Kim Morgan, writing in the Huffington Post, reveals that actor Vince Vaughn has a soft spot for country music. And during the interview, he had praise for the Raising Sand tour. Vaughn said:

To me, the thing that I liked about the tour that Robert Plant did with Alison Krauss was that he really went out of his way to talk about American roots music. They were trying to sound like the old Appalachian singers and a lot of the blues singers and that’s really who their idols were. What was wonderful about that show is that they played a lot of those Led Zeppelin songs Appalachian style. It was really, really beautiful.

Read the article.

Aside: Rhythm from the Heart

Etran Finatawa is a band from Niger that is made up of both Tuareg and Wodaabe nomads. They came to international attention when fellow Tuaregs, Tinariwen, began making a stir in the music community. Lloyd Gedye, writing in the Mail and Guardian, interviewed Etran Finatawa’s spokesperson Alhousseini Mohamed Anivolla during their tour of South Africa. Gedye writes:

As for the musicians they have met who have had the biggest impact, Anivolla is clear — that would be Robert Plant.

“I don’t know what he is talking about, but when he sings, his voice and his rhythm, I feel it here,” he says, touching his heart.

M.A.S. Records, a Kidderminster Collage-based record label, will be presented with a national award in London on September 21, 2009. The Access to Music award is sponsored by Rockschool, which runs music exams. The award honors the commitment of creative director and course leaser Kevyn Gammond. Robert Plant is a patron of the label and helps promote new bands in the West Midlands.

Kevyn Gammond was a member of Robert Plant’s Priory of Brion.

Read more from Express and Star.

The first album from the trio Les Triaboliques, rivermudtwilight, debuts this month on World Village. The album features Justin Adams, who worked with Robert Plant, Juldeh Camara and Tinariwen; Lu Edmonds, who has worked with Billy Bragg, the Mekons and Public Image Ltd; and Ben Mandelson who has worked with Billy Bragg and various African Bands.

Adams describes the group as a “meeting of the ancient guild of post-punk, Anglo, globetrotting string players reveling in idiosyncrasy”.

Visit World Village to read more and hear some samples from the album.

See a review by Douglas Heselgrave at NoDepression.com

The Looking for Roots blog shared a couple of thoughts about two different Robert Plant stylings: Killing the Blues and Song to the Siren:

Guitarist Christine Bougie suggested the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss record Raising Sand and I thought, wow how long has it been since I listened to that one? So I grabbed it and put it in the car for the morning commute, but was barely 2 miles along the two-lane highway when track 2, “Killing the Blues” came on. I had to just pull over. With the sun rising into a peach mist and the trees fading into haze, I listened to the track twice, breaking out in goosebumps. “Somebody said they saw me, swinging the world by the tail, bouncing over a white cloud, killing the blues.” Oh yes.

You know how sometimes you want to just listen to the same song over and over and over again. My dearheart does this a lot, and most of the time it makes me crazy. But this morning, I was listening to the album Dreamland by Robert Plant, and the tune “Song to the Siren” came on and I just was chilled and thrilled and goosebumped up over it. So I played it again. And again. And again. In the 50-minute drive, I probably listened to that song for 40 minutes.

This week marks the 10th Anniversary Americana Music Festival and Conference taking place in Nashville, TN. In an interview with Peter Cooper for the Tennessean, Jed Hilly talks about how Americana music is gaining ground. He uses the Robert Plant / Alison Krauss collaboration “Raising Sand” as an example.

Cooper writes in part:

When Plant and Alison Krauss won five Grammy Awards last winter, with an album that included songs from Americana forerunner Townes Van Zandt and country hero Mel Tillis, Plant said he was refreshed by his exposure to a kind of music that appealed to those with discerning tastes.

“It’s great to be considered to be part of the movement that is healthy and has some discrimination,” he said. “My exposure that was begun by these two (pointing to Krauss and producer T Bone Burnett) continued through the Americana Association in Nashville. There’s some great stuff there, and I’m so pleased to be associated with it.”

Read the article.

The O2 Rockwell site has a short clip of Robert Plant talking about his past involvement with Nordoff-Robbins charity events. And he does a little harmonica practice while he’s at it.

See the video

Robert Plant joined the Rockwell O2 concert which benefitted the Nordoff-Robbins charity. The concert took place on September 11, 2009 in London. These fan videos show two selections, Black Dog and Whole Lotta Love, with the usual Plant rearrangements.

Black Dog

Whole Lotta Love

Robert Plant just wrapped up his three song set at Rockwell O2, the benefit concert for Nordoff-Robbins. According to various Twitter posts, Robert performed an “African” style Black Dog, and Whole Lotta Love. He also performed Fixin’ to Die, which he performed with Justin Adams and Juldeh Camara at Womad this year as well. Comments ranged from “awesome” to “brought the house down”.

Veteran radio personality John “Byrd” Kempf has spent the last 6 years at Chicago’s venerable Loop, WLUP FM. In an article in the Fort Francis Times, writer Mitch Calvert hits some of the highlights of Kempf’s career, including some memorable celebrity moments. Calvert writes:

Kempf has interviewed countless famous musicians and dignitaries on-air, but a few in particular stand out.

“Meeting Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, and having him tell me how much he enjoyed the interview with me, and just hanging out with him,” Kempf enthused.