With three separate bands, the release of a highly acclaimed and well constructed tour documentary, and word coming in of plans to make a solo album, Jack White just may usurp James Brown’s self-proclaimed title as the “hardest working man in show business”… if he wasn’t so lackadaisical about setting deadlines.

Indeed, the creativity is unyielding for White, who apparently is still working with his latest collaborative project, The Dead Weather, on their second album, which was “halfway done” as of last October. Also in production is the latest album with longtime musical acquaintance Meg White of The White Stripes (as if you didn’t already know) which is also reportedly due out sometime this year. And even though nothing has been officially announced about new material by The Raconteurs, White’s third musical formulation, it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine that something of this nature might possibly be brewing within the confines of White’s recording studio in Nashville, TN.

However, these are all running ideas and only speculation in the latter case. Even though White is working hard on three separate albums, he has made it very clear that he doesn’t wish to pinpoint any specific release date for any of these projects, preferring to let the course of writing music flow as the muses see fit. This level of concentration and respect for the craft of writing music is a welcome exchange to the music industry’s constant churning of one crap album after another which either sit on the shelves of struggling record stores or have their release dates pushed back further and further to coincide with the artist’s prison release.

Furthermore, this is the first time after so many years of being blessed by the talent of Jack White that we will be able to experience the artist writing for and performing every instrument. Where an artist’s “solo” efforts typically get overtaken by money-hungry label CEO’s who slap a hit-generating producer and prearranged studio band onto the artist, White’s undertaking of this project will truly be a reflection of his years of musical exploration going as far back as his days as drummer for the Detroit alternative country/punk band Goober & the Peas.

Patience will be the key to survival until White announces that finished products will be ready for the masses. Until then, don’t be shy about checking out The White Stripes: Under the Great Northern Lights if you feel the urge for something stripy.