Now and then, when I really want to make my peers envious, I tell them my very first rock concert was Led Zeppelin at Madison Square Garden. It drives fellow rock fans crazy!
The year was 1977. I was 14 and could barely believe my good fortune. Oh, the thrill of watching Robert Plant shake his mane of golden curls, not to mention his shapely behind, as he, Jimmy Page and the other band members played songs I’d listened to on my record player over and over.
Given my teenage love affair with Zeppelin, you can imagine my excitement when I learned I’d have an opportunity to interview New York native Steph Paynes, founder and lead guitarist of Lez Zeppelin, the only all-female quartet to pay homage to Led Zeppelin.
No less than Spin magazine called Lez Zeppelin “the most powerful all-female band in rock history.” The band, which was established in 2004, has garnered rave reviews the world over.
Paynes and Lez Zeppelin will perform at the Gordon Center for Performing Arts in Owings Mills on Saturday night, Feb. 17.
Jmore: How did you get your start in music?
SP: I’m still waiting to get my start! I asked for a guitar at 5 years old and got one for my sixth birthday. I saw it on TV, heard the way that cool electric guitar sounded and then simply had to play it. Particularly, it was those bands from Britain in the 1960s and 1970s that sent me into a tizzy. I wanted to be one of those cool guitar gods in Cream, the Beatles, The Who and Led Zeppelin.
Of course, being a girl, I figured such a job was out of my reach. But it didn’t stop me.
The first guitarist you ever admired?
The first guitarist I heard was [Belgian jazz guitar icon] Django Reinhardt, who my father absolutely adored. Possibly because of this, I played jazz first, all through middle and high school. I played in swing bands and studied the acrobatics of jazz guitarists like Joe Pass and Wes Montgomery. I switched back to rock when punk/new wave was the sound of the moment because I was invited to join a band that played that kind of music. I enjoyed it but it was never really a deep love. I found my way back to that original classic rock that sent me as a little kid, when I came up with the idea to have some fun by playing Led Zeppelin’s music.
Why Zeppelin?
They still sound so much better than most of what came after it. Zeppelin broke boundaries and explored so many musical styles with such a great deal of intensity, passion and prodigiousness. It seemed like the only music I could play for 20 years without getting bored.
What’s your favorite Led Zeppelin song or Jimmy Page riff?
Impossible to answer. Usually it is the last riff we’ve learned. At the moment, that might be ‘We’re Gonna Groove’ because we are doing a complete Royal Albert Hall, 1970 concert in its entirety at several venues, coming up in January. Other than that, we love playing things that super-challenge us like ‘Hot on for Nowhere,’ ‘Four Sticks’ or ‘Achilles Last Stand.’
Ever meet Robert Plant?
I met him briefly at the after-party for the New York premiere of ‘Celebration Day,’ the film of the 2007 reunion concert at the 02 [Arena] in London. However, more importantly, that is where I finally met Jimmy Page for the first time. And happily, that meeting was magical.
Is Zeppelin the greatest rock band ever?
It’s hard to categorize any artist as the greatest. Imagine trying to pick the greatest painter or writer. … I do think Led Zeppelin was extraordinary in so many ways and that they’ve stood the test of time.
Any songs you get sick of playing? ‘Stairway’?
Indeed! Sometimes the constants in our sets such as ‘Rock and Roll’ or ‘Immigrant Song’ are so familiar we can play them in our sleep. It’s not that we’re sick of it, it’s more that it’s cozily familiar. As for ‘Stairway,’ we didn’t play it for many years. It’s just too known almost to the point of being cliché. Mind you, the best things become cliché because they are just that good. But because of that, it’s a hard number to pull off without laughing.
Do you consider Lez Zeppelin a tribute band?
No, and I wouldn’t really compare it to other groups that called themselves tributes. We are a group of musicians who perform and interpret the music of Led Zeppelin, very much the same as classical musicians come together to play symphonies. We do not impersonate the group; we don’t try to look, dress, sound, copy exactly the image and music in order to, in essence, create an illusion. We strive for as much authenticity as possible and look upon our performance as a conduit to our own musical expression, not just an imitation.
Do you play your own music or other people’s music as well?
Yes, we have several originals on the first album. ‘Winter Sun,’ ‘On the Rocks,’ as well as a song I wrote for a guitar compilation called ‘She Rocks,’ which was released on Steve Vai’s label and features all female guitarists. The song ‘Sun at her Eastern Gate’ was enthusiastically received, as were the two on our first album. We hope to do more of that.
Has Judaism played a role in your life or career?
Not so much in my musical career, with the exception of making a cameo appearance at a Purim spiel here and there! But in my personal life, I consider myself to be deeply Jewish in many ways, both culturally and spiritually. I am a member of Park Avenue Synagogue on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, which has a brilliant clergy and the greatest cantor in the world — I kid you not. It is a great community — very intellectual, passionate, inquisitive and, most importantly these days, supportive of Israel.
For information, visit Gordoncenter.com.
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