Drummer Clementine, founding member of the female Led Zeppelin tribute band Zepparella, discovered something magical when she first was exposed to the groundbreaking music of Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, John Paul Jones and John Bonham. It has remained mystical to her since that first time she heard Plant's signature howling vocals and the cascading drums of Bonham, the hammering keys from Jones and Plant's provocative guitar.
"I know it must have been 'Stairway to Heaven' on the radio," Clementine recalled of the first time she heard the band, in an interview with the Source. "I remember being completely transfixed, and terrified in some magical way."
And that feeling never left Clementine. Even after a career playing non-Zeppelin music and now, after a decade of recreating the Zeppelin cannon.
"After 10 years of playing this music, I am still never tired of listening to or playing the songs. I think that says everything. There is so much depth to the material that I always find something new in it," said Clementine.
Teaming up with three other powerful female musicians—Noelle Doughty's piercing vocals, Gretchen Menn wailing on guitar and Angeline Saris supporting the quartet on bass—Zepparella's goal is to recreate the feeling of magic that Clementine felt when she heard those iconic first notes of "Stairway to Heaven" trickle through her radio speakers.
"Hopefully, we can stir up all that emotion for the audience," said Clementine. "This is music that is so dear to so many people, and everyone has their stories of the music being there when they needed to be uplifted, or of it as the soundtrack to wonderful times. We want to bring you there."
Yes, the ladies have a hoard of groupies, and yes, they consider themselves feminists, said Clementine. And yes, she also admits to liking the new Robert Plant album.
"I love it. I love that he is so forward thinking, and his attitude of constant musical growth and change. I think he is a true artist for those reasons."
Zepparella
8 pm. Thurs., Dec. 11
The Belfry, 302 E Main Ave. Sisters.
$20-25.
