It's one of the best songs on the best Minnesota-made album of the '00s, so it shouldn't be all that big a surprise that Low's "Silver Rider" is up for a Grammy Award. Or it's sort of up for an award, anyway. Robert Plant's cover version of the tune -- one of two he recorded off the Duluth trio's 2005 album "The Great Destroyer" -- has been nominated for best solo rock performance in the awards list announced last night. Plant's whole album, "Band of Joy," also earned a nod for best Americana album.
Not long after he found out Plant covered their songs for his Buddy Miller-produced album, Low's ever-humble frontman Alan Sparhawk told me, "Just imagining that that guy spent maybe three minutes trying to figure out one of my songs is one of the coolest things I've ever experienced." Imagine how honored he must feel now.
Here's a clip below of Plant performing the song. That's the divine Patty Griffin playing the part of Mimi Parker in the song (she sings on Plant's record, too).
