SURPRISINGLY ENJOYABLE

Last night on CMT - I never watch CMT - they had a program called Crossroads. Apparently it's a musical series where the have two artists singing together; but the artists are from different genres of music, one of them being country of some type. Well, last nights program was Alison Krauss, the fiddle/violin player/vocalist, and Robert Plant. Possibly one of the oddest combinations of musical styles I could possibly think of. However, it works, really, it does.

Believe me, I was quite surprised, and almost didn't watch it, except my wife wanted to see Robert Plant. Well, once the show started, it was almost impossible to tear myself away! The two voices blended so well, not only on the country-style songs, but even on the two Zep songs they did; When the Levee Breaks & Black Dog. The drummer, in a style not at all reminiscent of John Bonham, still managed to have a Bonham-like sound to his drums, which were not set up as rock drums, but had some odd-looking appurtenances on them (eg. a sideways drum). And the lead guitar player was quite phenomenal too. All in all, a surprisingly enjoyable show. It would have been interesting to hear a version of Battle Of Evermore, which was the only Zeppelin song to have a guest singer on it (the late, great Sandy Denny); the way Plant's & Krauss's voices blended on the other songs would have made this song in particular an interesting addition to the set. I'm not sure if I would buy the album Raising Sand, but I would definitely buy an album of this show, and quite possibly a DVD release also.

So remember, when it comes to music, never say never, even if you say never again afterwards..