It became widely known yesterday that guitarist Jack White had been served with a restraining order by his former wife Karen Elson, who cited harassment on his part. White seems to dispute how out of line his ex-wife claims him to be, but new details have confirmed one thing: The story about White not wanting his children to attend a particular school just because one of his "rival's" children went there are totally true. E-mails released on Friday show that the "rival" in question is Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach.
Perhaps surprising, or perhaps not so surprising, White feels that Auerbach and the Black Keys "ripped off" his style with their own contributions to the so-called "blues punk" scene. Both bands feature two primary members, a guitarist/vocalist and a drummer, and the band names seem very coincidental (Black versus White), but the music is different enough. White doesn't seem to think so, and he doesn't want anything to do with Auerbach, nor does he want his children to have anything to do with Auerbach's children.
"My conce[r]n with Auerbach is because I don't want the kids involved in any of that crap," White wrote in an email to Elson. "That's a possible 12 f------ years I'm going to have to be sitting in kids chairs next to that a--hole with other people trying to lump us in together. He gets yet another free reign to follow me around and copy me and push himself into my world."
Later in the e-mail he accuses Elson of not taking this into consideration when choosing a school for their children. White's reps didn't have any response to this facet of the revelations into White's life, and the Black Keys were quiet on Twitter as well (which is surprising for the outspoken Patrick Carney, the band's drummer).
Jack White may not have invented the blues, but he's pretty sure bringing it back into popularity is just as original.
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