Raising Sand

Wow! What a great Saturday! First, we had a great time at Miles' graduation to Orange belt. We are so proud of him and the progress he has made at Hurricane Martial Arts.

View Album

Get your own

The golf tournament was a lot of fun and a lot of sun! I did fair considering I hadn't even swung a club in almost 2 years. The BBQ was great and Scott, Tom and I had some good fun on the course. I definitely think I need a longer driver; but, I know everyone thinks the same thing... Maybe when I have more time to spend on the course, I will think about what I need to improve the swing. But, it was fun and I got a great Eagles 2 DVD LIVE set as a door prize.

Now, the real fun was up in Asheville. Like I wrote before I have looked forward to seeing Alison Krauss and Robert Plant together since I first heard about their plans to work on an album. The Raising Sand revue was incredible with T. Bone Burnett having put together a master band that included the great Buddy Miller on a multitude of instruments as well. Robert Plant was as animated as I have seen him. He's still got it and his voice was still in prime shape. But, the star of this show was Alison Krauss. Her stage presence was conservative but her vocals hushed the crowd many times last night. She and Plant blend very well and I was more than pleased with how the sound turned out last night. Alison played fiddle on a number of tunes, including a little duelin' fiddles with the multi-instrumentalist, Stuart Duncan (who Alison introduced as her favorite musician to tour with). But, what floored me was simply her voice. She had the sold-out crowd in the palm of her hand, especially on the a capello gospel numbers like "Down To the River to Pray". Some of the highlights for me were "Black Dog" (yes, the Led Zep hit but done bluegrassish style like I posted on my blog from Youtube), "I'm In The Mood", "Black Country Woman", and just about everything they did off Raising Sand. Highlights from RS were "Nothin'" (with Plant praises T. Bone for introducing him to the work of Townes Van Zandt in the intro), "Trampled Rose" and "Fortune Teller". The stage was a series of mood lights with a scaled down set other than instruments and the two mic stands. Although they tackled different genres throughout the night, I felt a common thread throughout the selections. You can call it gothic country or alternative rockabilly blues...whatever, it was American music, the dark side and the bright side with a nod to heart stopping gospels. T. Bone got a little spot too with a tune about New Orleans and I think a tune from his new album. Buddy Miller was spot on with every song playing pedal steel on a good number of tunes and even had his "mandoguitar"
out for one and a harpsichord for another. He seemed to be really enjoying his new gig. I can easily say I enjoyed every tune but was carried to another world when they gave an amazing reading of "The Battle of Evermore" with the final call and response from Alison and Plant making the hair on my neck and arm stand. It was powerful music that went to the core. Really.

My only complaint was the lack of awareness that an opening act would be on before the Raising Sand revue. It was some bluesy female vocalist and her band. We wandered the halls looking for friends, sharing a drink and people watching. We would have taken our time getting to the show if we knew about the opening act. I feel cheated when the producer pulls one over on your precious time. It was a short opener and the RS revue started at 9pm and went for a full 2 hours, ending with a 3 song encore.

Here's what I think they played:
Rich Woman
Leave My Woman Alone
Black Dog
Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us
Through The Morning, Through The Night
Fortune Teller
Black Country Woman
I'm In The Mood>?? (Alison sang a tune about a woman's lost love/life)>I'm In The Mood
Plant mentioned he had never been to Asheville and how much he liked it already and then intro'd T Bone
Shut It Tight
Bon Temps Rouler (intro about Mississippi Delta and how important it is that we take care of our heritage there)
Trampled Rose (wow! Alison hit all the notes on this one)
Green Pastures
Down To The River To Pray
Killing The Blues
Nothin'
Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson
The Battle Of Evermore
Please Read The Letter
Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)
encore
Gospel tune??? (Plant's intro was about tomorrow being the Sabbath day)
I'm A One Woman Man
Your Long Journey

**I know I missed a couple in there including a couple that Alison did without Plant on stage.

Tricia is a hard critic to win over sometimes with music but she had nothing but good things to say about the show. It was one of the best I have seen in the last 5 or more years. There's not much like this show on the road. We got Tricia a very sexy, soft lavendar tour shirt that has a design on the side with some small print Raising Sand on the heart. Tricia and I had such a good time and capped the night with a nice, very cold beer on the front porch when we got home listening to the crickets sing with a very bright half moon up in the sky. A perfect day, a perfect night!

See ya!