American musician Jack White has surprised fans by confessing he misses his old job as an upholsterer.

Showcasing some new songs, as well as dusting off old favourites, on The Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday 28 June, the wild haired front man looked every bit the rock star.

But, speaking to MOJO magazine this week, the 38 year old confessed his heart really lies in upholstering.

In 1990, when the enigmatic Mr White was a 15 year old called John Gillis, he thought his calling was an upholstery apprenticeship in his home city of Detroit, Michigan.

And indeed it was; for during his three-year upholstery course a classmate first exposed Jack to punk music.

The two went on to form a short lived two-piece band, aptly called ‘The Upholsterers’ who sadly went on to record only one album, entitled ‘Makers of High Grade Suites’.

After leaving his course Jack seemingly enjoyed his trade so much that he started Third Man Upholstery, his own one-man business with the slogan ‘Your Furniture’s Not Dead’.

Although he claims to never have lacked business, an impressive statement for a business owner in any trade, Third Man Upholstery was apparently an unprofitable venture, owing to Jack’s complacency about bills and penchant for writing poetry inside furniture.

Today Jack White keeps the name of his now defunct business alive with his record label, Third Man Records.

He has performed to hundreds of thousands of adoring fans around the world and is ranked number 70 on Rolling Stone’s list of ‘The 100 Greatest Guitarists’, with a BRIT Award and eight Grammy awards to his name.

But he still confesses to look back fondly on his days in the upholstery trade, telling MOJO: “When I worked in an upholstery shop I couldn’t wait to get home and record the idea that had been brewing all day.

“Now I do all these other things and they’re all creative, so I’ve had to learn, over the years, to find new ways of writing songs.”

Cant help help but think that if he ever did decide to step back into the trade, he would have no shortage of orders, as long as he was prepared to put in the hard work and display at the correct shows, of course.

 

I cant take credit for this Blog as it is taken from The Cabinet Maker, but as lover of music and furniture this ticks all the boxes for me.