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Song Premiere: Amy Cook Featuring Robert Plant, 'It's Gonna Rain'

'Summer Skin' set for release on August 28th

August 15, 2012 9:00 AM ET
amy cook
Amy Cook
Alexandra Valenti

Click to listen to Amy Cook's 'It's Gonna Rain (featuring Robert Plant)'

On August 28th, Amy Cook will release Summer Skin, her follow-up to 2010's Let the Light In, on Roothouse Records. The album features guest appearances by such stars as Patti Griffin, Ben Kweller and Robert Plant. However, according to Cook, the duet with the Led Zeppelin frontman wasn't exactly planned.

"Robert Plant had come to the studio with Patty [Griffin] and was sitting next to me in the control room and he said, 'Do you mind if I give it a go?'" Cook tells Rolling Stone. "I did not mind. He sang it a couple of times and it was perfect."

Plant's harmony vocals appear on "It's Gonna Rain," a smoky ballad that makes ample use of the familiar "Stand by Me" chord progression. Cook describes it as a "song of hope," explaining,  "'It's Gonna Rain' is a song I wrote for a friend who had had a rough couple of years."

Listen to "It's Gonna Rain" here, and check out Cook's August tour dates below.

8/15 Philadelphia, PA – Tin Angel
8/16 New York, NY – City Winery
8/17 Annapolis, MD – Ramshead on Stage
8/18 Vienna, VA – Jammin' Java
8/28 Austin, TX – Victory Grill
8/31 Austin, TX – Waterloo Records

To read the new issue of Rolling Stone online, plus the entire RS archive: Click Here

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