Robert Plant and his new band Saving Grace will release their debut LP, Saving Grace, on September 26. It’s a collection of covers by a diverse range of songwriters, including Memphis Minnie, Bob Mosley, Blind Willie Johnston, the Low Anthem, and Martha Scanlan.
They’ve already shared their take on Low’s “Everybody’s Song,” and now they’ve dropped their rendition of the early 20th century African American spiritual “Gospel Plough.” Over the years, it’s been covered by everyone from Duke Ellington and Bob Dylan to Old Cow Medicine Show and Charlie Parr.
The group – which includes drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, cellist Barney Morse-Brown, and vocalist Suzi Dian – originally came together in early 2019 when Plant had downtime between projects, and felt like playing a series of under-the-radar theater shows across England.
“I just liked the idea of getting out and playing these tiny weenie little shows, and just showing up with no expectations, nothing at all,” Plant told Rolling Stone in July. “It was a totally different way of enjoying myself without having any kind of professional ambition beyond just enjoying the evening.”
They took a long break between 2022 and 2024 when Plant and Krauss reformed for a new album and world tour. Earlier this year, they came back together to put the finishing touches on Saving Grace, which they started recording back in 2019.
On the road, they play a wide range of songs, including Levon Helm’s “Move Along Train,” Neil Young’s “For the Turnstiles,” and Led Zeppelin’s “Friends,” “Four Sticks,” “Gallows Pole,” and “Black Dog.” The Zeppelin songs have all been radically re-arranged.
“I escaped from the tedium of revisiting past successes,” Plant recently told Rolling Stone. “And repeating the chimes of great choruses in the same style would be more or less doing exactly what I tried to avoid in the first place. You have to keep it fresh.”
