Darrell Scott became one of the more successful country songwriters of the late '90s and early 2000s, placing songs with the biggest names in country music, including major chart hits. Garth Brooks, the Chicks, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, and many others recorded his work. At the same time, he consistently worked as a studio musician and released a series of his own solo albums.

The son of musician Wayne Scott, James Darrell Scott was born August 6, 1959, on a tobacco farm in London, Kentucky, and moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana. He was playing professionally by his teens in Southern California, later living in Toronto and Boston. He attended Tufts University, where he studied poetry and literature. Finally, he relocated to Nashville to get into the country music business. In the first half of the '90s, he appeared on albums by John Lincoln Wright, Catie Curtis, Hypnotic Clambake, Peter Keane, Duke Levine, Suzy Bogguss, and Randy Travis, singing and playing banjo, Dobro, guitar, bass, and pedal steel. In 1995 alone, he played on records by Guy Clark, Kate Wallace, John Berry, Marcus Hummon, Doug Stone, and Martina McBride, and he began to get recordings for his songs. Hummon and Scott co-wrote "Honky Tonk Mona Lisa," which appeared on Hummon's All in Good Time and on Doug Stone's Faith in Me, Faith in You (and was later covered by Neal McCoy); Scott and Hal Ketchum's "An Ordinary Day" was sung by Maura O'Connell on Stories; and Scott and Tim O'Brien's "Daddy's on the Roof Again" was on O'Brien's Rock in My Shoe.

Scott's sideman activities in 1996 included albums by John Berry, Suzy Bogguss, and Twila Paris. He and Verlon Thompson co-wrote "Ol' Joe Clark," which appeared on Sam Bush's album Glamour & Grits. Scott's most successful effort of the year was "No Way Out," a song he wrote with Marcus Hummon that Suzy Bogguss recorded for a country singles chart entry. (It was later covered by Julie Roberts.) Scott appeared on albums by David Beaudry, Monk Wilson, Jason Sellers, Guy Clark, Michael Peterson, and Tim O'Brien in 1997. With Clark, he co-wrote "Out in the Parking Lot," which was on Clark's album Keepers (and later covered by Kyle Jennings and by Brad Paisley), and with O'Brien he co-wrote "When There's No One Around," which O'Brien recorded on his album When No One's Around and which Garth Brooks covered on his chart-topping, multi-platinum album Sevens. Meanwhile, Scott had been signed to Sugar Hill Records as a solo artist, and in April of 1997, Sugar Hill released his debut album, Aloha from Nashville.

Scott's star was clearly in the ascendant by 1998 when he appeared on albums by Olivia Newton-John, Deana Carter, Sam Bush, Jenny Simpson, Suzy Bogguss, Jon Pousette-Dart, and Susan Werner, also earning a producer credit on Werner's Time Between Trains. "I'm Trying," a song he wrote with Tia Sillers, appeared on Kevin Sharp's Love Is. (It was later covered by Lee Greenwood and by Diamond Rio.) Pousette-Dart used three Scott songs on his album Ready to Fly, "She Looks Good to Me," "Tonight," and "Walking to a Different Rhythm," the last two co-written with his band. Scott's session work in 1999 included albums by Rhythm, Guy Clark, Sherrié Austin, Jason Sellers, Kate Rusby, Suzy Bogguss, and Paul Brandt; he produced Clark's Cold Dog Soup. The Chicks placed "Heartbreak Town," a song from Aloha from Nashville, on their chart-topping, multi-platinum album Fly, and it went on to become a country Top 40 hit, later earning a cover by Big Wooden Radio; New Grange used "Music Tree," written by Scott and Tim O'Brien; and Trace Adkins recorded Scott's song "Someday" on his album More... In April, Sugar Hill released Scott's second solo album, Family Tree.

Scott remained as busy as ever in 2000, appearing on albums by Jelly Roll Johnson, Judith Edelman, Sam Bush, John Cowan, the Warren Brothers, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Trisha Yearwood, John Rich, and John McCusker. His and Verlon Thompson's "Beside Myself" appeared on Johnson's Jelly Roll Johnson and a Few Close Friends; his and Cowan's "Sligo" was on Cowan's John Cowan; "Born to Fly," written by Scott, Sara Evans, and Marcus Hummon, was recorded for a single by Evans that hit number one in the country chart in January of 2001, and appeared on her album Born to Fly; Bill Miller recorded "Different Drum," a song he and Scott co-wrote, for his Reservation Road album; and Travis Tritt recorded Scott's "It's a Great Day to Be Alive," a song from Aloha from Nashville, for his Down the Road I Go album, which on to hit number two in the country singles chart. (It was later covered by Pat Green and Cory Morrow.) Meanwhile, Tim O'Brien and Scott recorded a duo album, Real Time, released by Howdy Skies Records on April 18, 2000. "The Second Mouse," a song from the album, was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance.

Scott's 2001 session work included albums by Ginny Hawker, Kate Rusby, Sherrié Austin, Patty Loveless, Chely Wright, and Tim O'Brien. "Constant State of Grace," a song written by Scott and Irene Kelley, appeared on Kelley's album Simple Path, and Scott's song "You'll Never Leave Harlan Alive," first heard on Aloha from Nashville, was covered by Brad Paisley on his album Part II and by Loveless on Mountain Soul. Scott was named Songwriter of the Year for 2001 by the Nashville Songwriters Association.

In 2002, Scott appeared on albums by John Cowan, Guy Clark, Elizabeth Cook, Little Big Town, Montgomery Gentry, Steve Earle, and Ty Herndon; he also produced Clark's album Dark. "Long Time Gone," the advance single from the Chicks' chart-topping, multi-platinum album Home, was a Scott composition that had first appeared on Real Time; it crested at number two in the country chart, and earned Scott a second Grammy nomination, this one for Best Country Song. Another Scott-written hit was Darryl Worley's cover of "Family Tree," the title song from Scott's second solo album, which appeared on Worley's album I Miss My Friend and reached the country Top 40 as a single. And Scott received the dubious honor of being parodied by country comedian Cledus T. Judd, who mangled "It's a Great Day to Be Alive" as "It's a Great Day to Be a Guy" on his album Cledus Envy. Scott was named ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year for 2002.

Scott appeared on albums by Malcolm Holcombe, Dick Siegel, Andrea Zonn, Steve Conn, Tim O'Brien, and Sara Evans in 2003. "Another Day," a song he and O'Brien wrote, appeared on both O'Brien's album Traveler and on Karan Casey's Distant Shore. Evans, Scott, and Marcus Hummon wrote "Feel It Comin' On," featured on Evans' album Restless. Also in 2003, Scott founded his own independent label, Full Light Records, on which he released his third solo album, Theatre of the Unheard, on September 23. The disc consisted of songs Scott had written between 1986 and 1990 that had been recorded previously for an album that was to have been released by a major label in 1992, but was canceled. Now, in re-recorded form, they emerged for the first time. Scott's session appearances in 2004 included albums by Jim Lauderdale, Johnsmith, Buddy Mondlock, and Dirk Powell. "Proving You Wrong," a song he wrote with Keb' Mo', was used on the latter's album Keep It Simple. Scott, Marcus Hummon, and Andy Griggs wrote "My Kind of Beautiful," which appeared on Griggs' album This I Gotta See. "Old Town New," co-written by Scott and Bruce Robison, was a cut on Tim McGraw's chart-topping, multi-platinum album Live Like You Were Dying.

Scott's 2005 session work included albums by the Warren Brothers, Tim O'Brien, Allison Moorer, Ciarán Tourish, Faith Hill, Kathy Mattea, and Sara Evans. He and Leslie Satcher wrote "Eight Crazy Hours (In the Story of Love)," which appeared on Fairchild's album Ride. Alone, he wrote "We've Got Nothing But Love to Prove" (aka "Goodle, USA"), which appeared on Hill's chart-topping, multi-platinum album Fireflies. He had two cuts on the various-artists album Hands Across the Water, performing his song "This Beggar's Heart" with Amhlaoibh and Muireann Nic, while John Cowan and the Brock-McGuire Band played the Cowan/Scott composition "Cumberland Plateau." Scott served as a producer and backup musician on the album as well. Neal McCoy recorded "Head South," a song from Scott's debut solo album, Aloha from Nashville, on his album That's Life. Scott's "Love's Not Through with Me Yet" appeared on Mattea's album Right Out of Nowhere. And Scott again collaborated with Sara Evans and Marcus Hummon on "Momma's Night Out," which Evans put on her Real Fine Place album. On Full Light Records, Scott issued a concert recording, Live in NC, backed by Danny Thompson and Kenny Malone In April of 2005. He released This Weary Way, an album by his father Wayne Scott, which he produced and played on, as well as co-writing "I Wouldn't Live in Harlan County" and "What I Really Need Is You" with the elder Scott. He reissued his 2000 duo album with Tim O'Brien, Real Time.

In 2006, Scott appeared on albums by Casey Dreissen, Rascal Flatts, Doug & Telisha Williams, John Cowan, and Johnsmith. "Simple Man," a song he wrote with Hal Ketchum, appeared on John Corbett's self-titled album. The Cowan album New Tattoo featured "6 Birds (In a Joshua Tree)" and "Drown," both co-written by Scott and Cowan, and a cover of "With a Memory Like Mine" by Scott and Wayne Scott, originally heard on Real Time. Sam Bush recorded Scott's "River Take Me," a song from Theatre of the Unheard, on his album Laps in Seven. And Johnsmith's Break Me Open included a cover of "Love's Not Through with Me." In June of 2006, Scott released The Invisible Man, his first album of newly written material since Family Tree in 1999. He returned in 2008 with Modern Hymns, a collection that featured interpretations of other songwriters' classic tunes. He then returned to his own muse on the two albums that followed, 2010's Crooked Road and 2012's Long Ride Home. A couple of collaborations with Tim O'Brien followed -- 2012's Live: We're Usually a Lot Better Than This and 2013's Memories & Moments -- and in 2015 Scott issued Ten: Songs of Ben Bullington. The next year saw the release of Couchville Sessions. ~ William Ruhlmann

A singer and songwriter whose literate, impressionistic storytelling and richly evocative melodies have made her one of the most respected artists in the contemporary folk community, Patty Griffin is also a superb vocalist who sings of the human heart and soul with a passion that's palpable but never histrionic. Most comfortable working outside the major-label system, Griffin went from performing in Boston coffee houses to national acclaim with 1996's Living with Ghosts, a debut album drawn from her solo acoustic demo recordings. While she would explore more full-bodied arrangements on 1998's Flaming Red and 2002's 1000 Kisses, her work always expresses a powerful emotional intimacy, and she's touched on her spiritual concerns with the albums Impossible Dream (2004), Downtown Church (2010), and Servant of Love (2015).

Patty Griffin was born in Old Town, Maine on March 16, 1964. The youngest of seven children, Griffin was 16 years old when she bought her first guitar for $50. While she learned to play, she showed no interest in making music a career in her teens and twenties; however, when her marriage broke up in 1992, Griffin, now living in Boston, developed a keener interest in writing songs, and was soon performing regularly at local coffee houses. A&R people from A&M Records were impressed with Griffin's songs and soulful performing style, and she was signed to a record deal; early attempts to capture her sound in the studio didn't quite click, so her 1996 debut album, Living with Ghosts, was drawn from Griffin's original acoustic demo recordings. The 1998 follow-up, Flaming Red, teamed Griffin with a full band and a full-bodied production in sharp contrast to the spare sound of the debut. Griffin recorded an album in 2000 with producer Daniel Lanois called Silver Bell, but before it could be released, A&M was taken over by Universal in a corporate merger, and the album was put on the shelf while Griffin was left in limbo. Eventually, Griffin was released from her A&M contract. She signed with ATO Records, the artist-friendly label founded by Dave Matthews, and ATO released 1000 Kisses in 2002. In 2003, Griffin released a live album, A Kiss in Time, and by this point she was gaining greater recognition as a performer, with her songs being recorded by Willie Nelson, the Dixie Chicks, Bette Midler, and Emmylou Harris, while Shawn Colvin, Miranda Lambert, Solomon Burke, and the Wreckers would follow suit over the next several years.

After releasing 2004's Impossible Dream, Griffin took three years off from the studio before returning with 2007's Children Running Through, which was named the year's best album by the Americana Music Association. In 2010 Griffin and her friend and collaborator Buddy Miller set up shop in Nashville's Downtown Presbyterian Church to record Downtown Church, a set of spiritually themed numbers, which won a Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album. That same year, Griffin took part in the recording sessions for Robert Plant's album Band of Joy, and she joined Plant's road band for the subsequent concert tour; Griffin also became the belated subject of music business gossip when she and Plant entered into a love affair that found the former Led Zeppelin singer briefly relocating to Austin, Texas, where she'd been living since the late '90s. By 2013, Griffin and Plant had gracefully parted ways, and she released the primarily acoustic set American Kid, a joint release between Columbia and New West Records. Also in 2013, Griffin's unreleased album Silver Bell finally received an official release (though the album had been circulating among fans for years), and her song "We Are Water" was performed by Hayden Panettiere on the hit TV series Nashville. In 2015 Griffin launched her own label, PGM, distributed by Thirty Tigers, and inaugurated the imprint with a new album, Servant of Love. Griffin's second PGM release, simply titled Patty Griffin, was issued in 2019. A spare, mostly acoustic effort, the album featured guest vocals from Robert Plant on two songs. ~ Mark Deming

A roots music renaissance man, Buddy Miller has made a name for himself as a guitarist, singer, songwriter, and producer, and he's worked with an impressive array of artists as well as creating a well-regarded body of work on his own. As a guitarist, Miller's work is rich, soulful, and evocative, more focused on atmosphere and tone than dazzling the listener with technique, while his songwriting offers an intimate glimpse into many sides of the human experience, and his production work lends a natural sound to the recordings that's honest but casts the artists in their best light. On 1997's Poison Love, Miller fused a classic country sound with the sensibility of a contemporary singer/songwriter, and on 2001's Buddy & Julie Miller (the first of several collaborations with his wife and creative partner), the slightly rough grain of his voice wove itself around her higher, more idiosyncratic sound. 2004's Universal United House of Prayer melded blues, rock, and country accents with the passion of gospel music, and Miller pushed the boundaries of country guitar on 2011's The Majestic Silver Strings, a collaboration with fellow pickers Bill Frisell, Greg Leisz, and Marc Ribot. Miller's work as a producer and sideman kept him busy in the 2010s, though he found time to cut albums in tandem with songwriter Jim Lauderdale (2012's Buddy & Jim) and Julie Miller (2019's Breakdown on 20th Ave. South).

Steven Paul Miller was born in Fairborn, Ohio (not far from Dayton) on September 6, 1952. Miller spent most of his childhood in Princeton, New Jersey, where he picked up the nickname "Buddy" from his grandfather. His interest in music was first sparked by hearing Elvis Presley as a kid, and while he enjoyed rock & roll, once he heard a duet featuring Porter Wagoner and Dolly Parton, he knew that country music was where his talent lay. As a teenager, Miller left home and moved to Woodstock, New York in hopes of joining a band; he got there in time to attend the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in 1969 and see Jimi Hendrix's closing set. By 1975, Miller had moved to Austin, Texas, where he landed a gig backing rockabilly rebel Ray Campi and met a vocalist and songwriter named Julie Griffith, who would later become his wife and creative partner. In the '80s, Buddy and Julie were in a band called Partners in Crime, which also included an up-and-coming musician named Shawn Colvin; the group landed a booking in New York City at the hip country venue The Lone Star Cafe, and Miller liked the mood of the city enough that he relocated to the Big Apple and formed the Buddy Miller Band, who played The Lone Star regularly. (Miller also backed up Kinky Friedman, who had a standing Sunday night booking at the venue.) While in New York, Miller struck up a friendship with a fellow singer and tunesmith, Jim Lauderdale, who also had an interest in the progressive side of country music. After Lauderdale relocated to Los Angeles, he helped Miller land two songs on a 1990 compilation of up-and-coming songwriters titled Points West: New Horizons in Country Music. That same year, Julie, who was performing as a Contemporary Christian artist, released her first album for Myrrh Records, Meet Julie Miller, with Buddy serving as recording engineer and executive producer. While Julie Miller would record two more albums for Myrrh and one for Larry Norman's Street Level Records label, Buddy was having trouble getting his own songs heard, though he was earning a reputation for his studio work and for the home recording setup where he was documenting his material.

In 1995, the blues and roots music label Hightone Records offered Buddy a deal, and that year he released his first solo album, Your Love and Other Lies, a country-flavored set he cut at home. By this time, Miller had been regularly collaborating with Jim Lauderdale on songs, and Buddy played guitar on Lauderdale's albums Pretty Close to the Truth (1994) and Every Second Counts (1995), two of the many albums where the pair would sit in on one another's sessions. In 1996, Buddy's career got a boost when a song he wrote with Julie, "My Love Will Follow You," was recorded by Nashville stars Brooks & Dunn on their album Borderline, and in 1997 he unveiled his second solo album, Poison Love, while Julie's first secular album, Blue Pony, which Buddy produced, also came out that year. Buddy had also been moonlighting as a member of Emmylou Harris' touring band since 1995, and in 1998 he produced the album Spyboy, named for the touring group he and Harris had formed; he also toured as Steve Earle's guitarist in 1997. Miller's third solo effort, Cruel Moon, appeared in 1999, and that same year, he helped Julie record her second secular effort, Broken Things, while a song he wrote with Jim Lauderdale, "Hole in my Head," was covered by the Dixie Chicks on their multi-platinum album Fly. Miller produced Jimmie Dale Gilmore's 2000 album One Endless Night, as well as playing guitar that year on releases by Emmylou Harris (Red Dirt Girl) and Kasey Chambers (The Captain).

2001 saw the release of Buddy and Julie's first collaborative album, titled Buddy & Julie Miller, with Buddy producing the sessions as well as co-writing the tunes. Buddy followed with another solo effort, 2002's Midnight and Lonesome, and he also was part of the Down from the Mountain tour, focusing on material and artists from the wildly successful soundtrack album to the film O Brother, Where Art Thou? 2004 saw Miller release a gospel-influenced effort, Universal United House of Prayer (his first album for New West Records), and he took part in another thematic package tour, the Sweet Harmony Travelling Revue, where he shared the stage with Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and David Rawlings. Miller was tapped to produce a country-accented album for the legendary soul singer Solomon Burke, which was released in 2006 as Nashville, and in 2008, when Robert Plant and Alison Krauss toured together in support of their hit album Raising Sand, Miller was recruited to play guitar in their touring band. Another Buddy & Julie Miller album, Written in Chalk, arrived in stores in 2009, and that same year, Buddy joined Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin, and Shawn Colvin for a concert tour billed as "Three Girls and Their Buddy." The February 19, 2009 date of the tour in Baltimore proved unfortunately memorable, as Buddy suffered a heart attack on-stage and underwent triple heart bypass surgery the following day. After the success of the Plant & Krauss tour in 2008, Robert Plant invited Miller to produce his 2010 solo effort, Band of Joy, and he also played guitar on the subsequent concert tour with Plant and Patty Griffin.

Miller's next recording project was 2011's The Majestic Silver Strings, a re-imagining of classic country songs featuring guest guitarists Marc Ribot, Bill Frisell, and Greg Leisz, and a rhythm section comprising bassist Dennis Crouch and drummer Jay Bellerose. Produced by Miller, the guitar quartet was augmented by vocalists Julie Miller and Emmylou Harris as well as Patty Griffin, Shawn Colvin, Chocolate Genius, and Ann McCrary. Miller teamed with Jim Lauderdale for their first album as a duo, 2012's Buddy & Jim, released by New West Records; the two also toured together in support. In 2013, Miller added a new skill to his résumé when he became an executive music producer for the hit TV series Nashville, helping to coordinate the music featured each week in the show set in the country music capitol. 2013 also saw the release of Electric, an album Miller produced for fellow guitar ace Richard Thompson. In 2016, Miller released Cayamo Sessions at Sea, featuring material recorded with Miller and a host of guest artists (among them Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Kacey Musgraves, Richard Thompson, and Kris Kristofferson) during the annual roots music cruise. Health problems sidetracked Julie Miller through much of the 2010s, but in 2019 she was well enough to issue another album recorded with Buddy, Breakdown on 20th Ave. South. ~ Mark Deming

As the lead singer of Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant seemed invincible, a "Golden God" in the words of journalist/filmmaker Cameron Crowe. Plant may have embraced rock stardom during Zeppelin's zenith in the mid-'70s, but the singer has spent the decades following the band's 1980 dissolution exploring the road less-traveled. Beginning with his 1982 solo debut, Pictures at Eleven, Plant pursued a feverishly adventurous solo career, embracing synthesizers and art rock that seemed to be the antithesis of Zeppelin's majestic hard rock, but he'd also later dabble in sampling and world music, while taking detours to reunite with Zep guitarist Jimmy Page for both a rockabilly lark and a folk-based revival of their catalog. Folk and roots rock weren't a passing fancy for Plant: he teamed with bluegrass singer Alison Krauss on 2007's Raising Sand, a Grammy-winning smash that also proved to the world at large the depth and range of Plant's music. Even with this success under his belt, Plant was determined to explore new musical territory, continuing to take risks on the 2010 album Band of Joy and 2014's Lullaby And...The Ceaseless Roar, then delivering a successful reunion with Krauss with 2021's Raise the Roof. These records proved that among all his peers, Plant possessed a musical wanderlust that kept his art vibrant.

Pictures at Eleven launched Plant's solo career in 1982. The album featured Phil Collins, and the drummer also appeared on the 1983 follow-up, The Principle of Moments, where Plant achieved a lighter touch somewhere between Genesis and Zeppelin's quieter side with tracks like "In the Mood" and "Big Log." But the singer would feed his Elvis Presley infatuation on 1984's The Honeydrippers, Vol. 1, teaming with Page and other guests on influential roots rock material.

Refusing to be typecast, Plant then threw fans a major curveball with Shaken 'n' Stirred, the 1985 album that approximated new wave through the synthesizer embellishments of keyboardist Jezz Woodroffe and guitarist Robbie Blunt, plus Hayward's use of electronic drums. It was a creative highlight of his career, but despite a hit in "Little by Little," the album sold poorly, and rumblings about a Zeppelin reunion mounted. Plant took the next few years off, then answered the call for Zeppelin material with 1988's Now & Zen, which featured samples from his old group (plus selections from its vault on the subsequent tour). Manic Nirvana furthered the post-Zeppelin theme in 1990, and Plant's 1993 CD, Fate of Nations, proved another artistic high point and found Plant singing Page's name on the hit "Calling to You." The old songwriting partners had gotten together again for special occasions with Jones and drummers like Collins and Bonham's son Jason, but organized a different reunion in 1994. Plant brought in his bassist, Charlie Jones, and touring drummer Michael Lee, to back the singer and Page -- who added a British symphony orchestra and Middle Eastern musicians for their televised No Quarter concert and CD. Despite Plant blocking John Paul Jones from participating (the two had disagreed throughout their careers), the show proved a fascinating blend of different cultures tackling Zeppelin classics like "Since I've Been Loving You" and "Gallows Pole."

As the versatile John Paul Jones made a name for himself as a producer (of groups as disparate as Heart and the Butthole Surfers) as well as a solo artist, Robert Plant and Jimmy Page further stirred the ashes with their 1998 studio CD Walking Into Clarksdale. But the quartet format (with Charlie Jones and Michael Lee) paled in comparison to Zeppelin's similar blend of bombast and subtlety, and poor sales put Plant back at the crossroads of his 35-year career. He stayed away from recording until late 2001, when he stepped into the studio with a batch of original material and a few well-chosen covers and recorded Dreamland. Taking his penchant for experimenting with ethnic musics and blending it with a softer approach to his bluesy pop, he steered in another interesting direction almost 40 years into his recording career. In November 2003, Atlantic issued Sixty Six to Timbuktu, a two-disc compilation dedicated exclusively to Plant's solo work. The set ranged from hits like 1988's "Tall Cool One" and the Honeydrippers favorite "Sea of Love" to the previously unissued "Upside Down" and a pre-Zeppelin single dating from 1966. Mighty Rearranger followed two years later, and Plant teamed up with bluegrass icon Alison Krauss to release the Grammy-winning collaborative album Raising Sand in 2007. Plant next revived the name of his first band, Band of Joy, in 2010 for the self-titled Band of Joy release, which was co-produced by Buddy Miller.

Two years later, Plant formed a new band called the Sensational Space Shifters (featuring former Cast guitarist Liam Tyson), who made their debut at that year's WOMAD. They released a digital live album and went on to play a number of festivals, including 2014's Glastonbury. Plant's next solo album, Lullaby And... The Ceaseless Roar, featured the band. Released by Atlantic in September 2014, it incorporated blues, rock, folk, world, funk, and electronic influences, and was a deeply personal effort that saw Plant reconnecting with his English roots. It was greeted by good reviews and healthy sales, debuting at two on the U.K. charts and ten on Billboard in the U.S. Plant retained the Sensational Space Shifters for Carry Fire, an album released in October 2017.

In 2020, Plant released Digging Deep: Subterranea, a two-CD compilation of deep tracks from throughout his solo career that also featured three unreleased songs. Plant next reunited with Alison Krauss for Raise the Roof, the 2021 sequel to Raising Sand. The pair supported the album with a tour in 2022. ~ Bill Meredith