into his music these days. Good for him; he's successful enough to go where his whims lead him.

It's just not for me, an unrepentant rock 'n' roller.

[Hand_Of_Omega_91]

He's become the Mild Man of the Midlands.

This new direction puts me to sleep.

But I believe he's always wanted to be a very laid back singer. I prefer rock music. Rockabilly music can rock, too. But I don't believe he's putting enough swing into his music these days. Good for him; he's successful enough to go where his whims lead him.

It's just not for me, an unrepentant rock 'n' roller.

I know how you feel, I certainly didn't lose sleep over the fact I didn't see the Plant/Krauss shows. However, his new shows seem to be far rockier than the Plant/Krauss shows. When I saw the footage I immediately thought 'he's back!'

I thought Raising Sand was a great album and all but given the fact we just had a Zeppelin reunion it seemed a bit bland. Listening to it a couple of years on I can fully appreciate it now. I really can't wait for his new shows though, they sound as good if not better than the Strange Sensation stuff. I mean his voice sounds immense on the YouTube clip of Rock And Roll.

It seems as though as Jimmy and JPJ will be making the heaviest from music now on. Them Crooked Vultures were/are a truly rocking band and can't wait for the next album if and when it comes out.

It's just a shame it seems there will never be another Zeppelin tour.

[justawoman]

He's become the Mild Man of the Midlands.

This new direction puts me to sleep.

But I believe he's always wanted to be a very laid back singer. I prefer rock music. Rockabilly music can rock, too. But I don't believe he's putting enough swing into his music these days. Good for him; he's successful enough to go where his whims lead him.

It's just not for me, an unrepentant rock 'n' roller.

I can certainly understand where you're coming from. My first love is rock and roll and always will be . . . . but I do like all types of music. Although, not current pop or rap, unless it's Kid Rock, and is that really rap? And, you have to remember, Plant is what 63 or going to be in August? At 63, you shouldn't or can't do the same things that you could at 23. I like the fact that he's still cool at his age and unrepentant that he doesn't want to sing like he did in Zep days. That being said, if there ever was a reunion tour (which I think is highly unlikely), I would sever a limb for tickets.

On a different note, dpat, you have to fill me in on the New Orleans bar imprint story. Being from N.O., I do remember something about their imprints on a sidewalk in front of a bar. Do you know what bar it was or if the imprints are still there? I for the life of me can't remember. Also, I don't believe the prints are still there though, seems like many years ago (probably early 80's maybe) I think I remember there was a news story and disbelief, that when that particular sidewalk had to be repaired the city workers, not knowing about the significance of the imprints tore up the sidewalk and thus the imprints and New Orleans lost a piece of rock and roll history. City officials were without apology about the loss because it was "only" a rock and roll band and they thought the only music that was important to N.O. was jazz. Please fill me in, I would love to know the whole story.

[Avacado]

Are you guys going onto his news wire and listening to all of the songs? This is NOT rockabilly, at least not in my opinion. I love the whole sound of it. It rocks but with sort of a psychedelic "dangerous" feel and very sexy. Robert is full-out hitting it sounding a whole lot like his younger self. Very sexy stuff, Patty is awesome and in no way intimidated by him and seems to be totally feeling him and dead-on connecting with his vocals. They are full-out tearing it up!!! I think it's very intense. Love MONKEY!!!!! The musicians also are spectacular especially Buddy! Congratulations Robert!

[justawoman]

Are you guys going onto his news wire and listening to all of the songs? This is NOT rockabilly, at least not in my opinion. I love the whole sound of it. It rocks but with sort of a psychedelic "dangerous" feel and very sexy. Robert is full-out hitting it sounding a whole lot like his younger self. Very sexy stuff, Patty is awesome and in no way intimidated by him and seems to be totally feeling him and dead-on connecting with his vocals. They are full-out tearing it up!!! I think it's very intense. Love MONKEY!!!!! The musicians also are spectacular especially Buddy! Congratulations Robert!

Again I have to agree with you Avacado, this is NOT rock-a-billy. After reading that description last night, I had night-mares about the concert (no lie)! Really not a rock-a-billy fan, I thought "Oh no, please God no!" I was so relieved when I was able to hear for myself what the concert would be like! I went to RP's newswire site first and heard all the songs, incredible!!!!!! Loved the new stuff and the old stuff re-worked. It is most certainly sexy. I still stand by my opinion that it has a bluesy, country, blue-grass sound, but yet with a rock and roll edge, but not rock-a-billy. I know to some I probably sound like I'm contradicting myself, but there is a difference (at least in my mind) between country blues rock and rock-a-billy.

[Avacado]

And Robert looks so HAPPY! He's back to wailing away - and check Patty out! She is rockin out all into it wailin away with him! It's not the Raising Sand "stiff stand-around fest". I KNOW I'm gonna get grief for THAT remark. Anyway, I KNEW this was going to be hot. And wait a minute! I thought Buddy was going to be like "Country Joe". He is HOT!!!!! The man can rock out!!! Get up north Robert!!!!!

[Avacado]

I'm sorry. I can't stop writing about this! Have you noticed the Raising Sand stuff they are doing is way more up-tempo and it makes a universe of difference! Like entirely new songs!

Also are there any videos out there of this concert that are BETTER and CLOSER UP?? Bad visuals.

[Avacado]

Oh and one more thing! Robert!! You guys GOTTA do "WIN MY TRAIN FARE HOME!!!" What I think is the sexiest song ever! CRAWL, CRAWL, CRAWL, CRAWL, Yeah DADDY!

[justawoman]

I'm sorry. I can't stop writing about this! Have you noticed the Raising Sand stuff they are doing is way more up-tempo and it makes a universe of difference! Like entirely new songs!

Also are there any videos out there of this concert that are BETTER and CLOSER UP?? Bad visuals.

Avacado, check out the youtube link I posted here earlier today. It was from the Little Rock show and is closer up. The guy who posted it on youtube also posted "please read the letter". I liked the version with Allison Krauss, but this new and improved version is sooooooo much better!

I thought I read here that someone posted Plant's entire line-up and that he did Rich Woman, but I didn't see it on the newswire site videos. I really hope he does do it, since it is one of my favs from Raising Sand and I think it's going to be awesome revved up.

Here's the link, so you don't have to go looking for it: http://www.youtube.com/user/colbruce#p/u/12/rXCqsMIINMo

I remembered I bookmarked it so I would have to go searching through youtube when I want to see it again and again.

[kiss of fire]

Another review with a great picture posted by Lucky Liberty on another forum.

Yup looks like he still has got it! :

From the Arkansas Times:

http://www.arktimes.com/RockCandy/archives/2010/07/16/robert-plants-still-got-it

[Oracle]

He's become the Mild Man of the Midlands.

This new direction puts me to sleep.

As much as I like Buddy Miller and some of Robert's solo material, I don't care for this new "Band of Joy" either.

Don't care for the new arrangements of old tunes, nor the overall mood.

[Avacado]

Justawoman -- oh yea, much better video and I read where he himself said that he was going to do Rich Woman AND the Lemon Song! I'm thinking with more touring, more songs are going to come out. And this version of "Please Read the Letter" IS great because again it is more up tempo. The Raising Sand one almost sounded like a funeral dirge. Too slow and if you saw the video, it looked "depressing". Robert looking depressed sitting at that table if you can remember. I am SO happy about all this new music, new, old, remixed, whatever. He's so great. You know, for me, I don't care about him getting back with Led Zep although it would be great. This way, we can definitely get tickets to see him and he's still doing Led Zep music and I love the new arrangements. Wish someone in the front rows would bring a video camera and make us happier.

[Avacado]

Also, as I always forget to write everything at once, I'm thinking Robert is trying to start out this tour more along the lines of Raising Sand because of so many people wanting and expecting that follow-up album. Could be another reason why he started it down south having a larger fan base for that style? I could be wrong but I think as time goes on with this tour, he's going to bring more and more rock, blues and Led Zep stuff in because Buddy, Patty, et al. are more than capable of performing all those genres of music. Are you noticing his voice? Isn't it sounding more and more like when he was a LOT younger reminding you more of his Led Zep performances? Even the way he's moving and dancing around on stage. I read someplace that from now on, everything he does is going to be called The Band of Joy? Could this mean people in the band also may change along the way What if he brought in Justin Adams and the Moroccan, North African influences? Very exciting. I just can't get enough of him.

[surfinsam]

Montage of clips from Memphis opening night of tour.

good sound and video quality.

many thanks to the youtube uploader.

enjoy,

[kiss of fire]

Angelique at another forum posted this many thanks.

Awesome slide show!

From: tulsawold.com

http://www.tulsaworld.com/scene/article.aspx?subjectid=269&articleid=20100717_371_0_Rbrlnr683871

[justawoman]

Justawoman -- oh yea, much better video and I read where he himself said that he was going to do Rich Woman AND the Lemon Song! I'm thinking with more touring, more songs are going to come out. And this version of "Please Read the Letter" IS great because again it is more up tempo. The Raising Sand one almost sounded like a funeral dirge. Too slow and if you saw the video, it looked "depressing". Robert looking depressed sitting at that table if you can remember. I am SO happy about all this new music, new, old, remixed, whatever. He's so great. You know, for me, I don't care about him getting back with Led Zep although it would be great. This way, we can definitely get tickets to see him and he's still doing Led Zep music and I love the new arrangements. Wish someone in the front rows would bring a video camera and make us happier.

Avacado, we are definitely on the same wave length!

You said what I wanted to say about "Please Read the Letter" on RS sounding like a funeral dirge!!!!! My thoughts exactly - LOL! I like it, but it does really bring you down. Not something I want to hear when I'm feeling good. And the video is very gloomy. I think the CD as a whole is somewhat gloomy (IMO, I think it may be Allison Krauss' style of singing). Better to listen too if you're wanting to reflect inward, or if you're having a 'pity party' and want a good cry.

Also, it would be wonderful if he would get back with the other members of Zep, but I can't wait around for that to happen - these guys aren't getting any younger and I'm sure touring takes it toll - so . . . . . . I want to see Plant while I can, I'm just happy he's getting back to music that is more in line with his roots and first love of bluesy rock. (I just thank God it's not rock-a-billy!!!!!!!!!!! Oh Lord, that really freaked me out!).

Can't wait to see RP next weekend in Houston - in fact, a week from today!!!!! I'm hoping, like you believe, that he will add some new songs (Rich Woman, Lemon Song) to the line up by then. I think it would be a hoot to hear him sing the Lemon Song at his age!!!!!!!! I would love it and I think the audience would roar with approval, proving old people can still be sexy!!!!!! But, having said that, and knowing what I do about his sense of humor, he may do it not so seriously and a little tongue-in-cheek. Ya think?

[Hand_Of_Omega_91]

This way, we can definitely get tickets to see him and he's still doing Led Zep music and I love the new arrangements.

Well if The O2 show showed me anything its that Zeppelin may well reunite and may well play a venue very close to me but I won't be there.

I agree that separately, at least we stand a chance to see the legends in concert. The main disappointment for me regarding The O2 was not being able to see Jimmy live as he doesn't play live that often nowawadays although it appears he may be doing so in the near future.

Having seen Them Crooked Vultures (finally!) this year and looking at the youtube clips of Robert it seems that the Zep members are having an insane amount of fun doing what they're doing.

[justawoman]

There are still plenty of great tickets left for the Houston show at ticketmaster and ticketsnow. com if anyone is interested!

[RolandDeschain]

He's become the Mild Man of the Midlands.

This new direction puts me to sleep.

But I believe he's always wanted to be a very laid back singer. I prefer rock music. Rockabilly music can rock, too. But I don't believe he's putting enough swing into his music these days. Good for him; he's successful enough to go where his whims lead him.

It's just not for me, an unrepentant rock 'n' roller.

I have to agree I wont be going to see this debacle, what a waste of talent, just my opinion.

[BillyMacQ]

I have to agree I wont be going to see this debacle, what a waste of talent, just my opinion.

Thanks for chiming in. The world was waiting to hear from you. So glad you made the time. Really, thanks. Thanks a lot.

Love,

Billy

[BillyMacQ]

Great interview with Buddy Miller including thoughts on Band of Joy.

http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=24043&printable=yes

If you're looking for reasons why Robert is working with Buddy Miller, it's all in this interview. And if you can't figure it out afterwards, you'll never get it, so go back to pining for a Zep reunion gig.

Love,

Billy

I’m the luckiest guy in the world,” Buddy Miller said of his periodic tours with Emmylou Harris, Shawn Colvin, and Patty Griffin—aka Three Girls and Their Buddy. Though the Three Girls are more widely known as singers, songwriters, and—especially in the case of Harris—interpreters, they feel lucky as well to share the stage with the soft-spoken guitarist.

“Buddy was really my window into country,” says Shawn Colvin, who met Miller in Austin in the ’70s and sang in his New York City–based country band. “He’s got so much knowledge. That’s where I learned the songs.” Miller played a similar role for Patty Griffin as producer of her gospel record, Downtown Church—drawing on his deep collection of American roots music and instincts for great songs—and as her guitar accomplice on the accompanying tour. Emmylou Harris, too, has tapped Miller’s talents since the mid-’90s, when he joined her band Spyboy. “I’ve played shows with just Buddy,” Harris says, “and he is the whole band.”

Those credits are just the beginning of Miller’s extensive resumé in Americana music, which includes playing guitar on Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’s Raising Sand tour and also with Plant’s current project, Band of Joy (alongside Patty Griffin and Darrell Scott); producing records for Jim Lauderdale and Jimmie Dale Gilmore; and releasing five solo albums and two collaborations with his wife, the songwriter Julie Miller. Their latest, Written in Chalk, was released in spring 2009 while Buddy was making a remarkably quick recovery from triple-bypass surgery. Just over three months later, he was back on the road with Colvin, Griffin, and Harris.

On all these projects, Miller brings his signature blend of old-school country, blues, soul, folk, and gospel, playing on a battery of guitars—acoustic, electric, baritone, mando-guitar, and more. Though fully capable of ripping out solos, Miller is more content adding subtle bass lines and riffs, coloring the music without drawing attention to his chops. While he was mixing Griffin’s Downtown Church, Miller shared his thoughts about collaborating onstage and in the studio, discovering guitar sounds by accident, and being an analog guy in a digital world.

You perform “Poison Love” by the ’50s country duo Johnnie and Jack, and you’ve talked about the impact of their records. What are some other key sources for songs?

MILLER I always was a big fan of songwriters. When I was 12, 13, I became aware of the names on the back of records by the songs. I knew that there could be bad versions of good songs, but a good song still would move me. So I started tracking down songwriters. In soul music, there were teams of writers that would write all these great songs, like Holland-Dozier-Holland. They’re pretty well known, but then there were guys like Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham. In country, there was Dallas Frazier, Earl Montgomery . . . I would follow these writers and get records when I’d see their names show up.

Shawn Colvin said that you were her source for learning country songs.

MILLER That’s very kind of her, but she was playing in a great swing country band when I met her, and I’m guessing she had a bunch of songs then. . . . We kept in touch and then we played together in a band in New York.

Shawn always was who she is. She didn’t compromise or bend to the trends that were going on. Even when I’d force her sometimes into singing bad country songs that weren’t her, she would turn them into Shawn songs. She’s just an incredible interpreter.

She also told me you turned her onto Patty Griffin’s music before her first album came out, so you obviously discovered Griffin very early on.

MILLER When I very first started to play with Emmylou, she was having auditions for a guitar player. It was about a year after Wrecking Ball came out. [Wrecking Ball producer] Daniel Lanois was touring with her at first, but I had a feeling that might not last forever, so I called up her management and they said, “Oh, we’re having auditions next week.” I was fortunate enough to pass the audition—much to my surprise. There were a lot of great players.

After I was in the band for just a little bit, she said, “Listen to this record.” A lot of people, once they get making records and touring, stop listening to music, it seems like to me. But Emmylou is always listening—she’s been an inspiration in that way. Malcolm Burn, who engineered on Wrecking Ball, had produced Patty Griffin’s first record that actually never came out. Emmy gave me a copy and I flipped over it—it was a beautiful record. I knew Shawn would love it, so I gave it to her. It had a lot of the songs from Living with Ghosts.

How did your gig with Harris’s band lead to producing the 1998 Spyboy album?

MILLER I worked with that band for eight years or so. I love recording gear and recording, and I loved that band, so I asked her and management if they’d mind if I brought out my gear and recorded some dates—just as proof that I was in the band. They said, sure, do what you want, so I set up and recorded probably 20 dates over a period of six months. And then she was looking for a live track, like a bonus track, for something; I got her one, and it turned into making a live record from the recordings I’d made.

What were you aiming for, in terms of sound, on Griffin’s gospel album?

MILLER Well, in terms of sound, I was part of a concert [in Nashville] called Sacred Blues that a great guitar player named Dave Perkins put together. He did it at this old church that was built before the Civil War, called the Downtown Presbyterian Church. It was built in the Egyptian Revival style and is unbelievable—it’s like going into an Egyptian temple, from the pictures in the stained glass to the multicolored columns coming down. So this building has got a lot of soul. When I played there I realized it also had an incredible sound, so when Patty said she wanted to do a record of gospel or spiritual songs, I thought, “We’ve got to record at this place.” Generally I work out of my house, but I thought this time it’s worth packing up all my crap and setting it up somewhere else.

One thing that’s amazing to me while I’m mixing the record is every time I press the Stop button, there’s no reverb tail. You know how if you use reverb at all, you press Stop and you hear reverb still ringing? Well, it’s a very wet-sounding record, but it’s all just the room. Everything bleeds into everything else, and it just sounds gorgeous. I knew we’d have to record live, including vocals, which is not done much—at least in this town or in LA.

Where did you find songs for what she calls her “lapsed Catholic” gospel record?

MILLER Well, I knew she did this track with Mavis Staples [“Waiting for My Child to Come Home”]. That was also on my list of songs to record. So I knew what moved her a little bit, and after talking to her I had an idea, messagewise, what songs she’s comfortable with. And then I felt like a record tells a story, so I started digging around. I’ve got a pretty good collection of old music. I started remembering songs and sent her way too many, and we’d talk about them and narrow it down. The lyrics to many of these old songs are so deep, and I didn’t think it had to be limited to any certain style of music. There are places where genres intersect that are really interesting to me. Patty wrote three songs for it, too, out of which two got recorded.

You’re obviously a fan of funky old instruments and vintage music. When it comes to recording, do you have similar tastes, or do you work with digital tools?

MILLER Well, I had a Studer A80 two-inch machine, but it started to be too much of a pain in the neck. It would slow down or speed up at the end of a reel, and I’d always have to be making adjustments. So I did switch over to digital, and you know it’s a trade-off. It’s kind of like making soup without heat. Everything sounds so sharp—it’s clean but in not a great way. You can find a way to make it mix together, to turn it into delicious soup, but it’s a lot more work. The analog tape had something that made it easier to do that. They’re making plug-ins now to simulate [the tape sound], but they don’t quite get there.

Buddy Miller (left) and Robert Plant at the 2009 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco. Photo by Dan Gabel.You recorded a track with Robert Plant for Written in Chalk while on the Raising Sand tour. What gear do you use to record on the road?

MILLER I bring an M-Audio setup with an eight-channel interface [ProFire 2626]. For that track, I couldn’t bring a huge system—I just packed it in a suitcase. I usually agonize over mic pre and microphone choices, but I didn’t have time. I just waited until we had a dressing room that was big enough to set up in, and I set up eight mics, plugged them in, and hoped for the best. And you know I found out that I don’t need to agonize over mic pres anymore, because that M-Audio thing sounds great. We cut the whole track live, including vocals, in between sound check and dinner, and I think it stands up to anything else that I’ve recorded. It just sounds beautiful. It captures the room. Everything’s there.

Speaking of Plant, I gather you caught Led Zeppelin’s first US tour.

MILLER From like the third row. Yeah, I’d seen them back then, and to be onstage with Robert and be around him while he’s discovering something new was just way, way cool. He was so excited about the music. It was just a great tour, and working with T Bone [burnett] was a real thrill.

It’s a revelation to hear Robert Plant sing so softly on Raising Sand.

MILLER I know, but he sang softly a lot back then—you just don’t think about it. He would talk about Gene Vincent being a big influence. Now if you go back and listen to Gene Vincent singing soft you go—oh, I get it completely how that was a big influence.

Let’s talk about some of the guitars you use onstage. First of all, your Fender signature acoustic: what were you looking for in that design?

MILLER I was looking for a guitar that would sound great onstage and also for recording acoustically. What sounds great when you’re playing on a stage might translate into some big, boomy, hard-to-wrangle sound recorded. So I was looking for a guitar to work for both purposes, because that’s what I do.

I went with the Fishman Aura system. When I first got one, I hooked it up to the big speakers in my studio and just played for days, and loved it. Larry Fishman came over and we did recordings of the Fender guitar prototype with different mic pre/microphone combinations from my place. We came up with four that we really liked and used them [for the Aura’s digital imaging].

I also wanted the aesthetics of the guitar to be somewhere in between what I used to see Porter Wagoner or Johnny Cash playing and a Rickenbacker. I think the same guy was involved in the design of both Fender and Rickenbacker way back when. I’m pleased with how it came out. I don’t use it a whole lot with the Three Girls, because I’m trying to cover the low end. There are three guitar players besides myself, so I play the [Jerry Jones electric] baritone for most of the night, and I’m kind of a cross between a bad bass player and a bad guitar player. I like low end—I mix records with tons, way too much.

Tell me about your acoustic baritone.

MILLER I always wanted one. The closest I got before this was a J-200 that I would tune down. I couldn’t quite make it to C, and it wouldn’t sound right. Julius Borges made this guitar, and it’s just beautiful sounding. It’s partly to get that low sound, but more than that, I have a limited [vocal] range. So if I’m singing a song that’s in B and it sounds better in G position, then I’ll pick up that guitar.

You’ve said that you sometimes use a regular guitar tuned down a half step so you can play in flat keys without getting disoriented on the neck. Are any of your stage guitars tuned lower like that?

MILLER No, because by now I’ve figured out what I’m doing. But when I first came on with Alison and Robert, it was just pitiful because girl keys are different from guy keys; they tend to sing in Bb and [other keys] where the dots would be in different places. I like the sound of open strings, so I’d use capos a fair bit, and I’d get confused.

But yeah, I want to get a guitar with movable dots. Do you remember the guitar Rickenbacker called the Convertible back in the ’60s? It was a horrible execution of a great idea—having a 12-string and a six-string in one guitar. It was a 12-string guitar with a lever mounted on the body and a rake-like thing sitting in between the two pickups that would pull down the six octave strings—physically pull them down—so that they would not make noise. . . . Somebody’s got to make a lever or something that’ll move your dots around [laughs]. I’d pay some money for that, because I’m not that good of a guitar player to figure it out on the fly.

How about your Wandré, which has become something like your signature electric guitar?

MILLER I got it in a pawnshop in Boulder for $50, and then I bought all their stock that they’d sell me of those. It was 1976, [so] it took me a while to save up the $50 for each one. But I did and I have three and a half left, and they’ve been my pals ever since I bought them. They have a unique sound and are very versatile. They’ve got a kind of strange neck [made of aluminum and running through the entire body], but that’s the only thing I’m really comfortable with because I’ve had it for so long.

You use a lot of pedals and a Vox amp in your stage rig. Do the acoustics run through those as well?

MILLER Usually they are DI’ed, but I do like to run them through pedals, too. I like tremolo on everything, as much as I can get. It gives you a little bit different sound than an electric, but it gets the point across—and it still sounds acoustic.

Actually I just like using instruments for what they’re not supposed to be used for. My favorite solo that I’ve got on a record, at least lately, is on “Gasoline and Matches” [from Written in Chalk]. I picked up a solid-body Gibson [Americana Ranger] that’s meant to be an acoustic—it looks like an acoustic, except when you get closer to it you realize, oh, it’s a solid-body. It’s kind of like the Chet Atkins guitars they used to make, only it looks like a really old LG-2. I used it because I was tracking in a room with the drummer, and it didn’t make any noise. It has heavy acoustic guitar strings on it. I played an electric solo through my pedals on that guitar and it just sounded great. I couldn’t get that sound again if I tried with any other guitar, and it just worked on that track. It wasn’t meant to be used that way, but it sure worked out good.

So you just experiment with guitars and go with your instincts?

MILLER Yeah, experimenting and accidents—a lot of accidents. Usually I don’t like my playing and don’t like my sound, so I’m always screwing around with something and hoping it doesn’t make it worse. After all this many years I might have stumbled into something that worked.

You’ve said that in backing up singers like Emmylou Harris and Patty Griffin, you’re just trying to stay out of the way.

MILLER Especially when you have voices like that. I think if you’re going to play something on a guitar in the middle of songs that are so great, and with those singers, you’d better really be saying something. Just be a support and don’t make a lot of noise. That’s what I tend to do the most: just try to support the song.

Does that mean paying close attention to the vocal phrasing?

MILLER Yeah, completely: how they’re singing, where the words trail off, and also how they are accompanying their own singing, because they’re used to playing the song by themselves live. So I don’t want to be disruptive, and I don’t want to be a guitar player making a statement—it’s not my place. I don’t need to solo. A lot of the songs have them built in and that’s fine, but it’s not like I need to get some solos out. I do have plenty of time to play, but if I didn’t it would be just as fine.

Does that attitude carry over when you’re producing somebody?

MILLER Yeah. It’s a funny thing, I guess: because I’m a guitar player, people expect more playing out of me. I play a lot in some of these gigs I have—with Robert and Alison I played a lot, with Spyboy I played a lot. But when I do my own records, there’s hardly any soloing, and a lot of the solos might not be guitar. When I produced Patty’s record, I think I did one guitar solo . . . maybe two. If it will help a song, I’m all for it, but to me it’s about the song and the singer and what it means.

[Oracle]

Great interview with Buddy Miller including thoughts on Band of Joy.

http://www.acousticg...3&printable=yes

If you're looking for reasons why Robert is working with Buddy Miller, it's all in this interview. And if you can't figure it out afterwards, you'll never get it, so go back to pining for a Zep reunion gig.

Love,

Billy

Some people just plainly don't like the new direction Plant has taken. Doesn't mean they're any less a Led Zeppelin fan. By the way, isn't THIS a Led Zeppelin forum? Robert has his own site and even there I'd bet some chime in with their disatisfaction of this material.

I'd bet anything that the majority on THIS SITE would rather see Robert with his old Zep chums, even if they did the same laid-back material, just because of them being member of LED ZEPPELIN. I don't know how many times I've read where people just OOGLE because of their presence together onstage, no matter what they play or how they play it.

There's no "figuring it out". It's whatever floats one's boat.