Dabbling in the downbeat vibe of their album 'Raising Sand' was an upbeat experience for the singers, so much so that they want to prolong the experience next year with a tour. NEW YORK -- ALISON KRAUSS must feel as if she's dreaming. Across the crowded green room at the NBC-TV studios early on a recent morning, a walking hot dog and a 6-foot-tall ketchup bottle are talking to Popeye and Olive Oyl. Then Hugh Hefner and a Playboy bunny come through a door.Blinking, Krauss heads to the coffee urn. She's been up since 3:30 a.m., she says, to make sure there's plenty of time to do hair and makeup for her appearance on the "Today" show with her celebrated singing partner of the moment, Robert Plant.
"If they can't do her in three hours, they might as well give up," she says, putting herself in the third person and laughing at her joke.
Ungodly hours, by musicians' standards anyway, are part of the bargain for the folk-country star and the British rocker as they do their bit to promote their collaboration, "Raising Sand," which to their surprise is turning out to be one of the most anticipated albums of the year.
After doing interviews and taping a performance for the CMT cable channel's "Crossroads" show in Krauss' hometown of Nashville, they arrived here and went straight to a reception in their honor at an elegant tavern at Grand Central Terminal, then spent the next day visiting radio stations.
From New York they're off to England for another round, and after Plant's old band Led Zeppelin does its reunion show in December, the duo will start making plans for a U.S. concert tour.
Not many people were expecting this kind of attention for a project that began as an experiment with no clear aims -- least of all Massachusetts-based Rounder Records, the venerable roots-folk label that's fostered Krauss' career and now finds itself with a rock icon on its hands, and all that goes with it.
"It's the most expensive record we've ever put out," says Rounder President John Virant, standing at the bar during the reception, which figures to add a bit to the tab. "A lot of it was the travel for all the musicians -- Robert came over from England a couple of times. I remember getting an AmEx statement with $45,000 for airfare. . . . But when you're working with people like this, you can't run around crying that you're a poor little indie."
Virant is smiling as he says this. He figures it's money well spent, and sure enough, when the numbers come in a week later, "Raising Sand" has entered the national sales chart at No. 2, selling 112,000 copies during its first week -- the highest in Rounder's history. With the singers' combined pedigrees and the critical acclaim it's gathered and the spring tour to keep it fresh, the album could enjoy a long shelf life and be a factor in the 2009 Grammys.
T Bone Burnett, who produced the album, knows all about that. He assembled the soundtrack for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," the surprise album-of-the-year winner in 2002, which is when he first worked with Krauss.
"She is a profound artist and it's sort of easy to overlook that somehow, because she's so good at what she does," Burnett says. "But the reality is she has very deep notions about music and art. She doesn't wear them on her sleeve, but she may be the most uncompromising person I've ever met in my life.
"And Robert. . . . In a way Robert's sort of the fulfillment of this threat that Elvis Presley made."
Bluegrass meets rock
THE hot dog, the ketchup bottle and company have finished their "Today" segment (it's about Halloween costumes), and now Krauss and Plant are in a corner of the small studio in Rockefeller Center singing "Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)," a bouncy, driving Everly Brothers song from "Raising Sand."
The 36-year-old bluegrass princess and the erstwhile rock god, 59, blend their contrasting voices with the assurance and rapport they've developed over the course of their collaboration. That began when Plant invited Krauss to sing with him at a tribute to folk/blues giant Leadbelly at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, and flowered in the "Raising Sand" sessions last year in Nashville and Los Angeles.
After the final chorus and a "Well well!" yelp from Plant, the singers stand back and watch as their band builds the intensity. Jay Bellerose's drums dance lightly around the contours, while Burnett, Buddy Miller and Mark Ribot -- a summit meeting of premier roots-conscious, cutting-edge guitarists -- put on a show of their own.
Plant, who heard his share of guitar virtuosity in 1960s England and with Led Zeppelin, is still marveling at the display a few minutes later.
"When you see that there, Buddy Miller and Marc Ribot and T Bone playing," he says, shaking his head. "It's such a minimalistic piece of music, and yet with all that prowess and skill and musicality it becomes even more minimal.
"And then of course Ribot plays a solo that we haven't heard before and didn't know was going to happen, which makes it really good."
A natural chemistry
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