Jack White Brings Out the Raconteurs for a Nashville Encore

The Raconteurs played together for the first time since December 2019 on October 10, when Jack White brought out Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler during an encore at the Truth in Nashville. It was the second of two nights at the venue.

White had signalled something earlier in the week on Instagram, telling fans of the band to get tickets because there “might be a little surprise.” The surprise was the full lineup: Benson on vocals and guitar, Lawrence on bass, Keeler on drums. Keeler has been playing in White’s touring band, which made the reunion less a logistical problem than a matter of timing.

The set ran through “Steady, As She Goes,” “Hands,” “Level,” “Broken Boy Soldier” and “Carolina Drama.” The Raconteurs’ last album, Help Us Stranger, arrived in 2019; in 2020 the group released the EP Live at Electric Lady, accompanied by a documentary directed by Jim Jarmusch.

White is on the road behind Frozen Charlotte, his latest record, released in July. The Raconteurs have never worked like a full-time band, and gaps of years are built into how they operate. An encore’s worth of songs in the middle of someone else’s tour is roughly the scale the project has always kept.