Lez Zeppelin
Encyclopedia
Lez Zeppelin is an all-female tribute act, performing the work of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

.

History

In June, 2005, Chuck Klosterman
Chuck Klosterman
Charles John "Chuck" Klosterman is an American author and essayist who has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Believer, and The Washington Post, and has written books focusing on American popular culture....

 wrote an article for SPIN Magazine that featured Lez Zeppelin as a leading protagonist in a trend of all-female hard rock “tribute” bands. He referred to the group “the most powerful all-female band in rock history” and described the rise of bands like Lez Zeppelin as a “kind of multilayered cultural phenomenon.” . Stories about the group appeared in the Times of London, whose journalist called the band “the best new band I’ve seen all year, no question;” Reuters
Reuters
Reuters is a news agency headquartered in New York City. Until 2008 the Reuters news agency formed part of a British independent company, Reuters Group plc, which was also a provider of financial market data...

 and CNN.com., which ran a front page feature that called the group so “electrifying” they are “driving club audiences to a frenzy.”

In April 2007, after touring in the US and Europe the band released its first album, Lez Zeppelin, which was produced by Eddie Kramer
Eddie Kramer
Edwin H. Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness, and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...

, former recording engineer on several Led Zeppelin albums. In the wake of this release, the band was invited at festivals including the Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...

 in the UK; Rock am Ring and Rock im Park in Germany; and the Voodoo Festival in New Orleans.

The announcement in February 2008, that Lez Zeppelin would take the stage at the Bonnaroo Festival, was incorrectly reported by some news organizations, which stated that Led Zeppelin was to perform.

Throughout 2008, the group continued to tour in the U.S. and in the late fall made its first visit to Japan to promote the release of its debut record. In March 2009, Lez Zeppelin played a benefit concert in Mumbai. In 2010, the band headed back into the studio to record a second album.

Current members

  • Steph Paynes - Guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    , Theremin
    Theremin
    The theremin , originally known as the aetherphone/etherophone, thereminophone or termenvox/thereminvox is an early electronic musical instrument controlled without discernible physical contact from the player. It is named after its Russian inventor, Professor Léon Theremin, who patented the device...

  • Leesa Harrington-Squyres - Drums
    Drum kit
    A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

  • Megan Thomas - Bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

    , Mandolin
    Mandolin
    A mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...

    , Keyboard
    Musical keyboard
    A musical keyboard is the set of adjacent depressible levers or keys on a musical instrument, particularly the piano. Keyboards typically contain keys for playing the twelve notes of the Western musical scale, with a combination of larger, longer keys and smaller, shorter keys that repeats at the...

  • Shannon Conley
    Shannon Conley
    Shannon Conley is an American actress, voice actor, and vocalist based in New York City. She has done voice work for Central Park Media and NYAV Post...

     - Vocals, Harmonica
    Harmonica
    The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...


Album

In late 2007, the band (then consisting of Steph Paynes, Sarah McLellan, Helen Destroy and Lisa Brigantino) recorded its first album containing six Led Zeppelin selections (one song from each of the first six albums) and two originals. The album was recorded at Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...

 in New York City with producer/engineer Eddie Kramer
Eddie Kramer
Edwin H. Kramer is an audio engineer and producer who has worked with, among others, Led Zeppelin, Triumph, Kiss , Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Spooky Tooth, Peter Frampton, Curtis Mayfield, Santana, Anthrax, Carly Simon, Loudness, and Robin Trower.-1960s:Eddie...

, best known for his work with Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...

, and was mastered by George Marino, who digitally remastered all of the original Led Zeppelin recordings with Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

. The album, released on Emanation Records, is distributed by Redeye Distribution., and was also released and distributed in Japan by the Avex Music Group.
The group (consisting of Steph Paynes, Shannon Conley, Megan Thomas and Leesa Harrington-Squyres) returned to the studio in 2010 to record a second album with producers Perry Margouleff and William Wittman that serves as an incredible replication of of Led Zeppelin’s 1969 debut. The album was recorded at Pie Studios in Glen Cove, New York, using all of the same analog gear and recording techniques, as well as the same vintage equipment used by Led in 1968. The album, released on Pie Records, is distributed by Redeye Distribution
Redeye Distribution
Redeye Distribution is an independent music distribution company founded in 1996 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Redeye currently distributes such labels as Marsalis Music, Barsuk Records, Warp Records, Daptone Records, Luaka Bop Records, Kill Rock Stars, Sargent House, Hydra Head Records, The...

 in the U.S. and was also released and distributed in Japan by the Avex Music Group.

Track listing

  1. "Whole Lotta Love
    Whole Lotta Love
    "Whole Lotta Love" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin. It is featured as the opening track on the band's second album, Led Zeppelin II, and was released in the United States and Japan as a single. The US release became their first hit single, it was certified Gold on 13 April 1970, when it...

    " (Bonham, Willie Dixon
    Willie Dixon
    William James "Willie" Dixon was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. A Grammy Award winner who was proficient on both the Upright bass and the guitar, as well as his own singing voice, Dixon is arguably best known as one of the most prolific songwriters...

    , Jones, Page, and Plant)
  2. "The Ocean" (Bonham, Jones, Page, and Plant)
  3. "On the Rocks"(Paynes, Brigantino, Destroy, Kramer, McLellan)
  4. "Since I've Been Loving You
    Since I've Been Loving You
    "Since I've Been Loving You" is a blues-rock song in C minor by English rock band Led Zeppelin, released on the 1970 album Led Zeppelin III.-Overview:...

    " (Jones, Page, and Plant)
  5. "Rock and Roll
    Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin song)
    "Rock and Roll" is a song by English rock band Led Zeppelin, which was first released as the second track from the band's fourth album in 1971, with a guest appearance by The Rolling Stones pianist Ian Stewart.-Overview:...

    " (Bonham, Jones, Page, and Plant
    Robert Plant
    Robert Anthony Plant, CBE is an English singer and songwriter best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the iconic rock band Led Zeppelin. He has also had a successful solo career...

    )
  6. "Winter Sun" (Paynes, Brigantino)
  7. "Communication Breakdown
    Communication Breakdown
    "Communication Breakdown" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin, from their 1969 debut album Led Zeppelin.- Structure :The pounding guitar riff was played by Page through a small, miked Supro amplifier throughout; and ran his Fender Telecaster through a fully closed Vox wah pedal to...

    " (Bonham
    John Bonham
    John Henry Bonham was an English musician and songwriter, best known as the drummer of Led Zeppelin. Bonham was esteemed for his speed, power, fast right foot, distinctive sound, and "feel" for the groove...

    , Jones
    John Paul Jones (musician)
    John Paul Jones is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. Best known as the bassist, mandolinist, and keyboardist for English rock band Led Zeppelin, Jones has since developed a solo career and has gained even more respect as both a musician and a...

    , and Page
    Jimmy Page
    James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...

    )
  8. "Kashmir
    Kashmir (song)
    "Kashmir" is a song by the English rock band Led Zeppelin from their sixth album Physical Graffiti, released in 1975. It was written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant over a period of three years, with the lyrics dating back to 1973.-Overview:The song centres around a signature chord progression...

    " (Page, Plant, Bonham)

External links

  • Lez Zeppelin at Billboard
    Billboard (magazine)
    Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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