ROBERT PLANT Says New BAND OF JOY Album Will Feature Original Material

According to The Pulse Of Radio, Robert Plant says that BAND OF JOY's next studio set won't rely on cover songs and will be the band's first to feature newly-written original material. Plant and the band are currently out on the road and dipping into his solo catalogue and including his 1988 solo hit "Tall Cool One" in the show's setlists, along with revamped versions of such LED ZEPPELIN classics as "Ramble On", "Houses Of The Holy", "Tangerine", "Gallows Pole", "Thank You" and "Rock And Roll".

Plant told The Pulse Of Radio that for BAND OF JOY to continue to grow as a band, they need to hunker down and start creating new original music. "We're talking, we have to write songs now," he said. "It's all very well celebrating other people's songwriting, and I know there are other artists who have had an entire career; whether it be Elvis (Presley) or (Frank) Sinatra, or a lot of the country artists who never write. But we've got to be heading that way soon."

"Band of Joy" sold 49,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 5 on The Billboard 200 chart.

Plant's first release since recording the six-time Grammy-winning bluegrass album "Raising Sand" with collaborator Alison Krauss in 2007, the "Band of Joy" CD enlists the help of an array of U.S. musicians, all of whom are performing with Plant on tour.

The new lineup of BAND OF JOY includes: Patty Griffin on vocals; Darrell Scott on multiple instruments and vocals; Byron House on bass and vocals; Marco Giovino on drums, percussion and vocals; and co-producer Buddy Miller on guitar and vocals.