On Sunday all roads lead to The High Voltage Festival in London’s Victoria Park where Black Country Communion will be making their only UK Festival appearance.
Tomorrow night (Thursday) the power house four piece of Glenn Hughes vocals and bass with Joe Bonamassa on guitar, Derek Sherinian on keyboards and Jason Bonham on drums, will be In Dublin before Saturday’s appearance in Llandudno then the High Voltage Festival on Sunday. Next week they play Leeds (26th), Newcastle (27th), Glasgow (29th), Manchester (30th), followed by a rescheduled show in Stockholm (2nd August), the original show was cancelled due to Glenn Hughes be taken ill, and finally a festival appearance at the Notodden Blues Festival in Sweden (5th August). This highly successful first tour has crossed the USA and Europe with a Berlin show filmed for a possible DVD release later in the year. See this link for gig and ticket details etc http://www.bccommunion.com/
The group’s second album (BCC 2) knocked the Foo Fighters new album off the top of the official BBC Top 40 Rock Albums chart, it currently rest at #6 after 5 weeks. Derek Sherinian has his solo album Oceana due out on September 5th via the Mascot label group.

Save Me Live from Berlin 2011

Songs Of Yesterday Live from Hamburg 2011

It was reported in the Monmouth-Today that Robert attended a charity gig in Bridge last Saturday night, the report stated that guests attending a charity event at Bridges last Saturday night (9th July) were given a rare treat as one of rock’s greatest icons took to the stage to entertain them with a set of classic rock ‘n’ roll. The report states:
Former Led Zeppelin front man Robert Plant joined local musicians Ray and Paul Martinez and Dave Charles to raise money for research into Pick’s Disease, which claimed the life of Rockfield Studio’s producer Pat Moran earlier this year.
Before performing, Plant paid a heartfelt tribute to the producer, who worked on his first three solo albums, saying that with Led Zeppelin he had been living inside a bubble and that after going solo and recording at Rockfield, Pat had taught him so much.

Robert Plant and The Band Of Joy have been confirmed for the prestigious 12th Americana Music Festival and Conference which runs from October 13th -15 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. Others artist confirmed to appear include Gregg Allman, Justin Townes Earle, the Jayhawks, North Mississippi Allstars, Foster and Lloyd, and The Civil Wars.
Jim Lauderdale will continue his tenure as master of ceremonies, joined for another year by Buddy Miller and his All-Star house band. Over 2,000 artists, music lovers and industry executives attend the annual show, which is broadcast internationally through multiple outlets.
In the annual award catagories, Robert Plant and the Band of Joy will compete for Duo/Group of the Year, while their effort Band of Joy album receives an Album of the Year nod. Plant is also up for Artist of the Year.
Full nominees reads:

ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Band of Joy, Robert Plant
Welder, Elizabeth Cook
Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle
Blessed, Lucinda Williams

ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Robert Plant
Buddy Miller
Elizabeth Cook
Hayes Carll

DUO/GROUP OF THE YEAR
Robert Plant and the Band Of Joy
The Avett Brothers
The Civil Wars
Mumford And Sons

At a recent festival date in New Orleans Robert meet up with Terry Reid, the singer who famously turned down the job as singer for Led Zeppelin and recomended Robert for the position. He’s a picture of that meeting taken by Bryon House.

John Paul Jones made an appearance alongside Seasick Steve at this year’s Latitude Festival in Southwold, Suffolk. Here’s a great clip from the recent Camden gig.
Seasick Steve and John Paul Jones at Electric Ballroom 2011 performing Burnin Up

Renowned tribute band Simply Led are staging a reunion gig next month to celebrate the tenth anniversary of their Ulster Hall gig. They will be perfuming at the Half Moon, Herne Hill London SE24 on Saturday August 6th. Doors open 8pm tickets £10. The Simply Led line up will be Keith Lambert-Vocals, Harmonica, Philip Eldridge-Guitar, Eddie Edwards-Bass, Keyboards, Mandolin. Steve Dixon-Drums (ex Gary Moore).

For further details visit www.simplyled.net

Herts based tribute band Hat’s Off To Led Zeppelin’s forthcoming gigs are as follows: August 19th The Stables Milton Keynes , August 25th, Diamond Sutton in Ashfield and September 2nd Town Gate Theatre Basildon. Visit for details   http://www.hatsofftoledzeppelin.co.uk/

Legendary journalist Chris Welch (pictured above) will be the guest speaker at the Harrogate Theatre on Saturday July 23rd. Chris will give a talk entitled ‘’Led Zeppelin and the Golden Age of the Music Press’’ in the theatre’s circle bar at 6pm before a live show by 70s band Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel.This special event is part of Harrogate International Festival Fringe. Details at www.harrogate-festival.org.uk

Ulster Hall Belfast Call out:

Were you in attendance at the famous Led Zeppelin concert at Ulster Hall in Belfast on March 5th 1971? If so BBC Northern Ireland would like to hear from you. Their Arts and Culture department are compiling a film of ”Incredible Gigs” that have been staged in Nrthern Ireland over the years. Naturally the Zep show is high on the list. If you were there or have photos from the gig etc they would like to hear from you. Email davelewis.tbl1@ntlworld.com in the first instance.

*The new issue of Classic Rock is out today – it includes an extensive and excellent feature on the making of Led Zeppelin 4 by Barney Hoskyns with contributions from Dave Lewis. The magazine comes packaged in a very attractive collectable outer wallet cover that replicates the design of the Zep 4 sleeve. Well worth seeking out.