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Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Robert Plant to make Arab appearance at world music festival

Robert Plant has sung from '66 to Timbuktu, and now he's on his way from Nashville to Abu Dhabi.

He played one concert with Led Zeppelin in 2007 and 55 with Alison Krauss last year before picking up five Grammys for their recordings.

Now, Plant's next concert appearance was announced today: He'll be performing later this month as a special guest on the closing day of the World of Music and Dance festival in the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Plant appeared at an installment of the Womad festival in Reading, England, on July 29, 2005, with his band the Strange Sensation. That show kicked off a European tour in support of his disc Mighty ReArranger. He and the Strange Sensation were previously slated for a Womad appearance in Redmond, Wash., but the band withdrew its appearance due to scheduling conflicts, the festival and Plant's management said at the time.

Now, Plant is to take part in Womad's headlining act in Abu Dhabi on April 25, which fuses together blues and African roots. This lineup incorporates Strange Sensation guitarist Justin Adams and his more recent musical collaborator, Gambian singer and musician Juldeh Camara.



This just proves you can never predict with great accuracy where Robert Plant's next move will take him! Krauss nailed it last summer when she told her hometown newspaper that Plant's "constantly on the move for inspiration." She likened him to a snake with an unpredictable path:

"He's going to go around this curve over here, and maybe he got a CD in Seattle and that made him turn this other way. Or maybe he shook somebody's hand in Istanbul and that's why he's turned to the right now."
In a similar turn of events, Plant sat in with Tinariwen in April 2007, performing the Strange Sensation blues song "Win My Train Fare Home."

About the author

Steve "The Lemon" Sauer is a writer and musician based in Boca Raton, Fla., who has dedicated a portion of his life researching the history of rock group Led Zeppelin and monitoring the ongoing careers of the band's surviving members. Although he was barely a year old when Led Zeppelin broke up and it took him until his teen years to appreciate the music, it didn't take long to make up for it.

Steve is currently a contributing writer and consultant for Get the Led Out, a weekly syndicated radio program hosted by Carol Miller and syndicated in 100 U.S. markets including New York and Los Angeles. He also provides content for a Web site associated with the radio show, www.LedZepOnline.com.

In 2007, Steve launched Lemon Squeezings: Led Zeppelin News to cover the lead-up to the band's reunion concert at the end of that year. Since then, he has closely examined every rumor of a followup tour since then, often dispelling or clarifying misinformation perpetrated by the mainstream media. Using his journalistic training, Steve has also uncovered some facts and accounts previously unreported elsewhere.

At age 18, he began publishing On This Day In Led Zeppelin History, a daily newsletter detailing the interactions of members Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Bonham, John Paul Jones, and their manager, Peter Grant. The newsletter is located at www.OnThisDayInLedZeppelinHistory.com.

He enjoys uncovering stories and has employed various methods to communicate those stories to Led Zeppelin's vast fan base, utilizing terrestrial radio and the many facets of the Internet: from Usenet newsgroups to plain e-mail and now Facebook and Twitter. Steve also connects with live audiences when performing as a backup vocalist and keyboard player with various bands, including past onstage appearances with three cover or tribute acts performing the music of Led Zeppelin.

Do you have a news tip to share with Steve? Do you have something you would like him to write about? Would you like to book him for a speaking engagement? He can be contacted by e-mail at Steve at LedZeppelinNews.com.

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