Patty Griffin Announces New LP With Robert Plant Collaboration
Singer-songwriter Patty Griffin will release her eponymous new album on March 8, her first new music since 2015.
The LP marks the 10th studio album of the musician’s acclaimed career and features many of her favorite collaborators, including Robert Plant. The former Led Zeppelin singer contributes backing vocals to two of the album’s songs, "What Now" and "Coins."
The connection between Griffin and Plant goes back many years. The two were bandmates during the 2010 incarnation of Band of Joy. Soon after that, they began dating, with the former Zeppelin frontman once joking that the two had eloped. While the romance fizzled, a friendship has remained.
Plant previously contributed to Griffin’s 2013 album, American Kid.
The inspiration for the new material came from the Griffin’s own personal struggles. The songs were written while the singer battled, and ultimately defeated, cancer.
“I think life comes in different packages, and I had the cancer package for a little while that I had to get myself through,” she said during an interview with People. “But it also brought about these great, new places that I found out about while I was struggling along. ... I think that has been true of all the work I’ve ever done, but this was the more recent phase of that and maybe a little more struggle than before.”
You can listen to the new song "River" below.
In addition to the new album, Griffin revealed touring plans for 2019. The singer has headlining dates across the U.S. and Canada beginning Feb. 28 in Los Angeles. More performances, including a European leg of the tour, are expected to be announced soon. You can see the dates below.
Patty Griffin 2019 Tour (venues TBA)
Feb 28 - Los Angeles, CA
March 26 - New Orleans, LA
March 27 - Birmingham, AL
March 29 - Atlanta, GA
March 30 - Knoxville, TN
March 31 - Saxapahaw, NC
April 2 - Charlottesville, VA
April 3 - Washington, DC
April 4 - Philadelphia, PA
April 6 - New York, NY
April 7 - Portsmouth, NH
April 9 - Cambridge, MA
April 11 - Toronto, ON
April 12 - Ann Arbor, MI
April 13 - Nelsonville, OH
April 14 - Indianapolis, IN
April 16 - Chicago, IL
April 17 - Nashville, TN
April 19 - Little Rock, AR
April 20 - Houston, TX