Plant Lands First Americana Awards Nominations

LED ZEPPELIN star ROBERT PLANT's American folk leanings have paid off - he and his latest partner ALISON KRAUSS have landed three Americana Honors + Awards nominations.

Plant and Krauss have won acclaim for their Raising Sand album and now the odd couple joins Levon Helm and James McMurtry as the three-nomination leaders of the annual prizegiving.

Krauss and Plant's album is nominated for Album of The Year, alongside Hayes Carll's Trouble in Mind, Helm's Dirt Farmer and McMurtry's Just Us Kids, and the couple lead the Best Duo of Group nods.

The coveted Artist of The Year prize will go to either Steve Earle, Jim Lauderdale, Helm or McMurtry Tift Merritt's Broken, Carll's She Left Me for Jesus, Helm's Poor Old Dirt Farmer, Cheney's Toy by McMurtry and Krauss and Plant's Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On) will compete for the Best Song honour.

The awards take place at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee on 18 September (08).