Robert Plant, who first achieved worldwide fame as the lead singer and lyricist of Led Zeppelin, will be in Santa Barbara at the Arlington Theatre on October 1, with his new band Saving Grace, celebrating their new album of the same title.
While Zeppelin was pure rock and roll, with Plant embodying the charismatic rock god archetype of the 1970s, his career since they broke up has lead him across musical genres, including “exploring the evolution of roots music both vintage and modern,” which is how Saving Grace describes their album and sound. Six years in the making, with Plant and the group — vocalist Suzi Dian, drummer Oli Jefferson, guitarist Tony Kelsey, banjo and string player Matt Worley, and cellist Barney Morse-Brown — working together to explore something new, the project began at Plant’s home on the Welsh borderlands in 2019.
This collective of like-minded collaborators had been experimenting for barely a year, even serving as an unheralded opening act on a handful of dates for Fairport Convention, when the pandemic intervened and any formal plans were temporarily shelved. Once protocols permitted, Plant and Saving Grace began to record informally in a barn setup or outdoors, then booked themselves in small venues without fanfare. The self-produced album breathes fresh life into songs by Bob Mosley (Moby Grape), Blind Willie Johnson, The Low Anthem, Martha Scanlan, Sarah Siskind, and more.
Their fall tour, “Up The Sharp End,” includes stops in the U.S. Midwest and West Coast, kicking off in September and running into the middle of October. This comes on the heels of two sold-out U.S. legs last fall and this spring. Also on the tour is multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Suzi Dian, who, along with her own material, performs in Saving Grace.
Robert Plant with Saving Grace were one of last musical guests on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, see them perform “Higher Ground” here. In addition to vocals, he still plays a mean harmonica.
Robert Plant with Saving Grace and Suzi Dian will perform on October 1 at the Arlington Theatre. Click here for tickets.
