Robert Plant spotted in crowd watching Scott Matthews

Robert Plant was spotted among Scott Matthews fans who turned up to see the singer-songwriter's sold-out tour opener, at the Glee Club in Birmingham, England, on May 19.

Matthews, who opened for Plant and Alison Krauss last year on their tour of Europe, dropped his latest album, Elsewhere, in the U.K. on Monday, with a single called "Fractured." The album has a U.S. release date of June 2.

As mentioned here months ago, Plant guests on one album track, "12 Harps," which bears a resemblance to the Simon and Garfunkel take on "Scarborough Fair."

Plant did not sit in at the Birmingham concert, which Rita Maman of the Express and Star reports was a gesture "allowing the singer songwriter to enjoy his deserved place in the spotlight alone."

Midlands entertainment reporter Dave Freak, however, couldn't resist typing up a lot about Plant's guest vocal on the album. He writes:

... album highlight "12 Harps," featuring a guest appearance by Robert Plant, is a drifting slice of gentle psychedelic British folk-rock.

"We sent Robert the track as he was rehearsing in Texas. He got back and said he was really up for it, and two months later we got him into the studio. It really worked, singing together in the same room. We sat in the studio, jamming, and that made me more relaxed, it was like karaoke," Matthews laughs.

"We got the song together in two hours. We kept one of the early takes, to get that spontaneous thing. I think it’ll be a track that'll appeal to a lot of people. It’s very much in the Led Zep mold. I still shake my head when I hear it. How did I pull that off?"

It's a subtle performance from Plant, currently in the throes of a creative renaissance since 2005’s Mighty ReArranger, 2007’s lauded Raising Sand, with Alison Krauss, and Led Zeppelin’s all too brief reunion.

"One thing that struck me about Robert's voice is how natural it is. He doesn't explore the high register anymore, I was interested in the baritone of it, that Johnny Cash resonance. I worked with that softer element of my voice too, and the two tones work together, that's why the song is so good," Matthews says.

The Led Zepper was an early fan of the songwriter after [producer Gavin] Monaghan invited Plant to his studio to hear a few tracks. The singer was so impressed with Matthews that he insisted he open the European leg of his Raising Sand tour with Krauss.

"I started shaking when he asked me, personally," Matthews recalls of an impromptu phone call. "Me? Supporting my idol? He's such a down to earth guy, which speaks volumes about him personally. He makes you feel welcome. And he's one of the best singers around – no-one is better than him. When you hear Led Zep I, II and III, the raw energy in his voice is frightening."

Elsewhere is the second new disc this year to feature guest vocals from Robert Plant. He also sings with Buddy Miller on one track gracing the album Written in Chalk by Buddy and his wife Judy Miller.

Robert Plant guest vocal on Buddy & Julie Miller album now available

Robert Plant's guest vocal on Buddy and Julie Miller's song "What You Gonna Do Leroy" is now available for listening and for purchase.

The song, which can be heard in the embedded video above, is available not only on the Millers' album, Written in Chalk, but also as a $0.99 MP3 download.

Buddy Miller, who is recuperating from open heart surgery after a recent heart attack, conducted an interview that is used in an electronic press kit issued by his record label, New West Records (see below).



In the EPK, Miller describes how the collaboration with Plant came about. He says it started with a conversation during Plant's tour last year with Alison Krauss, on which Miller was playing guitar and singing backup:

"Robert just happened to ask, 'Oh, how's it going with the record?' And he said, 'Anything you want me to do? I'm glad to help out. So, I thought about it for a good half-second.

So, I brought out a bunch of mics on the tour, and -- I think it was in Toronto, we had a nice-sized dressing room. So, after our soundcheck at the venue, I asked the guys, 'Hey, can you bring stuff up to the dressing room?' And we moved the pool table out of the way and set up some mics, and he set up a couple of little drums and a bass, and we sang it live, and that's the way it went down. It felt great."

Lyrically, this song echoes the recurring theme present throughout Led Zeppelin's "The Lemon Song," "Black Dog" and "Black Country Woman." Here, again, is the lovestruck protagonist who brings home his hard-earned pay and gives it to the woman who turns around and gives his money to another man. She's spent his money, took his car. She didn't have to leave him a total disgrace. And the guy, all the while, takes it. He has all the evidence before him saying she's been seeing another man, and yet he can't seem to up and quit her. He admits he should have quit her a long time ago.

"What You Gonna Do Leroy," which bears a traditional country sound, adds some new specifics to the plight of the protagonist, whose name in this instance is Leroy. His woman is getting all fancied up to go to the grocery store when the cabinets were already full. And then there's no word from her by the middle of the night, and she hasn't gotten home. Then she announces she's going to leave home to stay with her mother for a week, but her mother can't confirm this. But instead of leaving this woman (or, perhaps, dumping this never-ending, nagging, doubting woman for another -- for instance, her sister), Leroy finds it sufficient to keep on loving her. His refrain: "Whatcha gonna do when you love a woman like that?"

Miller and Plant trade vocals on the track, sharing and trading off lines and verses. They are joined by fellow touring mates Jay Bellerose on drums, Dennis Crouch on bass, and Stuart Duncan on fiddle. Adding lap steel to the track is Gurf Morlix, who once said the following about Plant:

"My theory is if we could somehow remove Robert Plant from the fabric of time, it would therefore remove all the heavy metal stuck-pig-squealing vocals we've been subjected to over the years. Robert Plant was possibly the single most powerful influence on heavy metal. Now, I actually like Robert. I loved the first few Led Zeppelin albums a lot. I think he currently makes good music. He sings well, and is so at ease on stage. He seems very comfortable in his body. I have a lot of respect for Robert.

"We are, of course, speaking hypothetically about cause and effect. I don't think the effect would be all that good for Robert."

On a final note, I find the varying perceptions of Plant among these American musicians hilarious. For all the fun Plant attests to have playing with American musicians, it's funny to find out what they thought of him before they met -- such as in the case of Mike Seeger, who joined Plant and Krauss in recording the final track on Raising Sand. I'll never forget that Seeger told me he didn't know who Plant was before they met in the studio.

Robert Plant to grace two albums set for release in March

Scott Matthews, who supported Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on tour earlier this year, gets a little help from his friend on his upcoming sophomore album. The disc, which is titled Elsewhere, is expected to be released in March and feature one song Matthews had the pleasure of recording with Plant. It is a piece Matthews wrote called "12 Harps."

It is one of two albums to be released in March that feature guest vocals from Plant.

The Galway Advertiser in Ireland last week published a long interview that mentions several things Matthews has in common with Plant. Besides both being singers from the Black Country and fans of the Wolverhampton Wanderers football club, they share some common musical influences.

Both name Jeff Buckley as a powerful and emotional singer, and Matthews's voice has been compared to the late singer's.

As attributed to Matthews in the Galway Advertiser:

"My dad's record collection had a lot of 1960s classics and my mum liked Motown. ... There was always good music in the house. I got into the guitar and discovered Led Zeppelin. I was really into their acoustic stuff like Led Zeppelin III. I got a lot of inspiration from that and the kind of ethnic stuff they did as well.

"I have some issues with my vocals. ... Maybe it's a little insecurity on my part but a lot of people tell me that my voice suits the kind of music I do. Robert Plant himself said that was one of the things he noticed and that he really liked my voice. That was such a good thing to hear and a real boost to my confidence.

"I got to know him before recording the second album and I had a song in mind for him called '12 Harps.' It has leanings towards acoustic Led Zeppelin with mandolins. For me to be singing in the same room with Robert Plant - I was so scared. With [Jimmy] Page, [John Paul] Jones, and [John] Bonham behind him, what he did with his voice back then in Zeppelin is pretty untouchable. The sheer range and dynamic he’s got. He’s 60 now and his voice is more mature and has a real resonance in it. It's one of the stand out tracks on the album!"

Starting tonight, Matthews plays three consecutive nights throughout Ireland, and he says he hopes to play a lot of his new material. He is booked to play at Dolans in Limerick tonight, at Roisin Dubh in Galway tomorrow, at the Spirit Store in Louth on Dec. 6, and at Auntie Annie's in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Dec. 8.

The other track Plant has recorded for another album set to drop in March is called "What You Gonna Do, Leroy." It will be included on Buddy and Julie Miller's Written in Chalk, due March 3 on New West Records.

The track is described in a Dec. 2 press release as "a swampy stomp written by Mel Tillis and originally performed by Lefty Frizzell."

Plant joined Miller onstage on Sept. 18 for a live performance of that song.

This year, Buddy Miller played guitar and pedal steel backing Plant and Alison Krauss on their Raising Sand tour. While Plant and Krauss earned Americana awards in September for Album of the Year and Duo/Group of the Year, Miller earned his own Americana award for Instrumentalist of the Year.