Uncle Earl tours middle America; Plant, Krauss show to air in February

The all-girl string band whose album received the production treatment from John Paul Jones is back on tour in the United States. With a live appearance tomorrow at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, Uncle Earl launches a brief tour of the Mid-Atlantic and Midwest in support of the album Waterloo, Tennessee.

Following a slightly more comprehensive U.S. tour that ended last October, the group crossed the Atlantic Ocean in November to play its first-ever concerts in England. The four members -- Abigail Washburn, Kristin Andreassen, KC Groves and Rayna Gellert -- also attended Led Zeppelin's Dec. 10 concert in London as guests of Jones.

Uncle Earl's tour continues this week with Tuesday night in Annapolis, Md.; in Harrisburg, Pa., on Thursday; and in Goshen, Ind., on Saturday. Next week starts off with a three-night concert stand in Green Bay, Wis., on Jan. 20-22, before Uncle Earl heads to Chicago for a Jan. 23 show; Danville, Ind., for a Jan. 24 performance; and finally Hamilton, Ohio, for the closing gig on Jan. 25.

In other Led Zeppelin-related news, last year's only live appearance by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss is now scheduled to be televised on Feb. 11. A press release issued today is the first to identify the premiere broadcast of the singing duo's concert, which took place Oct. 18 in front of a studio audience outside Nashville, Tenn.

Airing on the cable network Country Music Television, episodes of the program "CMT Crossroads" match popular country artists with performers representing another musical genre. Past episodes paired Ray Charles with Travis Tritt, John Fogerty with Keith Urban, Kid Rock with Hank Williams Jr., and Elvis Costello with Lucinda Williams.

It is expected that Plant and Krauss will soon announce the dates of a U.S. tour in support of last October's release, Raising Sand. December saw them announcing an 11-show tour of the United Kingdom and mainland Europe, scheduled to take place over the course of 15 days this May.

Robert Plant and Alison Krauss share the same label, Rounder Records, as Uncle Earl.