Legendary LED ZEPPELIN singer ROBERT PLANT spoke with Benjamin Crandell from Sun-sentinel.com recently about a number of topics including hitting the road with his new outfit BAND OF JOY. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Sun-sentinel.com: Band Of Joy was the name of a band you had in the 1960s with (then future Led Zeppelin drummer) John Bonham. Why resurrect the name?

Plant: "Really, it's braggadocio. Once upon a time, I was a young man, and I found my musical leanings were more important than success. The name is a return to a time when everything was free-form. I remember when I was with Bonzo; we were playing, and we knew it didn't really matter how it was received. All that mattered was that the music was inside your heart. We were trying to get as far away from the popular music of that era, the BOBBY GOLDSBORO sound, as we could. We just wanted to kick ass … The first Band of Joy was quite extreme, psychedelic … I'm thinking Grande Ball Room Detroit, the BLUE CHEER. We would have been right at home alongside (LOVE guitarist) Arthur Lee. This gets me back to the things that allowed me to be a singer, to end up with the NEW YARDBIRDS and then Led Zeppelin. If I hadn't been into this kind of extreme sound I never would have hooked up with Jimmy."

Sun-sentinel.com: A lot of fans expected another Alison Krauss CD. What happened there?

Plant: "It was just time to take a sabbatical from each other. When Alison and I decided to take a break, I found myself surrounded with these great musicians. And, I said, “I think I know where I'm going now. In Nashville, there is this historical, encyclopedic knowledge of American musicianship that is lacking in the UK. I was completely bowled over by this amazing, exciting group of musicians: Buddy Miller, Byron, Patty … With them, the obscurities that I've had in my head (since the first Band Of Joy) are mainstream."

Sun-sentinel.com: How would you describe the new band and what people can expect at the show.

Plant: "I think of the Led Zeppelin III era. There was a dynamic about the Zeppelin III period where we could go from reflective acoustic stuff to some heavy shit … 'Hats Off To Harper', 'Gallows Pole' … I'm not interested in doing late-middle-age cabaret. I want it heavy and spooky. There should be some mystery, big and deep, that makes people's skin tingle. I want [Band of Joy] to be as much Arcade Fire as Link Wray. There's gotta be a lot of dark shit going on. A lot of it is Buddy, who is absolutely incredible. He is playing in styles that he hasn't touched on in years. Each of us - me, Buddy, Patty - we came out of ourselves and met somewhere in the air."

Read the entire interview here.

Plant is the only original member of Band Of Joy but he’s joined by Patty Griffin on vocals, Darrell Scott - multi instrumentalist/vocals, Byron House - bass/vocals, Marco Giovino on drums and percussion/vocals, and co-producer Buddy Miller, guitar/vocals.

Robert Plant's Band Of Joy is due out on September 14th via Rounder/UMGD. The album will feature the following tracklisting:

'Angel Dance'

'House Of Cards'

'Central Two-O-Nine'

'Silver Rider'

'You Can’t Buy my Love'

'I’m Falling In Love Again'

'The Only Sound That Matters'

'Monkey'

'Cindy, I’ll Marry You One Day'

'Harms Swift Way'

'Satan Your Kingdom Must Come Down'

'Even This Shall Pass Away'