Fan Fare

Meg may be gone, but Jack White rocks on

Rough-and-tumble rockers The White Stripes called it quits earlier this week, much to the dismay of garage rock fans everywhere. But it’s not as if this news comes as a huge surprise. For the past several years, frontman Jack White has been getting busy with almost everyone but his red-and-white-clad Stripes bandmate, Meg.

For starters, White has played in his other two bands,  The Ranconteurs and The Dead Weather. He also starred alongside U2 guitarist The Edge and Led Zeppelin’s legendary axeman Jimmy Page in 2008′s critically acclaimed music film, “It Might Get Loud”, and collaborated with comedian Conan O’Brien on a spoken-word comedy record during the latter’s temporary stint last year as a late-night refugee. As if that’s not enough, White continues to run his own record label, Third Man.

But as The Guardian noted recently, some of White’s most compelling collaborations over the years have been with female musicians. Perhaps most notably, White helped breath new life into country legend Loretta Lynn’s music career back in 2004 when he produced and performed on her much-loved album, “Van Lear Rose”.

He’s done the same for infamous rockabilly goddess Wanda Jackson, whose recently released album “The Party Ain’t Over” features 11 cover songs chosen, produced and arranged by White. Jackson’s cover of Bob Dylan’s “Thunder on the Mountain” alone is almost enough to ease the pain of knowing the White Stripes are no more. Watch the video for the song below, along with some clips of White’s other collaborations with women musicians.

Wanda Jackson featuring Jack White – “Thunder on the Mountain”

Loretta Lynn and Jack White – “Portland, Oregon”

“White Stripes” win Grammys; can’t snag Guinness record

(Reporting and writing by Jennifer Kwan)

Rock duo “The White Stripes” may have five Grammy Awards under their black, red, or white belts, but they can’t seem to garner the attention of the Guinness world records.

In the opening scene of a new documentary titled “The White Stripes Under Great White Northern Lights,” which premiered at the 34th Toronto International Film Festival, the pair play a free concert in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, in which they strum only one note.

The scene, aptly named the “one note show,” kicks off the film about their 2007 tour that played in every Canadian province and territory and features free, impromptu, daytime shows at venues that included a bowling alley, a boat and a city bus.

“It really emphasizes how things were unplanned while we were on tour. Also, things were planned that had nothing to do with the film that Emmett would just happen to capture,” said Jack White during a press conference along with director Emmett Malloy.

“The idea at that moment was, if we don’t make it to the concert tonight we can’t say we hadn’t played in every province and territory in Canada. That one note made it official.”

White said around 1,200 people attended the show even though they were told the gig would only consist of one note.

Jimmy Page, Jack White vexed by music videogames

Videogames like Rock Band and Guitar Hero may be one of the few bright lights in the flailing music industry, but real-life guitar heroes like Jimmy Page and Jack White are unimpressed.

“If you start with the first track on the first (self-titled Led Zeppelin) album, “Good Times Bad Times,” and you think of the drum part that John Bonham did there, how many drummers in the world can actually play that? Let alone Dad on a Christmas morning? There might be a lot of alcohol to be consumed over Christmas, he still ain’t gonna get it,” Led Zeppelin founder Page told journalists at a Beverly Hills news conference on Friday.

Added White, the frontman for the White Stripes: “I do know it’s depressing to have a label come and tell you that this is how kids are learning about music and experiencing music. That’s like the only outlet now, that you have to put it in a videogame to get it in front of them. That’s a little sad. But I don’t like to tell people what format that they get things in … But I do think there’s a loss of romance.”

The duo, along with U2 axeman the Edge, co-star in the feature documentary “It Might Get Loud,” which opens in New York and Los Angeles on Aug. 14. The film, from Oscar-winning director Davis Guggenheim (“An Inconvenient Truth”), depicts each rocker’s romance with his guitar, and climaxes on a Hollywood soundstage where they jam and swap war stories.

“There are a lot of great guitar players who are virtuosos who can be note-perfect and can play extraordinary ways, but only a few I think that are searchers,” Guggenheim said of his casting choices. “We were just trying to find three really fascinating people who are still searching, and still trying to tell their story.”

The Edge is rehearsing for U2′s upcoming world tour, so he was unable to attend the press event. Asked whether the film might inspire more-formal collaborations between Page and White, both were cagey.