PLANT/KRAUSS CD CONFIRMED

I told ya about this a while back... like, in November of '06, maybe? But:

More than a few people in town wondered what was up when Robert Plant was spotted in recent months at the Grand Ole Opry and at the popular bluegrass club The Station Inn.

The former Led Zeppelin frontman's album with bluegrass star Alison Krauss, "Raising Sand," will be released Oct. 23 on Rounder Records, the label has announced.

Recorded in Nashville and Los Angeles and produced by T Bone Burnett, the album finds the two interpreting lesser-known material from blues, R&B, country and folk songwriters including Mel Tillis, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits, Gene Clark, Doc Watson, Little Milton Campbell and the Everly Brothers.

There's also "Please Read the Letter," a song written by Plant and Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page from their 1998 album, "Walking Into Clarksdale."

"You've got two singers that can handle a wide range of material _ storytellers. So you look for the stories," Burnett said in the release.

Krauss and Plant first sang together a few years ago at a tribute concert for blues great Leadbelly at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Supporting musicians on "Raising Sand" include guitarists Marc Ribot and Norman Blake, multi-instrumentalist Mike Seeger, drummer Jay Bellerose and bassist Dennis Crouch.

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