Can’t take the Detroit music out of Ben Blackwell

Cousin to Jack White, drummer for the Dirtbombs, boy-musical-wonder Ben Blackwell says he moved to Nashville for music biz reasons (editor’s rant: another reason we need to build a sustainable music industry here) but left his heart in Detroit.

Dust and Grooves caught up with Ben, and his records, in the mid-south for this great Q&A with some fab pics. An excerpt: 

Q: Tell me more how your passion for vinyl has affected your life.

A: For years touring with the Dirtbombs most of the money I made was just spent on records. I was living with my mom and I had nothing else to really worry about finance-wise. I was extremely lucky. My wife Malissa is very similar to me in her appreciation for vinyl and often says the only difference between our record collections is that she’s listened to all of her records! I’ve been very lucky (or discerning?) that almost all of my jobs have been tangentially connected to vinyl…working at Car City Records (store) in St. Clair Shores, Archer Record Pressing (plant) in Detroit or Third Man or Cass (labels).

More cool Detroit music talk here.