Guitar legend Jimmy Page has big plans for the New Year – and the basic gist is that he’s encouraging fans to brace themselves for the unexpected. Most importantly, he’s confirmed that he’ll a) be touring and b) recording a new album.
We still don’t have many details, but the Led Zeppelin guitarist’s excitement alone is noteworthy. It would be his first solo album in almost 30 years (1988’s Outrider), and his rare solo releases have sounded very Led Zeppelin-esque. However, according to a recent interview with Classic Rock magazine, his new work will be “quite different. It wouldn’t be anything that hopefully you’d imagine I would do,” he says. “I want to do it properly… There will be surprises – that’s what I’ve done all the way through my career, really.”
Lately, most of Page’s attention has been focused on Led Zeppelin reissues, from wading through massive numbers of master tapes to plenty of post-release promo work. “It’s not been so easy to think about anything else in the tail end of this year,” he admits. “But okay, next year – bang!”
Page, who turns 72 in January, hasn’t announced any musicians for his touring band yet, but he anticipates that his show will involve material from many different eras. “The best way for me to think about it is pacing towards a really exciting show, where you’ve still got a chance to improvise and come up with new things every night,” he says.
We’ll keep you posted as we learn more about Page’s new project and tour plans. In the meantime, enjoy the following clip of his surprise appearance on November 19th at a benefit show at Seattle’s Experience Music Project Museum. (He joins the stage at the three-minute mark with Microsoft co-founder/gazillionaire Paul Allen to perform “Rock and Roll”…)
