The Third Men Podcast

The Third Men Podcast Open Show 2021 is here! The world's first-ever virtual Jack White/Third Man Records fan convention kicks off in style with musical guests, special appearances, fan performances and much much more. To ring in the festivities, TMR co-founder and co-owner Ben Blackwell (fresh from his trip overseas for the Third Man Records London opening) has popped in to wish us all well, and introduce this 2+ hour show packed with musical goodies. Earlier this year, we put out the call for you, the listener, to submit video performances of Jack White or otherwise TMR-related cover songs, and you answered that call - and then some - with rousing renditions of everything from White Stripes staples to obscure one-offs that we're thrilled to hear in a different light! We'd also like to send a huge thank you to guests like Danny Kroha, Ko Melina, Marc Klockow, Lucy Walsh, April March, FUGU, Hobey Echlin and dozens more guests and contributors for making this kick-off Open Show something truly special! And las

We're taking a break from our summer vacation to bring you a special new "best of" collection, compiling some of the awesome interviews The Third Men Podcast conducted last season! In this episode you'll find words of wisdom and entertaining TMR stories from insiders, musicians, songwriters and even a legend or two - the perfect episode to share with a new listener. Special thanks to Dex Romweber, Jeremy Ivey, Karen Elson, Radkey, Danny Kroha, Chris Lyons, April March, Olivia Jean and Craig Brown for helping to make season 5 of the podcast our most memorable and popular yet - and thanks to all the other guests who joined us that we simply ran out of space to include! But that's not all - we'd also like to announce our season 6 opener: THE THIRD MEN PODCAST OPEN SHOW: 2021! In our first-ever foray into a visual edition of our TMP, we're calling on all Jack White fans to submit their contribution to this major youtube/podcast crossover event! Are you a musician? Video yourself playing a Jack White tune and send

We're sittin' on top of the world...because it's the season 5 finale of The Third Men Podcast - AND our landmark 150th episode! That's TWO big things. But of course, in the Jack White tradition, we need a third big thing...so for this special milestone episode we present to you an extended discussion with musician, podcaster, and Atlantic Records marketing mastermind Nick Harvey! Earlier in the year, Paul joined Nick and co-host Eric Daino on their wonderful Adventure Time podcast titled Adventure Guys, and in that episode an interesting discussion began: what role did the four years of high school and the four years of college play in the development of our respective musical tastes? Does an artist who waits four years between releases miss out on an entire generation of possible fans? How does an aging fanbase affect the trajectory of an artist's style? Do the musical prejudices we can sometimes carry with us in our youth grow out of us as adults...or do those divisions only grow stronger over time? Th

We knew that you wanted more, but would you fight for...another edition of the great Jack White song debate known only as: Would You Fight For My Love? Well Alex Guaraldi and Jordan Collins from Coppersound Pedals sure would, because our Triplegraph friends are back to play this epic Third Men Podcast game not seen since episode 15 of the show waaaaay back in season one! Each contestant in this bluesy battle royale must pick two of their least favorite Jack White tunes, and it's up to the opposing team to mount a defense - if our players can get their opponents to reconsider the song at hand, then points are won and champions will inevitably be crowned. Can James convince Jordan that Ezmerelda must indeed steal the show? Can Alex come up with a collectors item to distract Paul into giving him a higher score? Will Jordan have the stamina to collect every single little acorn he can find? And will Paul find the financing for his one-man-play recounting the true (and insane) story of one "Stagg" Lee Shelton and h

Let's go! Allons-y! The Third Men Podcast is proud to present an all-new extended interview with not one, but TWO special guests this week! Here to discuss their recently released EP Palladium, we're joined by returning guest and top-tier TMR recording artist Olivia Jean, alongside legendary musician, songwriter, animator and illustrator Elinor Blake, aka April March! This past spring, Elinor and Olivia treated fans to a collaboration many months in the making, with a 6 track EP and corresponding 7" single release encompassing a multi-lingual, multi-arrangement study on the track Palladium by Liz Brady (originally written as The Hip by 60's Texan rockers The Sparkles). Recorded in July of 2020, Elinor and Olivia's self-produced collaboration also features the talents of Erica Salazar, Austin Seegers and Cody Clayton, capturing the spirit and energy of Olivia Jean's latest live sets with sizzling results. Of course, with two titanic talents such as these two on hand, we had to dive deeper! Jack White fans will

Calling all candy cane children! This week the Third Men take an up-close look at what it means to be a White Stripes fan, from the songs that move us to the aspects of the fandom that keep us engaged. Since the video for Fell In Love With A Girl hit airwaves in the early 2000's (and even before then), fans have been captivated by Jack & Meg's grand experiment, and that interest has blossomed into a wide world of content spanning not just the continued musical work of Jack White, but an entire stable of artists and history throughout the Third Man Records world. What songs brought you into the fold? Was it seeing the band live that did it, or was it the eye-candy (peppermint, of course) music videos that sustained your interest? In this episode we'll take a look at all sides of the fandom, and we're especially excited to announce that we've enlisted some help in showcasing the songs that inspire us by the band that we just can't get enough of. In the first installment of a new on-going series, The Third M

Are you ready for the ultimate test of Jack White trivia? One of your humble co-hosts had better be, because this episode is the return of our POP QUIZ series - and this time James is in the hot seat! Last year, James lead Paul to believe that they would be discussing a nondescript old-timey blues man during their recording session, when BAM. It was pop quiz time. It's one thing to prepare for a quiz...it's another to be put on the spot, and hey - YOU try to name every track on Horehound without looking! That's tough! Well, James is about to get a taste of his own medicine (and i've heard he has no faith in medicine) when the turntables turn and this time Paul springs the POP QUIZ TRAP! Play along at home and see if you can best the score of a man who literally co-hosts a Jack White fan podcast - we want to hear your results! Plus, Third Person Luke Sinclare joins us once again to pose some questions of his own, and to take a White Stripes sporcle quiz in real time. So put on your TMR trivia caps and let loos

How would YOU sequence The White Stripes debut album? What songs would you add on, or cut from, Get Behind Me Satan? What makes a perfect Jack White record to you? This week on the Third Men Podcast, we're digging deep to find the answers to these questions and more in the first chapter of a new recurring series: DIFFERENT STRIPES. Special guest Luke Sinclare joins your humble co-hosts to take a journey into the world of alternate history, where we're free to re-sequence, re-record or just plain re-imagine the albums we all know and love by the band that started it all - The White Stripes. For this inaugural episode, we've picked two records which hold a special place in the trajectory of Jack & Meg's grand experiment: 1999's The White Stripes self-titled debut album, and 2005's experimental masterpiece Get Behind Me Satan. We'll debate which song(s) could possibly take the place of Blue Orchid, which tracks could have worked as singles or EPs, how many songs make up the perfect track count for an LP, and

The Third Men Podcast is proud to present an all-new extended interview with Chris Lyons of New Orleans Garage-Psych crew Silver Synthetic! Their excellent new self-titled debut LP drops on April 9th from Third Man Records, and we had the pleasure of sitting down with the group's lead singer and principle songwriter to talk about how Silver Synthetic formed, how the album came about, and what series of circumstances caught the eye of TMR co-founder and co-owner Ben Swank. Listeners to the show will remember your humble co-hosts singing the praises of last year's Out of the Darkness EP release, which introduced us to four tracks from the band - two of which, Unchain Your Heart and Out of the Darkness, also appear on their eponymous debut record. Chris runs down all eight album cuts with us on the show, gives us some insight into his own musical roots, and delves deep into the struggles of launching a new group amidst the ever-present realities of a global pandemic. It's blazing rock'n'roll, thought-provoking d

The Third Men Podcast is thrilled to welcome back returning guests Alex Guaraldi and Jordan Collins from Coppersound Pedals to walk through the long and innovative history of Jack White's usage of color! Since last we spoke with Alex and Jordan, their groundbreaking Triplegraph pedal has been doing gangbusters for Third Man Hardware, sparking interest from musicians and collectors alike with its user-friendly interface and elegant design. Coppersound's collaborator on the Triplegraph, Jack White, played a key role in using color to highlight the design features of this inventive new pedal - but that's just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Jack White's savvy application of color in his art and projects. When The White Stripes burst onto the Detroit rock scene in the late 90's, their distinctive red, white and black color scheme became a hallmark of the band's presentation, and a memorable audio-visual connection that would help propel the group to the heights of rock'n'roll stardom in the years to come.

Now we wanna, be your POD! Now we wanna, be your POD! Well c'mon! This week we're turning our attention to a friendship made in Detroit rock heaven: Jack White and Iggy Pop! When the legendary Stooges debuted in Michigan in 1967, audiences weren't quite prepared for the level of extremes this hard-edged rock'n'roll band were ready to go to. Frontman Iggy Pop shocked captivated concert-goers with antics that would wind up laying the groundwork for the punk rock movement nearly ten years later, as well as grab the attention of countless rock'n'roll royalty - in particular one Mr. David Bowie. Though The Stooges would break up in 1974 (before reforming decades later), Iggy would continue on with over a dozen solo albums to his name - some of which (along with the treasured Stooges albums) made their way to a young Jack White as he embarked on his own Michigan rock sojourn. Jack and Iggy linked up during the heights of The White Stripes fame and over the course of the last 20 years have shared some interesting an

The Third Men Podcast is proud to present an all-new extended interview with Detroit music legend Danny Kroha! Danny's work has graced dozens of records through the course of his career, as well as a horde of influential bands including The Demolition Doll Rods, Rocket 455, Danny and the Darleans, and (perhaps most notably) The Gories. Over three decades ago, Danny, alongside fellow Gories Mick Collins and Peggy O'Neill, laid the groundwork for a renaissance of back-to-basics rock'n'roll - a path that paved the way for countless collectives to expand Detroit's already-robust rock legacy. Of course the Gories would also be a key influence for Jack and Meg White when they began their own back-to-basics rock group The White Stripes - and the similarities between the two bands are striking. While Danny's history is extensive, he continues to make exceptional music to this day - releasing this past month the second in a series of solo blues albums on Third Man Records. Detroit Blues chronicles Kroha's exploration

Open up, that's not enough! We've been counting the mile markers between last episode, and this episode -- because we're so excited to be back with the second installment of our 2-part DODGE AND BURN album analysis and review! As we learned in part one, The Dead Weather's third LP release is full of oddities and curiosities (like the band itself) and this time around we're taking a tour through each track to uncover even more secrets. When Jack White, Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita and Little Jack Lawrence get together you know you're in for some fierce-sounding songs that play to each band member's respective strengths - but on Dodge and Burn the band takes things a step further, even going so far as to finish the album with a full-blown power pop ballad! From the irresistible weirdness & rhythm of Three Dollar Hat, to the smokey atmosphere of Rough Detective, to the rock and roll fury that is I Feel Love (Every Million Miles), we consider this album's tunes to be amongst the band's best - and we hope you

We. Feel. Looooooove for The Dead Weather! And what better way to show it than with a deep-dive into this spooky super-group's excellent third album: DODGE AND BURN! In part one of a two-part podcast epic, The Third Men (that's us) are shining a light on what Jack White, Alison Mosshart, Dean Fertita and Little Jack Lawrence were up to from 2013 to 2015, and how a scattered series of break-neck sessions lead to this surprising addition to the Third Man catalog. Of course Jack White fans are quite accustomed to spontaneity and surprises - but would you believe that the surprising thing about this record was that...it was no surprise? That's right, as we explore the origin of Dodge and Burn we'll soak in the wild history of one of the only albums in Jack's canon to carry with it a multi-year concept that was planned out, promoted, executed, and (more or less) completed as intended. And that's not the only oddity that this third Dead Weather record brought to the table! With no touring support, a large

Get ready to enter through the portal of Detroit Shoegaze, and become its no.1 fan! This week on the Third Men Podcast we're excited to present an over-sized exploration of the wonderful new SOUTHEAST OF SATURN compilation from Third Man Records! Southeast of Saturn explores the rich tapestry of the Detroit area's Shoegaze scene from the late 80's and early 90's in all its dreamy, ambient, melodic and skillfully crafted glory. Joining us on this journey are friends of the show Julia and Tobias from the band ATMIG (https://www.atmig.com/), and these avid shoegazers are the perfect guides to walk us through this wonderfully spacey genre of music. Jack White fans might be surprised to hear just how close Detroit Shoegaze and its players brushed up next to the Detroit Garage Rock scene and the world of TMR in those mid-to-late 90's years, and we uncover some of those familiar faces & sounds in this episode. Southeast of Saturn collects 19 beautiful tracks by many different bands - and we're proud to announce

Ben Blackwell is back! As the calendar year 2020 draws to a close, we here at the Third Men Podcast are once again on a quest to look back at the music, art and output from Third Man Records over what turned out to be a challenging but prolific 12 months. True, this year was a heap of scalding trash, but TMR was a beacon of joy and music in an otherwise dismal affair - and damn it, we're going to celebrate that! To help us out, TMR co-founder, co-owner and resident psychedelic warlock Ben Blackwell joins us to elaborate on the big events going on in the world of Third Man - and BOY are there some highlights this year! From releases with legendary artists like Prince, Johnny Cash and Paul McCartney (!!!) to the amazing series of Vault packages released, to a new canonical mass-market White Stripes album (the group's first-ever Greatest Hits collection), Jack, the Bens and co. have been up to their usual masterful tricks despite everything else that this year threw at them. In this episode you'll hear what albu

We're not overthinking it, we're just happy to be talking to Craig Brown! That's right folks, Detroit's seminal rock'n'roll rogue and leader of the Craig Brown Band has joined the Third Men podcast for an all-new extended interview this week - and we know we're the lucky ones to be able to pick his brain! In 2017 listeners were treated to the excellent LP The Lucky Ones Forget from Craig and his outfit on Third Man Records, though keen listeners will have been aware of his music for years prior in and around the world of Detroit music (and beyond). As described on the TMR website, Craig's brand of "honky tonk howl" can be heard across many years and many groups, including Terrible Twos and Liquor Store. Craig's newest music can be heard in conjunction with Kelly Jean Caldwell - including the fantastic new single Manistique Wind (available now!) - and we're so excited to run down the full length of his amazing career in this episode. What's gigging with Dwight Yoakam like? How many times did Craig shoot a virt

All right, everyone - get ready to seize some delicious pod noise! We've got the real deal this week: the band Radkey is here to talk all things rock, cat and Jack in an all-new extended interview! Our favorite rock and roll mavericks are back with an excellent new LP, Green Room, available now and which carries the group's signature high-voltage sound to a whole other level. From the melodic heights of Bend and Seize to the downright raucous cover of Ain't No Sunshine, Radkey continues to push the boundaries of modern rock with a wink, a nod, and a seltzer water sip. Third Man fans also know Radkey for their amazing opening act performances for Jack White on the Boarding House Reach tour back in 2018, and we've got Isaiah, Dee and Solomon here to give us all the details on that amazing experience. The guys also give us their unique insight into the state of the rock world today, music in the time of Covid, why major record labels are not always what they're cracked up to be and why the good folks at Masterca

Hello fellow music fans, Paul here from The Third Men Podcast. We're taking a break from our regularly scheduled programming this week to pay tribute to a giant in the world of music podcasting - our dear friend Ryan Brady. News of Ryan's passing has left us shocked, saddened, and in need of a pause to reflect upon the enormous impact he had on us. If you've listened to our show, then you've heard Ryan's voice - whether it be walking through Lazaretto or spinning elaborate webs of Beatle trivia or making our dad laugh with his sharp wit. Ryan was an amazing talent - a musician, a businessman, record executive and a pioneer in music podcasting (with his incredible show Take It Away alongside co-creator Chris Mercer)...but most of all he was a friend. He supported us, helped show us the way forward, and he's left an incredible mark upon our lives. James and I recorded this mini-episode just to say "thank you" to Ryan, and that we love him & his family. We'll be back next week with a full, new episode, but w

The Third Men Podcast is thrilled to present an all-new extended interview with the incomparable Karen Elson! Karen joins us this week to talk about her fantastic new autobiography The Red Flame, out now from Rizzoli which chronicles the life and times of an international supermodel and rock star through the lens of some of her most iconic and captivating photos. Listeners to the show will recognize Karen as a former Third Man Records recording artist, releasing her debut LP The Ghost Who Walks (produced by Jack White) back in 2010. Since then a slew of singles, stunning live performances and her 2017 follow-up LP Double Roses have graced the earbuds of fans around the world, and we're here to get to the bottom of her incredible musical journey. From co-starring in The White Stripes' Blue Orchid video, to inspiring song titles including Icky Thump and Rag & Bone, Karen was on the ground floor for some of the most pivotal years in Third Man history - and there's a LOT of ground to be covered in this i