Way OT: Is Jack White the coolest?

Yawn.

Jack hates Detroit so much that he has spent the past several years releasing the music of several Detroit artists/bands that haven't so much as gotten a lick of notice from the rest of the music industry (the Thornbills, Duane the Teenage Weirdo, Black Milk, etc.), with several of the artists surprised he'd even heard of them.  And held the lucrative tri-color record releases for all of them in local Detroit record stores.  He has showcased them, and several others at shows at the TMR venue in Nashville, and has included them in tours and shows nationwide. He isn't doing that for Nashville groups.

Jack hates Detroit so much that when the split-color releases of the first three Stripes records came out last year, one of the three locations picked for the sale was a street corner in Southwest Detroit.  Then he gave the proceeds to a neighborhood Catholic parish's renovation fund.

Jack hates Detroit so much that he went so far as to clarify the comments he made, in frustration, after he moved to Nashville in 2004.  He has consistently said nothing but positive things about his time in Detroit since then, and in many quiet ways has done a lot of good things for the local music scene beyond what you see coming out of TMR.  It was tough for Jack to literally be the heart and soul of the Detroit music scene, for his every move to be hung on by an entire city, and he decided to go do something new.  People do that in life.  And he was unfairly villified for it.  

Jack did so much for this city and its music, and continues to do so, that it's hard to say with a straight face he hates this place.  Because it simply isn't true.  Can't wait for the show at the Masonic on the 24th.

Legitimate question from someone not from Michigan or even the Midwest. What is with people from Michigan (about Detroit)? I hear people all the time make comments like “I believe in Detroit,” and they seem to get legitimately offended when people speak negatively about the city. And this is behavior being exhibited by people from all over Michigan, not confined to the Metro area. I’m not trying to upset anyone, I am genuinely curious because I’ve never seen anything like this in other areas.  

But don't mind if others get side-tracked as I'll learn even more that way.

his music certainly, but John Mayer is a phenomenal guitar player when he's not doing pop songs.

I do think White is a better guitarist than Mayer, as I think White is a phenomenal guitarist.  However, I don't Mayer gets as much credit as he deserves as a musician.  He's pretty a pretty damn good guitarist.

John Meyer is by far a better guitarist than Jack White. He is also way more diverse.

And Dave Grohl maybe ups Jack White by singing, playing guitar AND chewing gum all at the same time.

I've always liked Grohl more as a drummer.  He can't even compete with Jack White on the guitar.

Jack White is pretty cool, but he's no Jonny Greenwood. And Dave Grohl?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5g3uTV2OxY0

Smoked it in Nirvana, plays guitar, sings well. Jack is not even close.

OK, name another one.

Yeah, the ICP thing was lame, but I think with the TMR Blue Series releases (and especially the Green Series), it's clear Jack likes to have fun with it.  He picks artists he likes, songs and projects he thinks are fun or interesting, and doesn't really seem to adhere to a lot of conventions or rules about it.  I'll admit, I hate ICP, and it's one of the few TMR releases I've flat-out refused to buy.  But I get it.  It fits with the bigger picture.  

The whole vision of TMR is so cool because it has such a wide spectrum of things, and I think that's what makes Jack so unique in the music industry right now.  It's clear he's just having fun with it, hence the whole phenomenon of the Jack-as-Willy-Wonka deal over at TMR.  It's an aesthetic, a line of products, with a complexity and energy behind all of it that just continues to boggle the mind.  You don't release a record full of liquid, or release 1000 flexi-discs on biodegradable balloons, or encase a record inside another record unless you have a certain sense of humor or daring about what you're doing.

And, really, I don't know how much he makes off the non-JW/White Stripes/Dead Weather/Racs releases in the long run.  The bigger-name products, like Stripes reissues, solo singles, etc. are what funds the rest of the madness.

Didn't know he did garbage music with ICP. Respect lost. I think ICP is worst thing in music in the last 50 years