walking upstream…
The Black Keys
photo: cesar perdomo · cc by 2.0 ↗The Black Keys
sourcesWikipedia2 · Oxford American
Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney grew up two doors apart in Akron, Ohio, and by 2001 had turned casual teenage jam sessions into a full band, recording their ragged, blues-soaked debut 'The Big Come Up' on a four-track in Carney's basement. Auerbach's guitar playing was steeped in North Mississippi hill-country blues — Junior Kimbrough and R.L. Burnside above all — filtered through a stripped-down, drums-and-guitar-only format that made a virtue of scarcity. After years of underground touring and a run of gritty Fat Possum records, they signed to Nonesuch and broke wide with 2010's 'Brothers' and 2011's 'El Camino,' whose arena-sized hooks won them Grammys without sanding down the fuzz. They've stayed prolific into the 2020s, at one point circling back to their roots with a full hill-country covers album, 'Delta Kream.'
the sound in question
2011
Lonely BoyThe Black Keys
walk the tributaries ↓
Junior Kimbrough1990s · Hill country blues / Juke joint blues
Dan Auerbach has said Junior Kimbrough's music made him drop out of college — 'the walls came tumbling down and the earth shook,' as he described first hearing it — and that everything about his own playing 'is all about groove,' a trait he traces straight back to Kimbrough. The Black Keys covered Kimbrough's songs on their debut and devoted an entire 2006 EP, 'Chulahoma,' to his catalogue, later returning to his material again on 'Delta Kream.'
listen: upstream & heresource: Wikipedia ↗
1999
Meet Me in the CityJunior Kimbrough
2003
ThickfreaknessThe Black Keys
listen forPlay Kimbrough's 'Meet Me in the City' next to the Black Keys' 'Thickfreakness' — both ride a single droning riff for minutes on end, refusing a chord change, letting tiny variations in touch and volume do all the work a bridge or chorus would elsewhere.
R.L. Burnside1990s · Hill country blues / Delta blues
Burnside and the Black Keys were Fat Possum labelmates, and the band has credited him as a direct influence, working his 'Skinny Woman' into their own 'Busted' on their debut album and, decades later, cutting two proper Burnside covers for 2021's 'Delta Kream.' Where Kimbrough gave them the trance, Burnside gave them the stomp — a heavier, more percussive slide-and-drone attack.
listen: upstream & here
1968
Poor Black MattieR.L. Burnside
2004
Stack Shot BillyThe Black Keys
listen forSet Burnside's 'Poor Black Mattie' against the Black Keys' 'Stack Shot Billy' — both hammer a single distorted chord with a thudding, almost drum-like guitar attack, prioritizing rhythm and grit over melody.
Captain Beefheart1970s · avant-garde / blues rock / experimental rock
Alongside their hill-country blues heroes, the Black Keys have pointed to Captain Beefheart as a touchstone for their twisted, garage-blues side, covering his 'Grown So Ugly' on 2004's 'Rubber Factory' — an album critics described as channeling his lurching, hard-edged rock energy. The influence surfaces less as full-on avant-garde weirdness than as a willingness to let a riff limp and lurch instead of sitting in a tidy pocket.
listen: upstream & here
1972
Click ClackCaptain Beefheart
2004
10 A.M. AutomaticThe Black Keys
listen forCompare Beefheart's 'Click Clack' with the Black Keys' '10 A.M. Automatic' — both drive a raw, off-kilter guitar figure against a stomping backbeat that never quite settles into a smooth groove, favoring jagged momentum over polish.