Posts Tagged ‘Matt Worley’

ROBERT PLANT ( Amazing Grace ) – ” Everybody’s Song ” Low Cover

Posted: March 3, 2020 in MUSIC
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Saving Grace, is the latest musical project from former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant who has announced a run of North American tour dates scheduled for the spring. The band features singer Suzi Dian, Oli Jefferson (percussion), Tony Kelsey (mandolin, baritone, acoustic guitar), and Matt Worley (banjo, acoustic/baritone guitars).

The famous rock singer took to his social media outlets on Tuesday morning to announce the upcoming run of shows that begins on May 12th . The brief run continues over six more shows in select U.S. cities, including Chicago, IL (5/15); Port Chester, NY (5/20); and New York City (5/20) before wrapping in Washington, D.C. on May 25th. The tour will also feature Catfish Keith on the billing at every performance except the Chicago date.

Saving Grace gave their first performances in the U.K. and Ireland in 2020. The band will also play five shows in the U.K. ahead of the North American run beginning on March 15th, which includes an appearance at Cheltenham Jazz Festival.

The relatively new band explores a “Repertoire of ‘music inspired by the dreamscape of the Welsh Marches,’ [and] songs that span Plant’s diverse tastes and influences, notably his lifelong passion for British and American folk, spirituals, and traditional blues, including a number of beloved standards and longtime favorites,” according to a press statement . Plant closed last year touring throughout the fall with his other band, The Sensational Space Shifters, while also releasing reissued singles from his solo catalog with the “Digging Deep” Box Set that arrived in February.

Performed by Saving Grace. Originally written and recorded by Low.

ROBERT PLANT SAVING GRACE – ” Stick With Me Baby “

Posted: February 20, 2019 in MUSIC
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Robert Plant’s new band, Saving Grace, appeared online following its third and fourth concerts, which took place earlier this month. What do you do when you are a 70-year-old rock legend with time on your hands? Well, go on the road again with a new band, of course. It’s the music.

The Led Zeppelin icon unveiled his latest project at a low-key concert near the border between England and Wales  this month, showcasing a sound that was described as “music inspired by the dreamscape of the Welsh Marches” with dynamics “from a whisper to a scream.”

Robert Plant is ever so gently testing the waters in Britain with a nascent ensemble called Saving Grace. He has been popping up at a few gigs as a surprise support act for veteran folk-rockers Fairport Convention on their winter tour. Judging by the performance and the reaction of a delighted audience at The Anvil in Basingstoke, England, on February. 14th, we will be hearing a lot more of the band. The music was tight yet relaxed — a contradictory combination that testifies to years of experience. The 40-minute set could easily have gone on to a full concert as far as the surprised audience was concerned.

The group features vocalist Suzy Dian, mandolinist and guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo player and guitarist Matt Worley and percussionist Oli Jefferson.

On offer was an eclectic mix of folky-bluesy-jazzy tunes that never once disappointed.

There was, for example, a wonderfully harmonious rendering of Doc Watson’s “Your Long Journey,” a melodious delivery of Nat King Cole’s “Nature Boy,” and a haunting version of a Plant favorite, the spiritual “Satan, Your Kingdom Must Come Down.”

Also outstanding was “Season of the Witch,” an interpretation of the Donovan classic that somehow (and delightfully) morphed temporarily into Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth.”

It was a test run, so not everything was clicking. There were times, for example, when the guitar work seemed misplaced. But Plant’s famous voice has held up really well over the years (as have the long curly locks).

It was beautifully augmented by co-singer Suzy Dian, who looked to be more than 40 year’s Plant’s junior but whose voice sounded as if she were born to sing with him.

The harmonies were spot on. So much so, in fact, that Plant melded with Dian better that he did with Alison Krauss on Raising Sand, which is no mean accomplishment. Backing them was Tony Kelsey on guitar and mandolin, Matt Worley on banjo and guitar, and Oli Jefferson on drums.

Saving Grace actually appears to be a synthesis of two of Plant’s more successful post-Zeppelin ventures: 2007’s Grammy-winning Raising Sand and 2010’s Grammy-nominated Band of Joy. The former was a melodic dip into country; the latter a more hard-hitting strain of folk-rock. Both were excellent, so Saving Grace is brimming with promise for the future.