New song by Them Crooked Vultures debuts during tour; song titles in flux as band travels through United States

The new song, debuted during the Boston show on Oct. 11, is called "Highway One" although in rehearsals it has gone by the working title "Mandril."

At the beginning of the tour, John Paul Jones told an Austin radio station that the songs are "all still growing" as they play them each time.

Also during the Boston show, singer Josh Homme introduced a song previously called "Mind Eraser-No Chaser" under a new name, "Not in a Race and No Chase."

A source close to the band indicates that Them Crooked Vultures song titles often change.

Jones has admitted in interviews over the years that he is bad with associating song titles with songs. It must not help when the titles are in constant flux!

I wonder what cues he gets onstage. I'll try to find out on Wednesday night when I watch them play at the 9:30 club in Washington, D.C.

Sound team for Plant/Krauss tour wins award; Plant sits out as Rounder label honored

Congratulations go out to the people responsible for the sound on last year's Raising Sand tour by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.

The sound team picked up the Outstanding Creative Achievement award for Tour Sound Production, presented by the Mix Foundation for Excellence in Audio at its 25th annual TEC Awards ceremony, held in New York on Saturday, Oct. 10.

LedZeppelinNews.com caught up with Plant's longtime sound engineer, Roy Williams, on tour last year.

Last October, T Bone Burnett won a TEC award for his production of Raising Sand, the Plant/Krauss album, and both singers were on hand to speak poetically in tribute to him. The situation one year later is different as a stalled project for a second Plant/Krauss album is in limbo, with Burnett's continued participation in it even in doubt and, now, Plant's relationship with the Rounder Records label possibly strained.

Hours ago, Krauss performed with her band, Union Station, at a Nashvile reception honoring Rounder's 40th anniversary. As The Tennessean recently reported), Rounder has been her label for almost a quarter of a century.

Nicole Keiper of The Tennessean reports in her Oct. 7 profile on Krauss that she and Plant "are in pre-production for a second set, Krauss says, but don't yet have a release timeframe."

So, not much has changed in the album's status -- or at least Krauss's terminology -- since she and Plant were in a studio together in January and Krauss insisted at the time that they were in "pre-production" for their Raising Sand follow-up.

Plant, who was spotted in California the past two weeks in a row, did not attend the Rounder reception.

By Friday night, he was back in England to attend a concert in Bristol by Egyptian percussionist Hossam Ramzy, who played on Unledded with Plant and Jimmy Page -- credit goes to Annie Hollinshead for the info about Plant's whereabouts on Oct. 9.

Isn't it odd for such a top-selling artist not to attend his own label's anniversary gala? It makes one question what the truth really is regarding their current work for Rounder.

Jason Bonham promotes upcoming appearances

Jason Bonham has been hitting the airwaves today to discuss a band he'll be taking on the road this month. He's to be headlining performances under the guise of "An Evening with Jason Bonham" this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in Florida, with two more shows in California at the end of the month.

In a live, in-the-studio interview on today's "Mark and Brian" morning show on KLOS 95.5, Bonham discussed his upcoming shows as well as his performance last night with Slash at the Roxy Theatre in Hollywood for a charity event benefiting the Painted Turtle. Bonham says his sister, Zoe Bonham, was "fantastic" on vocals when she joined up to sing Led Zeppelin's "Black Dog."

For Bonham's upcoming shows, the band lineup will consist of two guitarists: Ian Hatton, who played for the original Bonham band (1989-1992) as well as the reformation Motherland (1994), and Tony Catania, who played in the Jason Bonham Band (1995-1997). Two new recruits for the band are singer Kelly Keeling and bassist Francesco DiCosmo. They'll be playing songs from Led Zeppelin and all of the other bands Jason has toured and recorded with, such as UFO and Foreigner, plus his own bands.

Also on their upcoming set lists are some songs that Robert Plant included on his first solo album. Bonham explained that he played on demo versions of Plant's "Like I've Never Been Gone" and "Burning Down on One Side." "I did all the demos for that," Bonham said. "I used to be picked up from school when I was, like, 13 [or] 14, just after Dad died. ... [I'd] go into Robert's house, and all the guys in the band would be there."

That, of course, wasn't Bonham's only link-up with the members of Led Zeppelin. He was Jimmy Page's choice of a drummer when he finally went solo in 1988, and that year also saw Bonham playing for the first reunion under the Led Zeppelin name. Most recently, Bonham played with Page, Plant and John Paul Jones as Led Zeppelin in concert at the O2 arena on Dec. 10, 2007.

Reflecting on that show, Bonham said today that it was only two or three days before the big show that Plant asked Bonham to sing back-up on a few songs during their two-hour set, including opening number "Good Times Bad Times."

He compared playing with Led Zeppelin to pulling the Excalibur out of the stone and added that it was unfortunate that he also had to put the sword back. Bonham said that once he got over his nausea just before the show, he was solely focused on impressing Page, Plant and Jones and ignoring the other famous people in the audience.

In other news, KNAC.com listeners who tuned in for a scheduled phone interview with Jason Bonham instead heard only the Internet DJ claiming to have been blown off by a guest for the first time ever.

Early this morning, a news alert said Bonham was scheduled to call into the Internet radio show "Uncle Scotty's Hot Tub" at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time. Just ahead of the scheduled start time, the DJ went on a sexist and racist rant, addressing his listeners as "klansmen." As the start time of the interview passed, Uncle Scotty started badmouthing his no-show guest.

Later, the DJ admitted Bonham had been given wrong phone number to call in for the show. Also, when he checked his e-mail correspondence with Bonham's people, he realized that they had confirmed an 11:30 p.m. call-in, a time when the Internet radio station is off the air.

Signed Led Zeppelin concert program fetches $2,800 in charity auction

As a result of a charity auction that ended tonight, $4,325 was raised in the sales of items related to Led Zeppelin. The proceeds are to benefit the Mount Sinai Hospital, Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex, located in Toronto.

The top item, by far, was a hardcover concert program signed by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. The program, which was for Zeppelin's reunion concert on Dec. 10, 2007, was sold for $2,800.

Following are the 11 other Led Zeppelin-related items in the auction and their final prices:

• $335 for an issue of the fanzine Electric Magic autographed on the cover by Jimmy Page
• $230 for an issue of the fanzine Electric Magic autographed on the cover by Jason Bonham
• $205 for a signed photograph of John Paul Jones taken at the Knebworth Festival in 1979
• $200 for a CD insert from the Robert Plant/Alison Krauss album Raising Sand signed by Plant
• $175 for "Bonham by Bonham," a biography of John Bonham written by his brother, Mick Bonham
• $100 for an 8 mm reel containing three minutes of footage from a Led Zeppelin concert in 1972
• $70 for the book "Led Zeppelin: The Montreux Concerts" signed by authors Sam Rapallo and Gilles Chateau
• $70 for a photograph of Robert Plant taken in 1977
• $50 for a live concert photograph of Led Zeppelin taken in 1975
• $50 for a photograph of Jimmy Page taken in 1973
• $40 for a promotional booklet promoting the 1997 release of the Led Zeppelin album BBC Sessions

Zeppelin members seek to improve medical treatments, research

Thirty-six hours remain in an online auction including items pertaining to Led Zeppelin. Bidding on the 12 Zeppelin-themed items ends at 10 p.m. Eastern on Thursday.

The auction, which was announced by the group's official Web site on Sept. 9, already stands to raise at least $3,555 ($3,747.68 CDN) for the Zeppelin-themed items alone.

Accounting for more than half of that figure is the most prized item, an official hardcover program from the band's 2007 reunion concert that is signed on the cover by Jimmy Page, Robert Plant and John Paul Jones. Bidding on this item passed the $2,000 mark yesterday.

Surprisingly, only one bid has been placed for a three-inch projector reel containing three minutes of 8 mm footage shot at Led Zeppelin's concert at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, Calif., on June 22, 1972. The high bid is currently a paltry $75.

Some stills from this silent color reel are shown here, and below the silent footage has been synchronized to an audio recording of the same performance.

Among the other auction items also available are live still photographs of the band, autographed fanzines and a book.

Proceeds are to benefit the Mount Sinai Hospital, Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex, located in Toronto: "Mount Sinai Hospital is an internationally recognized, 472-bed acute care academic health sciences centre affiliated with the University of Toronto. It is known for excellence in the provision of compassionate patient care, innovative education, and leading-edge research."

Check out the auction here.

In other Zeppelin-related healthcare news, Robert Plant was mentioned by Sky News in an article yesterday as one of several celebrities advocating for the availability of a cancer treatment called photodynamic therapy. The procedure uses a laser light to starve cancer cells of oxygen, thereby killing them as the body replaces the cells by generating non-cancerous cells.

Roger Daltrey is another musician whose name is touted in the article as supporting a charity simply called Killing Cancer, which champions photodynamic therapy, or PDT. The article quotes Plant as saying:

"It really is an injustice that this form of treatment is not available to everyone in the UK. I have friends currently receiving PDT, but only because we pushed to get it."

Currently, the use of PDT internationally is limited in scope to only certain kinds of cancers, namely esophageal cancer, non-small cell lung cancer, and pre-cancerous esophageal lesions. Research in PDT is currently aimed at expanding its use to treat cancers beyond these and eventually use the therapy to treat throat cancer, brain tumors, breast cancer, and other conditions including Staph infections.

Jimmy Page's charity, ABC Trust, announces Big City Sleep in London

Note: The following is adapted from promotional materials highlighting an upcoming event in London for the ABC Trust, a U.K. charity for which Jimmy Page is a patron.

Time: From 6 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 30, to sunrise on Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2009
Location: Spitalfields Market, Crispin Place, Brushfield Street, East London
Fundraising target: Minimum £150 per person

Spend a night under the stars with ABC Trust this Christmas and help thousands of street children and young people in Brazil.

The ABC Trust invites you to take part in a 12 hour sponsored mass sleepout challenge by swapping your comfortable beds and homes for the basic provisions of a cardboard box on the floor of London’s well-loved Spitalfields Market, in the heart of the city. Once you have found your pitch inside the market for the night, ABC Trust will offer you some bedtime entertainment in the form of a capoeira demonstration and some live Brazilian acoustic music, as well as some hot food to help ease you into a good night’s sleep.

Every day, an estimated 7 million children are forced to face the violence, hunger and isolation of life on the streets of Brazil, with little hope for the future. ABC Trust helps transform the lives of the most vulnerable children. The ABC Big City Sleep is aimed at raising awareness of the plight of homeless children and raising funds to help provide them a better future.

For the everyday Brit, the issues that Brazilian street children are facing is a distant concept, this event is an opportunity to bring it closer to home, by experiencing something totally out of our comfort zones. The difference is that we only have to experience it for one night before going back to our everyday comforts. We hope that through the Big City Sleep, we will give you a personal experience which will emphasise the importance of the work the ABC Trust does. All funds raised through the Big City Sleep, will go towards sustaining the vital work of our partner projects in Brazil who provide support, care and education to some of the country’s most vulnerable children and young people.

For further details, view this document.

Robert Plant performs second gig with Buddy Miller in San Francisco; circumstances may hint toward Plant's next project

Robert Plant was spotted by a photographer at a mall in Malibu, Calif., for this photo printed by British tabloid The Sun on Sept. 29. Yet four hundred miles from Malibu, Plant made his third and fourth onstage performances all year long in a single weekend. Both times, he played with Nashville session musician Buddy Miller over the weekend in San Francisco, including at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival yesterday.

The San Francisco Chronicle on Sept. 27 highlighted a complete lineup of performers who were scheduled to appear over three days at the free concert at Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park. Almost prophetically, Robert Plant's name did appear in the middle of it all, though not as a scheduled performer.

Update: Footage from the show

He was mentioned only as someone with whom Miller, the expert sideman, has recently played. Other names touted in this capacity were John Fogerty, Alison Krauss and Emmylou Harris. Interestingly, though, the authors called Miller "a magnet for guests on his set."

During Miller's 11:45 a.m. set on the Towers of Gold stage, Plant was one of two special guests who appeared. He was brought in "to unleash his leather lung wail on the Hank Snow standard 'I'm Movin' On,'" according to Aidan Vaziri in the San Francisco Chronicle. There's also a remark attributed to Plant in the article: "This is like going to school for me."

As for Miller's other onstage guest during his festival set, Vaziri reports that Emmylou Harris, who later concluded the night with her own set, joined Miller in singing his "Wide River to Cross." Although Miller's tour dates don't reflect it on his own Web site, he'll be accompanying Harris on tour all this month, opening for her.

Plant had also performed in San Francisco on Friday night at a charity show where Miller performed as part of the backing band for Boz Scaggs. Twitter user Stax provided some information about this earlier appearance: "Plant sang several songs with Buddy's band and later sat in with Boz Scaggs and the Blue Velvet Band (with James Cotton). Plant was visibly excited to be sharing the stage with Cotton, singing Jimmy Reed's 'Baby what you want me to do.' To answer your question, yes, one of the songs Plant played with Buddy was 'What You Gonna Do, Leroy.'"

Last year, while Plant and Krauss began their world tour in support of their album Raising Sand, Miller was the capable guitarist at stage right for every show. He did not perform on their album, but Plant did appear on the disc released this March by Buddy and Julie Miller, Written in Chalk.

A year ago, Plant issued a statement saying he would not tour for two years and would not partake in any recording sessions with Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones or Jason Bonham. At the time, Led Zeppelin reunion rumors were widely reported in the press, even with one account claiming Plant had agreed to participate in a Zep reunion tour.

Progress on a follow-up album has been the subject of some confusion in recent months. In an interview published in the Sunday Express this August, Krauss was so unsure of how to describe their album because it evidently hadn't yet been recorded and the personnel hadn't yet been nailed down for sure. The Sunday Express's Charlotte Heathcote reported that Plant and Krauss hadn't "even decided whether they should ask influential producer T-Bone Burnett, who gave Raising Sand its stripped-back sound, back on board."

The only date currently on Krauss's official tour schedule is Oct. 12, when she and her band, Union Station, are to perform during the Rounder Records 40th Anniversary Celebration at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. There is no official word on whether Plant will be in Nashville to attend Rounder's celebration.

(Coincidentally, John Paul Jones is scheduled to appear in Nashville exactly one week earlier; he and Them Crooked Vultures are booked for a show at the War Memorial, the band's first show outside of Austin for this tour. From Nashville, the band heads directly to Columbus, Ohio, for a show the following night.)

Over the summer, Krauss and Union Station were recording a new album. A Rounder spokesperson confirmed to LedZeppelinNews.com in June that Krauss was planning to tour with Union Station in 2010.