I've talked before about my love of Jack White and The White Stripes. They were an amazing band. And since I was a fan in the early days when they played smaller clubs, I got lots and lots of stuff signed. Even as they got bigger, I'd buy the current CD and get them to sign it before and after shows (of course, the crowds of fans got bigger and it was a little harder). White was always great with autographs, although he's not a big talker. Meg White (his ex-wife and drummer) was friendlier. I have no clue what she's doing now that Jack has a few other bands. His most recent is The Dead Weather, where he went back to the instrument he started with -- drums. They have The Kills singer Alison Mosshart on vocals, but Jack does sing a few songs, and plays that sweet axe of his on a track or two. So far, I've loved them live, but the CDs are hit-and-miss.

I tried to get them to sign their debut CD on two occasions. Once as they were entering the House of Blues. The entire band got off the bus and as me and four other fans shouted their names, they just walked by us without looking over.

At another event, it was after the show. The crowd was bigger (about 25), and one of the band members waved, but they didn't come over.

On this website, somebody posted pictures of Mosshart and White signing after a show, so I know they sign. Maybe before the shows they just aren't in the mood, I don't know.

I did see something interesting that they did. For their new record "Dodge and Burn" they enclosed autograph cards in random LPs (remember those?). Like playing cards, there's a Joker, Jack, Queen, and King. Each signed by a band member. Since I have thousands of albums, and am too lazy to put them on the turntable, I prefer buying CDs. Yet the band did this promotion in conjunction with Black Friday, and independent record store day or something. They wanted to promote the indie vibe of music, which is cool.

I've said this before but, more bands should enclose autographed items. For example, Prince released a CD that went platinum immediately. This was a few years ago. A lot of insiders in the music business were a bit upset with how it went platinum. When you bought a ticket to see him in concert, you were also paying $15 more for the new CD, which you got. A lot of people felt that's not fans truly making your CD platinum, but concert goers that had to buy it.

Well, if you take a big name artist that isn't as big as they were years ago -- for example, John Mellencamp (who has always been a great signer in person) -- if he issued a statement that said, "I get asked for autographs often, before and after shows, so I decided that half the CDs I put out of my new record will be autographed." I guarantee those would go platinum. Every autograph collector, and every fan of Mellencamp, would jump on that. And if you were a collector and bought one that didn't have the autograph (it would be unseen on the inner sleeve), you'd surely buy another one, until you got a copy.

Anyway...when The Dead Weather tours, I doubt I'll try for them again. I'm getting to that age, and that frustration level, where if somebody turns me down, I'm not going to keep chasing them each time they're in town. It isn't worth my time.