The Raconteurs

The Raconteurs are a new band made up of old friends, consisting of Jack Lawrence (bass), Patrick Keeler (drums), Brendan Benson (guitars, vocals, keys) and Jack White (guitars, vocals, keys). The seed was sown in an attic in the middle of a hot summer when friends Jack White and Brendan Benson got together and wrote a song that truly inspired them. This song was "Steady, As She Goes" and the inspiration led to the creation of a full band with the addition of Lawrence and Keeler. While each of these four individuals have had successful careers with their own bands, the culmination of all of their talents is what truly makes The Raconteurs a force to be reckoned with.

The quartet convened at Benson's East Grand Studio to lay down the basic tracks for Broken Boy Soldiers. Work would continue whenever the boys could get together over the next year. Finally, the album has found a window for its release in May of 2006. The band is now, for its members, all consuming and they now present themselves to be....consumed, or at best simply heard.

From the ready-made, radio-friendly quality built into songs like "Steady, As She Goes", to the explosive tenacity of "Store Bought Bones", all the way down to the ‘hits the cockles of your heart’ lullabies that encompass the full length recording, The Raconteurs are more than capable of conquering any genre challenge or tale that they encounter. After all, a raconteur is, by definition, a deft storyteller. And now a new story is unfolding.

Remember a time
When all was not fine
And up from the dingy sewers
Came four lousy thieves
Who flourished like trees
Behold The Raconteurs.....

A self-described "new band made up of old friends," the Raconteurs feature the White Stripes' Jack White and power pop maestro Brendan Benson on vocals, keyboards, and guitars, and the Greenhornes' drummer Patrick Keeler and bassist Jack Lawrence as the group's rhythm section. The idea for the band began when Benson and White collaborated on the song "Steady, as She Goes," which later became the Raconteurs' debut single. When the duo drafted Keeler and Lawrence, they became a full-fledged band. Recording together at Benson's East Grand Studio whenever they were available from their other projects, the Raconteurs recorded their debut album, Broken Boy Soldiers, over the span of a year and released it in spring 2006 to middling reviews but a Top Ten place on Billboard's album charts. That year, the band also relocated to Nashville and worked on another batch of songs in between touring and dates at festivals such as Lollapalooza. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide