Ravinia 2024 Issue 1

PAVILION 7:00 PMWEDNESDAY, JUNE 12, 2024 CAN’T LET GO TOUR ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS with special guest JD McPHERSON † JD McPherson –Intermission– Robert Plant & Alison Krauss † Ravinia debut ROBERT PLANT & ALISON KRAUSS “These are songs that have gone into our hearts way back in time, but got lost in the twists and curves of the pass- ing years,” says Robert Plant. “You hear them and you go ‘Man, listen to that song, we got to sing that song!’ It’s a va- cation, really—the per- fect place to go that you least expected to find.” In 2007, Plant and Alison Krauss released Raising Sand —an unlikely pairing of one of rock’s greatest frontmen with one of country music’s finest and most honored artists. It entered the Billboard 200 at number two, was certified platinum, and won six Grammy awards, including both Album and Record of the Year. After 14 years, the two icons reunited with Raise the Roof . Earning three 2023 Grammy nominations and widespread acclaim, these dozen songs saw Plant and Krauss determined not to simply replicate a formula. “We wanted it to move,” says Krauss. “We brought other people in, other personalities within the band, and coming back together again in the studio brought a new intimacy to the harmonies.” The duo’s intention had always been to continue the momentum of Raising Sand . “There was so much enthusiasm, excitement, and adrenaline that it would have been folly if we didn’t keep going,” says Plant. “We did join up and consider songs, try to work out some ideas, but then somebody would ask if I’d want to take my band to the Arctic Circle—‘okay, I’ll do that, call you back, Alison!’ And then she goes off and gets another Grammy. We’ve both constantly made new recordings.” In fact, the two singers were stock- piling ideas for songs they might do together, and passing selections back and forth, during the intervening years. “I’ve heard Lucinda Williams sing ‘Can’t Let Go’ forever, and I sent that to Robert at least 10 years ago,” says Krauss. “I remember riding around listening to it and thinking it would be so much fun to do together.” Plant had his eyes on a couple of R&B deep cuts. “The Betty Harris song ‘Trouble With My Lover’ was always in the air,” he says. “To hear Alison sing that is such a great way of her turning her gift around. And Bobby Moore’s ‘Searching for My Love’ is something I used to sing at school, another nugget of beautiful soul music that has been rico- cheting between us for a long time.” For his part, Plant wanted to introduce a musical tradition that was part of his own culture. “I’ve been a big follow- er of Bert Jansch’s work since I was a teenager,” he says, “and of that whole Irish, Scottish, English folk style that has a different lilt and different lyrical perspective. I was very keen to bring some of that into the picture.” “One of my favorite parts of this is the songs and songwriters that I had never heard of ” says Krauss, noting that in addition to the inclusion of Jansch’s “It Don’t Bother Me,” she feels the “peak of the record” comes with “Go Your Way” by English folk singer Anne Briggs. Both Plant and Krauss point to the record- ing of “Quattro (World Drifts In),” a song by the beloved Americana band Calexico, as a turning point in the Raise the Roof sessions. “When I heard the song for the first time, it came in the group of songs Robert sent me as possibilities he liked as ideas for us to record,” says Krauss. “I thought, ‘Oh gosh, here we go’—hearing that song was the moment I knew we’d make an- other album.” The accomplishments of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, of course, are immeasurable. But with Raise the Roof , they take the next step in a project that offers them creative rewards unlike anything else. “There’s so much romance in contrast,” says Krauss. “It’s such a far cry from everything I’ve done before,” says Plant. “I love the whole kaleidoscope of music that I’ve explored, but this is a place where you can think within the song, you can decide how to bring home an emotion. It’s another blend that we’ve got, and long may we have more of them.” JD MCPHERSON Hailing from Broken Arrow, OK, JD McPherson has re- corded four studio albums and toured extensively at venues worldwide, including festival sets at Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, and Newport Folk Festival, among many oth- ers. His 2017 LP, Undivided Heart & Soul , was released to widespread critical acclaim. McPherson was born as the youngest child growing up on the family’s cattle ranch near the town of Talihina. He took up the guitar at age 13. “Where I grew up was just completely removed from anything resembling a town or a city. What that granted me was a lot of iso- lation, and when you are bored you tend to work really hard on your inter- ests. So it probably would have been a different story if I grew up in a town somewhere.” He studied visual arts in college, earning a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Tulsa, and later worked as an art and technology teacher. After deciding to pursue music more seriously, McPherson landed a demo with the roots music label Hi-Style Records, which led to 2010’s Signs and Signifiers . His sophomore LP Let The Good Times Roll was re- leased on Rounder Records in 2015, showing McPherson with a wider mu- sical range and an even stronger ability to weave the present with the past. Another breakthrough came in 2018 when he released his debut Christmas album, Socks , featuring all original songs and again receiving overwhelm- ing critical praise. McPherson is recording a covers project, having already released tracks originally by Big Al Downing, Iggy Pop, Art Neville, and The Pixies. This is JD McPherson’s Ravinia debut. RAVINIAMAGAZINE • JUNE 7 – JUNE 30, 2024 64