Alison Krauss and Robert Plant
AHEAD of being inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in late September, Alison Krauss has announced her muchanticipated studio reunion with Robert Plant. Raise The Roof WARNER MUSIC is out in mid-November, with producer T Bone Burnett reprising his role from 2007’s Raising Sand. A top-drawer set of players (among them Marc Ribot, David Hidalgo, Bill Frisell and Buddy Miller) help the duo navigate songs by Merle Haggard, Allen Toussaint, The Everly Brothers, Anne Briggs, Bert Jansch, Randy Weeks and more. And look out for the Plant/Burnett co-write, “High And Lonesome”. Late singer-guitarist Neal Casal gets a weighty salute in the form of Highway Butterfly: The Songs Of Neal Casal ROYAL POTATO FAMILY, also due in November. The 41-song collection, available across five LPs or three CDs, brings together the likes of Bob Weir, Hiss Golden Messenger, Steve Earle & The Dukes, Jonathan Wilson, Shooter Jennings, J Mascis, Phil Lesh, Cass McCombs, Aaron Lee Tasjan and Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. All proceeds will go to the Neal Casal Music Foundation in aid of various charitable causes. Produced by Sera Cahoone, Oregon songwriter Margo Cilker issues hugely promising debut Pohorylle LOOSE that same month. Steeped in classic Americana, it’s a bewitching and poetic travelogue of a troubadour’s lot. Finally, be sure to catch Nashville singer-songwriter Diana Jones, who begins her UK tour at Hebden Bridge Trades Club on September 30.