Lez Zeppelin Promises A Powerful Tribute During Stone River Grille Set

By John Voket

Led Zeppelin tribute band co-founder Steph Paynes said she started asking her parents for a guitar when she was six years old. And she distinctly recalls her seventh birthday when her mom and dad made her close her eyes, hold out her arms, and they placed a small plastic stringed folk guitar into her eager grasp.

That was the first life-changing moment for the Lez Zeppelin guitarist. The second came nearly two decades later when she picked up a 1993 box set containing all nine of the original Led Zeppelin studio recordings.

Up until that time, Paynes had developed a versatile proficiency on the six and 12-string guitar, even playing and studying jazz guitar greats and playing in a number of bands including another all-female ensemble where she was told she reminded audience members of Jimmy Page.

“So I picked up this box set of Led Zeppelin recordings and started digging in,” Paynes said in advance of a November 1 show the band is planning at Stone River Grille in Sandy Hook. “And it just blew my mind. I was playing in another all-girl band and my curiosity was piqued because of the constant comparisons people were making between us and [the members of] Led Zeppelin.”

Paynes said that in between the songs she half-heard over and over again on rock radio growing up, she also discovered the “incredible scope, dynamics and guitar playing of the incredible Jimmy Page.”

“I realized, my God, this guy’s into everything. I’d always been into a much more psychedelic sound and adopted more of a style of another Jimmy – Jimi Hendrix,” she said. “But Jimmy Page was exciting in a completely different way. And in the midst of a post-grunge atmosphere I discovered Led Zeppelin was better than all of it — and all of it sort of came from Led Zeppelin.”

As a former rock critic, Paynes recalled how few music journalists “got it” when it came to Led Zeppelin.

“I think they are all recanting it now, eating their words and writing books about how Led Zeppelin was the greatest band ever,” she said.

According to Paynes the upcoming Lez Zeppelin show will cover many of Zeppelin’s popular hits, from “Stairway to Heaven” to “Dazed and Confused,” where she performs Page’s trademark violin bow guitar solo. The group also breaks out the acoustic instruments for lighter numbers like “When the Levee Breaks,” “Going to California” and “Battle of Evermore.”

Paynes said her bandmates are equally committed to crafting a Led Zeppelin experience that audience members won’t soon (or ever) forget. She described lead singer Shannon Conley as being even more of a Led Zeppelin devotee than herself.

“Shannon pictured herself, even before I discovered the band, as a stand-in for Robert Plant. So this is her dream job,” Paynes said.

Paynes offered nothing but praise for multi-instrumentalist Megan Thomas, who covers bass, keyboards, mandolin and guitar.

“She really played Led Zeppelin the least among all of us — and her challenge is that John Paul Jones played every instrument under the sun, and she does an incredible job,” Paynes said.

And drummer Leesa Squyres is not only accomplished at reproducing the combination of John Bonham’s powerful pounding and precise riffs, but she is also a student of other great rock drummers, particularly Black Sabbath’s Bill Ward.

“But she is in awe of what John Bonham has done — it’s so much more than just keeping the beat,” Paynes said.

Lez Zeppelin is an act targeting gay female fans, Paynes said, and when it comes to the orientation of her and her bandmates, she would only say, “It’s whatever you want us to be.”

She also said that the show Lez Zeppelin is bringing to Stone River Grille and stages throughout the world is “the right show for the right time.”

“I don’t think I would have thought to do this 20 years ago,” Paynes said. “But today, everybody loves Led Zeppelin. It’s an amazing catalog and the time is right. They might be more popular now than they were then – everybody is jumping on the blimp.”

Tickets for Lez Zeppelin’s show in Sandy Hook are $15, and reservations are suggested. Doors open at 7, and admission is for ages 21 and up.  Stone River Grille, at 1 Glen Road, can be reached for additional information and reservations at 203-270-1200.