The Dead Weather

This week, I decided to check out a side project of one of my favorite musicians, Jack White.

I'm sure everyone's heard of Jack White, the front man for the Detroit based "White Stripes" and "Raconteurs." As the drummer of The Dead Weather, White gets to take his group into a more artsy direction that his other two bands which are both marked by White's bluesy guitar riffs and yelping vocals.

I only recently heard of the Dead Weather via the documentary "It Might Get Loud" which discusses the sounds and influence of the electric guitar through the eyes of Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin), Jack White (of the White Stripes) and The Edge (of U2). For anyone who is a genuine fan of music, you should definitely check out this documentary on Netflix.

The Dead Weather is rounded out by lead vocalist Alison Mosshart of The Kills, basist Jack Lawrence of the Greenhornes and guitarist Dean Fertita of the Queens of the Stone Age. The group has taken a very bare bones approach to rock and roll. Their sound is raw, bluesy and..well, raw. It's not a huge departure from the type of sound Jack White's other projects have yielded. Sure, he's not playing the guitar or providing lead vocals, but his influence in the overall sound of the group is undeniable. I think my favorite aspect of this group is the fact that Jack White made the conscious decision to take a backseat position in the band and play the drums despite his history being the front man of the other groups he's played with in the recent past. It's certainly the case in almost every band that's every played that the drummer sets the beat for the band but it's not overly common for the drummer to set the tone. White brings his raw, almost confrontational style evident in his guitar playing to the drum kit.

I'll leave you with a great tune from the album "Sea of Cowards"