Robert Plant continues to chart his own path far from Led Zeppelin‘s shadow with his new folk ensemble Saving Grace. The band recently stopped by NPR‘s Tiny Desk for a stripped-down performance and made an appearance on CBS Saturday Morning, all amidst their ongoing Roar in the Fall tour.
When Plant first settled in behind the famous Tiny Desk, he surveyed the setup and commented on the lack of monitors with characteristic wit: “This is just like Live Aid. I couldn’t hear myself there either.”
Alongside vocalist and accordionist Suzi Dian and the full Saving Grace ensemble—Oli Jefferson on drums, Tony Kelsey on guitar, Matt Worley on banjo and strings, and Barney Morse-Brown on cello—he delivered five songs that showcased the project’s wide-ranging influences.
After opening with the traditional spiritual “Gospel Plough”, Plant playfully addressed the Americana label that’s been attached to the British band, noting, “We are in fact not Americana. We’re Englishcana.”
He went on to explain, “We all kind of live and operate in an area which is on the borders of uh England and Wales. And that in itself doesn’t seem to be a big deal. But for me, it’s always been so inspiring to be attached to another culture, the Celtic culture. and the Celtic culture with its music and with its similarities to North African music has always been a great intrigue.”
The set continued with Martha Scanlan‘s “Higher Rock”, Low‘s “Everybody’s Song”, and Moby Grape‘s “It’s A Beautiful Day Today” before closing with a stripped-down arrangement of “Gallows Pole”, a traditional song featured on Led Zeppelin III in 1969, now reimagined through an entirely different lens.
Watch the full Tiny Desk Concert below.
Robert Plant: Tiny Desk Concert
Plant and Saving Grace then appeared on CBS Saturday Morning for their Saturday Sessions segment, where they performed “Everybody’s Song”, “It’s a Beautiful Day Today”, and “Higher Rock”.
Robert Plant – “Higher Rock” (Martha Scanlan)
Robert Plant – “It’s A Beautiful Day Today” (Moby Grape)
Robert Plant – “Everybody’s Song” (Low)
These television appearances came amid the U.S. leg of the band’s Roar in the Fall tour, which concluded over the weekend with a run of California shows in Oakland, Los Angeles, and Valley Center. Click below to check out a gallery of photos from one of the tour’s final U.S. stops at Denver’s Ellie Caulkins Opera House courtesy of photographer Elliot Siff.
The tour will now head across the pond for shows in the band’s native U.K. through the end of the year. Plant is also scheduled to perform at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN in March and C6 Fest in São Paulo, Brazil in May. Find tickets here.
