Robert Plant with Saving Grace and Suzi Dian

Though Robert Plant is, literally and figuratively, the biggest name on the cover art for Saving Grace, he would be the first to say that the album is very much a group effort, with its title also serving as this new band’s moniker. The group members were drawn together by a shared love of roots music both vintage and modern—of blues, folk, gospel, country and those tantalizing sounds that lay in between. Like Plant, they’re keen to explore how these genres are evolving as well as to discover where these repertoires originated—and how collectively they could reinvigorate the music they loved.

This sensibility is reflected in the songs that made it to the final track listing, from familiar traditional numbers like the plaintive “I Never Will Marry;” the African-American spiritual “Gospel Plough;” and “Chevrolet,” which Donovan had adapted into his “Hey Gyp (Dig the Slowness)” back in 1965 to beautifully rendered outliers like Providence, RI trio The Low Anthem’s haunting “The Ticket Taker;” revered indie-rock duo Low’s epic “Everybody’s Song;” and Moby Grape’s pastoral “It’s A Beautiful Day Today.” Plant, who produced the album with the band, rarely claims center stage, most often sharing vocals with co-billed singer Suzi Dian and sometimes ceding the mic to her entirely. On Blind Willie Johnson’s “The Soul of a Man,” guitarist-banjo player Matt Worley takes the lead, with Dian and Plant serving as backup.

Despite Plant’s iconic status as an artist since his days with Led Zeppelin, Saving Grace managed to start out in 2019, casually and somewhat discreetly, as a local project. The players had been working collaboratively for barely a year, even serving as an unheralded opening act on a handful of dates with Fairport Convention when the pandemic intervened and any formal plans to tour or release music were temporarily shelved. That turned out to be less setback than serendipity. It allowed Saving Grace time to gestate, to find a collective voice.