Detroit's 'White Hope' could leave
The Raconteurs and White Stripes' singer thinking of relocating
By: Kimberly Chou
Issue date: 8/2/06 Section: Pulse
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ANN ARBOR, Mich. - To misquote Harvey Keitel, before he finally relocated to Nashville this year, Jack White sure as hell seemed ready to get the fuck outta Detroit. Long a fixture on the shaky Detroit music scene, White and model wife Karen Elson bought a house in Nashville; his Raconteurs bandmates - Detroit pop troubadour Brendan Benson and two-thirds of the Cincinnati rock trio The Greenhornes - followed suit.
In several interviews this year, most recently in Anthem, White has expressed his enthusiasm for moving out of the Motor City. It's almost sickening, at least for Midwestern music aficionados that used to wish Detroit had a slightly cooler image as a music city. Detroit's music scene is composed much like the city itself: A vast sprawl, some of it beautiful, some of it horrid, connected by winding concrete but often blocked by construction.
Berry Gordy uprooted Motown to the west coast, classic rockers like Alice Cooper and Ted Nugent have become State Fair novelties - and don't even mention Kid Rock. Jack and Meg White were Detroit rock music's Great (Peppermint-Striped) White Hope. Suddenly critics hastened to group the other local garage-rock bands together, unaware that some had been toiling for years and others had formed opportunely. White even beat up the lead singer from The Von Bondies and we all hoped for a cool, inner-city rivalry.
As Detroit émigrés, it will be interesting to see White, Benson, Patrick Keeler and Jack Lawrence (the latter were at least closely associated with Detroit) return to the city, or at least as close to the city as they'd like to get: Ann Arbor.
Set to play The Michigan Theater Saturday night, The Raconteurs have been riding out their U.S. tour in support of their first album "Broken Boy Soldiers." Released to mostly positive reviews - they are popular music's latest hope for a supergroup, after all (see: Cockrock disappointments Audioslave, Velvet Revolver)- the album is brighter and more Bensonite than any other influence.
Benson and White's co-storytelling is the framework, but Keeler and Lawrence bring much-needed gravity as the rhythm section. Catch them if you can this weekend.
As far as the White Stripes go, Jack White said he's not leaving the duo, he's just taking a hiatus from the usual routine.
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