With the hugely successful Raising Sands Tour now over, having played it’s final date on October 5th at The Mountain Winery in Saratoga, now’s a good time to look back over the last month at just a few highlights. 

Robert and Alison attended the Mercury Prize gala on September 9, 2008 in London, although there didn’t come away with the prestigious award, that went to Elbow, with their album, The Seldom Seen Kid, each nominee received a nomination award. Robert joked in an interview prior to the show “At my age you get a gong for still being around.” He went on to say that this was an award he was proud to be nominated for, he said “This record has provided me with two of the happiest years of my career. Then again, I can’t remember much of what I did before, I’ve loved working with Alison and the rest of the band, and it’s provided me with so much freedom. It’s great to get this recognition.”

The Mercury Prize 2008 Compilation CD is now available at most retail outlets. The CD features each of the artists on the short list. The song selected from Raising Sand is Rich Woman.

On September 17th, Robert and Alison joined Levon Helm on stage in Nashville. They performed the song “In the Pines”, a song they first performed together for the Leadbelly Tribute. The concert was part of the Americana Music Awards that were held the next day. The awards took place at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, and Robert and Alison were big winners at the Americana Music Honours and Awards ceremony. Raising Sand was named Album of the year, and Robert and Alison won Duo of the Year. Robert was one of the “surprise” performers for the evening, singing with Buddy Miller. Robert said of Buddy Miller: “It’s been such an experience working with this guy. He’s spectacular.” Robert Plant joined Buddy Miller at the Awards Ceremony to sing “What You Gonna Do Leroy.” Robert and Buddy recorded this new song in July 2008 in a dressing room in Toronto during the Raising Sand Tour. A representative from West Records (Miller’s label) says the tune is a candidate for Miller’s next album, due in early 2009.

On September 26th Robert and Alison were scheduled to appear at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion in Houston. The venue was damaged during hurricane Ike, and the show was subsequently cancelled. Instead, the pair performed at the Zoo Amphitheatre in Oklahoma City and the show was a benefit show to help those affected by hurricane Ike. In a statement from Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and T-Bone Burnett regarding their September 26, 2008 Benefit Concert they said: When we saw the devastation that Ike had wreaked upon Houston and the Gulf Coast area, we immediately made the decision to turn our scheduled show in the area into a benefit for the victims of this disaster. When it was made clear to us that we wouldn’t be able to bring our show in, we immediately sought out an alternate city and venue to host the benefit so that badly needed funds could get into the proper hands as quickly as possible. To this end, we are grateful to the people of Oklahoma City for stepping up and contributing to this cause.

To the great people of Houston and the Gulf Coast, please know that you are in our thoughts as you continue to recover from all you’ve been through.

Sincerely,

Robert Plant, Alison Krauss and T Bone Burnett

The 2008 TEC Awards were presented on October 3, 2008 in San Francisco California. Raising Sand won an excellence in creativity award for Record Production/Album. In addition, T-Bone Burnett was inducted into the Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame recognizes those whose careers have best exemplified the spirit of creative and technical excellence in professional audio. Alison Krauss and Robert Plant presented the Hall of Fame award to Burnett—together delivering a poetic appreciation of his knowledge of American musical history and dedication to the craft of recording. Both returned to the stage later in the evening with Burnett and his production team when their album, Raising Sand, won the TEC Award for Record Production/Album.

Robert and Alison are nominated for an award at this years, 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards. Their category is “Musical Event of the Year” and it is for their performance of Gone Gone Gone. Alison is also nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year. The 42nd annual Country Music Association Awards will be broadcast live from the Summit Centre in Nashville on November 12, 2008 on ABC and normally so does BBC Radio 2. Check listing for times. 

And finely, according to Q Magazine, Robert will be doing some backing vocals on the next Scott Matthews album. Robert lists Scott Matthews’ first album, Passing Strangers, as his favourite album of 2007. Matthews opened for Robert and Alison during their May 2008 European tour.