It’s been almost 15 years since raise sand, the five-time Grammy Award-winning album by a surprising but fascinating partnership: rock superstar Robert Plant and bluegrass legend Alison Krauss. Plant, of course, was the frontman for Led Zeppelin, while Krauss is the most Grammy-winning country singer of all time (and with 27 wins, she’s in fourth place for most Grammy-winning artist. Of the history).

Onstage, Plant and Krauss, performing at McMenamins Edgefield this Saturday, delivered such a powerful and sweet dynamic that people wondered if they were romantically entwined (they aren’t). After the success of 2007’s debut album, fans expected another Plant-Krauss album to come soon, but they didn’t want to just release another album just to do it. Indeed, they would wait until 2021 to unleash the second act of their collaboration.

“It just had to feel good and natural,” Plant said on his podcast. dig deep, adding that a big part of his creative process involves feeling the energy in a room. When Robert Plant is on the move, he is onthough he admits he can almost never create the same moment twice, which is part of what makes their performances so dynamic.

“I think the reason it worked is because we had the same attitude as last time, which was, well, let’s see what happens!” Krauss said on dig deep. “Nothing was invented…you throw good chips in the air, but you always see where they fall.”

Finally, the chips landed. And as with the duo’s first album, their second, Raise the roof (released last November), became a collection of covers that they felt deserved to be revisited and reimagined.

Years before deciding to make the record, Plant and Krauss began sending each other songs that would be fun and empowering to record together. The songs range from bluegrass and country barroom to R&B and soul. Every track on the album is a cover, aside from “High and Lonesome”, a song Plant and producer T Bone Burnett co-wrote for the album (which explains why it has the most Plant-like vocals). y in the collection).

In the album’s press release, Plant says it was both challenging and fulfilling to push himself into genres and moods he doesn’t often explore.

“The Betty Harris song ‘Trouble With My Lover’ was always in the air,” he says of the R&B deep cut. “Hearing Alison sing is a great way for her to transform her gift. And Bobby Moore’s ‘Searching for My Love’ is something I used to sing at school, another nugget of the beautiful lost soul music that has ricocheted between us for a long time.

“I heard Lucinda Williams sing ‘Can’t Let Go’ forever, and I sent that to Robert at least 10 years ago,” Krauss adds. “I remember riding around listening to it and thinking it would be so much fun to do it together.” On Raise the roof“Can’t Let Go” is revisited with a Cash-like bluegrass bassline, making it one of the most upbeat tracks on the album.

Meanwhile, songs like Merle Haggard’s mid-career “Going Where the Lonely Go” and Hank Williams’ “My Heart Would Know” are completely reinterpreted under Burnett (whose extensive catalog ranges from Bob Dylan guitarist to director movie soundtrack like The great Lebowski, Inside Llewyn Davis and O brother, where are you?).

“Fun” is a word that comes up often with Plant and Krauss. Their energies bounce back to create beautiful vibes in the studio and on stage, uplifting songs that Plant described as having “entered our hearts a long time ago, but got lost in the twists and turns of the passing years.”

Plant does not follow the path of (insert name of aging musician playing greatest hits tours). He explores, learns and collaborates to create music that feels authentic to who he is now, capturing and restoring the work of artists whose work he admires. And for the record, he has no interest in any form of John Bonham reunion without Zeppelin.

Why would he? As Plant observed, time is always in motion. And he and Krauss move with it.

SEE : Robert Plant and Alison Krauss play McMenamins Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey St., Troutdale, mcmenamins.com/edgefield. 6:30 p.m. Saturday, August 27. $79.50. All ages.