Let’s face it: The cover band is basically the SPAM of the music industry — a cheap substitute. So who has the balls to play second fiddle to one of the biggest rock outfits in history? An all-girl band, of course. Taking a break from her raging tour life (with a stop tonight at World Cafe Live), Lez Zeppelin founder and guitarist Steph Paynes let us in on how four chicks with instruments bring a new edge to Led Zeppelin’s timeless tunes. — Cheryl McEvoy

How did you get the band together?
I had been in enough crap bands to know not to go through auditions. So I just asked around. I talked about it endlessly. To find a drummer who plays like Jon Bonham — that just doesn’t happen much. And how do you find someone who sounds like Plant?

Did you always intend to make it all girls?
Once I decided to go through with this foolish idea, I knew I wanted it to be an all-girl band. Going out and playing this music as all girls is so powerful and has such an effect. It’s the whole gender and cultural dynamic that makes college professors want to write about us. Especially because Led Zeppelin was perceived as being aggressively male, despite the fact that they [had long hair] and wore women’s clothing. It’s kind of fitting that we have that femininity.

Do people give you a hard time for being women?
They’re completely skeptical — they don’t expect the power that comes across. They come thinking we’ll hit some right notes, but they don’t expect to be completely bludgeoned by the power. It’s definitely sexism working in our favor — the surprise contributes to the “wow” factor.

You pay tribute to arguably the greatest rock band of all time. That’s gotta come with some pressure, right?
Yeah, that was the foolish part. We take this seriously. We have fun, but in terms of the music, all of us are very, very serious about what we’re playing. What is it about Led? What is it about the sound? The improvisation, the intensity of it all … But I think this is a group of fairly prodigious musicians — we’ve all done our homework … We do have that Zeppelin energy.

Do you party as hard as the original? You know, the drinking, debauchery, trashed hotel suites?
[Laughs] Oh yeah, all of that — the sex, the drinking, the drugs, the motorcycles in the hotel, the fishing off the balcony, the sharks …

In from Nashville, Johnny Cash and June Carter will play a benefit concert in Philadelphia this week. Well, kinda. When local Johnny Cash tribute artist David Stone (pictured) performs on Friday, you probably won’t know the difference. On the phone last night, in his smoky, calculated drawl, Stone explained the difference between a tribute band and an impersonator, and probably wanted to break my legs when I brought up Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.

What’s up on Friday?
It’ll be me and June Carter playing. We’re going to be doing all the duets between 1965 and 1975. You can count on “Jackson,” and “It Ain’t Me Babe.” Soroptimist International of Indian Rock is a club that helps young women get back on their feet and provides scholarships for their education. They approached us and we felt it was a good cause.

You call yourself a “representation” of Johnny Cash. What does that mean?
We provide an authentic note-for-note reproduction, complete with costume changes and authentic instruments. We keep it in character and do it with dignity. For those who haven’t seen him, we’re the next closest thing.

You’re not an impersonator?
If you look at Elvis impersonators, they give great indignity to the person their impersonating. The moves that they do are grossly exaggerated and overused. We stand for who these people were as people and what they stood for: a way of life, of hard times and hope. You’ll never see us marrying people at the Johnny Cash Chapel in Vegas.

So, no worries about a the stigma that comes with being an impersonator?
I defy anyone to look at our show and call me an impersonator. That type of person wouldn’t come to see us anyway. Screw ‘em.

How accurate is the stage show?
If something didn’t sound right, we’ll go back to the record and listen to it again. Sometimes, that even means practicing the mistakes. We found out that Johnny Cash didn’t put his guitar over his back as much as we thought he did. And there’s one suit that we got rid of because it wasn’t the right shade of black.

What did you think of Walk the Line?
I think Joaquin Phoenix did a good job at representing a very complicated character. But I don’t think he sounds much like Johnny Cash. They did a passable job on the music.

And what about Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story?
I’ve seen the trailer and I think it was … I’m not going to say. I don’t know … I’m just not going to say.

Why did you become Johnny Cash?
The rule in our family growing up was that you had to take a year of piano lessons. A minister came and played a guitar, and I asked my parents, “If the minister can play guitar, why can’t I?” The Johnny Cash Show was on television at that time and I was taken with him. Here was this great, big, tall badass. He flashed that big spiritual smile and said “I’m Johnny Cash.”

Have you ever had an audience like the one Cash played to at Folsom or San Quentin Prison?
We’re actually in talks with San Quentin to play the 40th anniversary show for the prisoners there in February 2009. I just talked to the assistant warden this morning. There’s a lot of I’s to dot and T’s to cross.

David Stone: The Johnny Cash Experience, March 28th at Spring Mill Manor, 171 Jacksonville Road, Ivyland. $45; for tickets, call 215-357-8670. Benefits the Soroptimist International of Indian Rock.