VIDEO: Jack White plays White Stripes' Dead Leaves at SXSW

The Third Man Rolling Record Store
The Third Man Rolling Record Store

Austin's annual über festival of festivals, South By Southwest (SXSW), is well known for its 'pop-up' performances, and yesterday (16 March) crowds were treated to an impromptu set from Jack White.

The guitarist played a cover of Buddy Holly's Not Fade Away, followed by his own White Stripes song, Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground - A heartening sight for fans still distraught by the band's split announcement last month.

The Third Man Rolling Record Store

Ever the entrepreneur, White was already turning SXSW heads thanks to his bright yellow truck called The Third Man Rolling Record Store. A great way to pimp his own record label and - if the opening line of the promotional video below is to be believed - single-handedly save the music industry…

"A recent study shows that 97% of all high school-aged kids have NEVER been to a stand alone record store." Shocking.

Seasick Steve

White also took the opportunity to announce that Seasick Steve had just signed a one album deal with Third Man: "he signed the desk in my office in black marker pen by way of a contract."

Tom Porter worked on MusicRadar from its mid-2007 launch date to 2011, covering a range of music and music making topics, across features, gear news, reviews, interviews and more. A regular NAMM-goer back in the day, Tom now resides permanently in Los Angeles, where he's doing rather well at the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).