Opposites Attract with Krauss and Plant

On tour this spring Alison Krauss with her sweet yet melodic voice and amazing talent with such bluegrass instruments as banjos and fiddles. Going along as part of a dynamic yet strange duo, Robert Plant the hardrocking lead singer of Led Zeppelin with a huge stage bravado.

Who would have imagined this totally opposite yet totally wonderful musical pairing? Most people would assume that Krauss was the one to make the initial steps towards making such a fantastical team of two, yet Plant was the one who made the initial steps toward the mingling.

The two began their mutual appreciation society seven years ago when Plant phoned Krauss and talked airily about working together someday. Several years later, they did come together to sing in a Leadbelly tribute at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After that, says Plant, they "were encouraged by fourth or fifth parties. [Journalist] Bill Flanagan was continuously ringing me up and saying, 'When are you going to work with that beautiful girl?' I [always] said [things like] 'I'm just going to West Africa.'"

Finally, this year their schedules and will converged. But the glue for the project turned out to be Americana producer T-Bone Burnett (he of "O Brother" fame). "He's incredibly well-equipped to deal with two people who didn't really know each other," Plant says.
Burnett chose much of the material. "When he sent us this group of songs, they fit together," Krauss says. Then the band, handpicked by the producer (including arty guitarist Marc Ribot), sealed the dreamy sound. "Everyone was moving in a very sultry and poignant direction," Plant says.

As a result, only three of the cuts pick up the pace, which doesn't trouble the singers at all. "Intensity of music has nothing to do with tempo," Krauss says.

While Plant has sung softly before, never has he done so this consistently. "Nobody is a one-trick pony," he says.

Plant jokes that the only connection people may see on the surface between him and Krauss is that "we've got similar hair."

Krauss and Plant’s tour kicks off in April and runs through May (2008.)