Robert Plant and Alison Krauss come from different musical worlds, but their duet album, Raising Sand, has proven a magical combination, writes Joe Breen
'It's not fakery. We really like each other and love what we are doing . . ." This was actually the last thing Robert Plant said before heading off to take another call in a hectic day of press briefings in London. It was an insurance quote, lest the previous 20 minutes of easy chat between himself, his duet partner Alison Krauss and The Irish Times might have been interpreted as just two stars from different galaxies justifying their studio collision in classic showbiz fashion.
It was unnecessary. If the riveting Americana intensity of their debut collaboration, Raising Sand, had not served notice of an extraordinary combination, as unlikely as it was successful, then the free-flowing, light-hearted conversation between the two as they explained how they came together to record, and now to tour, certainly did. It began when they were both invited to perform at a tribute concert to Leadbelly, the American folk/blues legend famous for songs such as Midnight Special and Goodnight Irene.
Plant: "I must say that I was really amazed when Alison showed up to rehearse for this show . . . which was the beginning of this crazy relationship we've got. Foremost was the empathy we've got, the capacity to play and to kind of meld, that's a good kind of mysterious word, but we just kind of kicked into each other. I mean, I know that she has worked with James Taylor, but I've forgiven her."
Indeed, this brings up pretty sharpish the elephantine weirdness of this collaboration (Amazon.com remarked that "perhaps only the fantasy duo of King Kong and Bambi could be a more bizarre pairing"). How does a woman with a voice like a bluegrass angel, and a hatful of Grammys to prove it, team up with a legendary rock singer with a penchant for the dark side of the blues? Is it doe-eyed beauty and the devil-hearted beast?
Krauss is horrified: "I guess I never thought of myself that way and I certainly never thought of Robert that way."
But they are in many ways the odd couple. He an ageing "golden god" of rock, she the 36-year-old darling of the strait-laced country and bluegrass world. But together, with the inspired assistance of producer and guitarist T-Bone Burnett, they have created something very special.
Krauss: "I think what he [ Burnett] intended to do was to create something that had things from my side and things from his side and then people who would never have ended up on one of our records that we have made down through the years. And through that he created something very, very interesting."
She is right. Raising Sand has a moody, murky undertow, with Krauss's sweet, blissful voice providing inspired contrast to Plant's more sinister whispered intensity. Although very different from Emmylou Harris's epic Wrecking Ball album, it has the same left-field charm. And it also marks a new creative high for Krauss.
Plant: "That spook element is right because when I'd be hearing a particular song one way, T-Bone would swing his K guitar over his shoulder and stick it through an old tremolo pedal . . . and he would just change the whole thing into this swampy sound which is great. I mean dark stuff. And that is what Alison's plan was when we started talking about making a record together. I thought it would be open but she said no. And when I think about it now I realise that Alison had been in many open duet situations where it was all about evident singing and playing, but we're into this other area of shadows and shimmer . . ."
Certainly in many ways it is as much Burnett's album as it is theirs. He has created a new soundspace common to both but not exclusive to either.
Plant: "That's absolutely right. He'd worked with Alison in the past so he knew what he was dealing with; he also knew what I'm finding out more and more, that she is a really profound woman. And it might sound a bit corny at this stage of my proceedings, but I've really been moved and touched by this experience in such a positive and joyous way . . ."
THE MATERIAL ON the album is brilliant but eclectic, with lesser-known songs by the likes of Gene Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Tom Waits and Sam Phillips (T-Bone's wife), but who came up with it?
Krauss: "Robert and I had sent things back and forward for months and we just weren't honing in on something solid, and then when T-Bone sent us a very detailed list of about 10 songs and why we should record them, he could have sold me anything - I would have bought a pair of shoes in the wrong size from him. And then Robert added to that list. You know when I got that list from T-Bone and read what he had written . . . I called my manager and said this man is a genius, this is an album already.
"And it is a tricky thing to do. To have two people from completely different places who are not going to be singing together all the time, who don't have a specific rule other than we would like to sing together. We wanted something that was lyrically meaty and he came up with something spectacular. And we didn't even know some of the players - we just kind of gave it to him, which was a really wise choice; we weren't the ones to produce it so we just stepped away and only gave our opinions when it was absolutely necessary. When we felt really strongly about it. The rest of the time we were just very supportive."
Plant: "The body of it [ the album] was done in 10 days. Once we got a groove, we didn't really know we could; we had this contingency plan that if it didn't work we would just say hey, let's just have dinner and then I'll go back to the UK or down to Louisiana and hide and never come out again. So once it got going there was a kind of inherent mood between T-Bone and the musicians and us where the momentum and the story unfolded. And it just had this fantastic character."
They plan to tour with the album and both have carved out time from their busy schedules to enable it. Krauss's band Union Station are off doing their own things while Plant's London reunion with his Led Zeppelin buddies will be over after December 10th. Although no shows have been arranged as yet they do hope to play in Ireland - "It would be great to do that," said Krauss.
Plant: "I saw Emmyou in Dublin and met somebody who, as chance would have it, has now joined our band and that's [ exceptional American guitarist] Buddy Miller. He's been playing with us in America and he is spectacular."
At 59, Plant could be forgiven for taking it easy, resting on his extensive laurels. But he remains an inquisitive musician, always seeking out and learning new things, from desert music in north Africa to folk blues, as on his most recent solo albums. And this latest project sees him learning more, and happily so.
"Well, as you can imagine, for me it has been quite daunting because I am working in a medium for which I have no tools except for enthusiasm and a good deal of will, because I want to do things that I can't do. It's OK being the golden god but that doesn't add up to much unless you are in a tribute band . . ."
So it has been a challenge then . . .
"Most definitely. I don't have a built-in ear for harmony, or maybe I do but I don't have it quite tuned in, but it's coming . . ."
It certainly is.
Raising Sand is on Rounder Records