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The simplistic beat and the echo and delay of the guitars are kind of low key on the bluesy rocker of “Rich Woman,” an interesting duet between Alison Kraus and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin fame. Who would have thought that these two would ever team up for an album. The first time I heard the album I wasn’t too impressed, but after a couple of more listens to this eclectic mix of Folk/Blues/Experimental Rock/Country, about half of the songs have grown on me. 

While the steel guitar country sounds of “Killing the Blues” moves a little too slow, it’s the next song that almost threw me for a loop. It’s mandolin and violin with some bass and drums. It’s mainly Kraus singing “Sister Rosetta Goes Before Us” as Plant provides some interesting background vox. It’s almost got a Bohemian Gypsy feel to it with a little Spanish music. It’s odd, but interesting. Kraus also reminds me of Linda Ronstadt as she sings this haunting tune. The album continues, picking up with the bouncy, fun and rhythmic “Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On)”, that sounds like something that would possibly be on a solo album from Plant.

Raising Sand then drops back into a steel guitar track in 3/4 time with a slow, swing song that just makes my eyelids droop. “Please Read The Letter” picks things back up a little bit, but still not enough to keep my interest.

“Trampled Rose” sounds like it could be part of a Western soundtrack as the lone cowboy rides across the prairie, through the mountains and harsh weather as he braves the wild to get back to his lost love. This one is all Kraus, and once again it is an interesting and haunting combination of instruments and vocals.

“Fortune Teller” has a little of the same sound as the first track, but this tune is all Plant with Kraus coming in on background vox during the bridge. The lyrics feel very much like what the legendary singer may have written back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s during his rise to fame.

The next track is another duet that almost put me back to sleep. It’s almost as if they could’ve done two albums, one with the slow, easy material and one with the fun stuff. This helps break the album up, I suppose, but it’s too much of a difference, making it sound like there wasn’t really any direction in mind.

This is followed by a solo from Plant that combines banjo with some grungy, gritty guitars that are reminiscent of “When The Levee Breaks” crossbreeding with “Kashmir.” It’s very simple, yet powerful, unassumingly called “Nothin’ .“ This guitar sound could have been Jimmy Page from the Zeppelin III era.

Kraus gets down with a funky little bluesy piece called “Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson.” A fun little song, even if it is strange hearing her singing about losing a woman.

As the mandolins and acoustic guitars begin the pleasant and almost hymn-like “Your Long Journey” to end Raising Sand, the music transports you to a porch in the Appalachian Mountains as a family plays this beautiful tune.

In the end, Raising Sand is a difficult album to pin down. A good percentage of the songs are strong, and the production values are crystal clear. On the other hand, the overall feel of the ablum comes off as if there are darts all over the board. The talent is there, but there’s a noticable lack of focus.

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