Music / Business & brands
Ben Blackwell
born 1982 · drummer, record label executive, writer, archivist
Detroit-born drummer of the Dirtbombs, founder of Cass Records and co-founder of Third Man Records, which opened its Cass Corridor store and pressing plant in Detroit.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 44- Birth name
- Benjamin Jesse Blackwell
- Detroit years
- 1982–present
- Field
- Music, Business & brands
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Ben Blackwell grew up in Detroit, the nephew of Jack White, and became part of the city's garage scene as a teenager. He studied journalism at Wayne State University for three years and won a 2004 Rolling Stone college journalism award for tour diaries he wrote for the campus paper, The South End. In 2003 he started Cass Records, named for the Cass Corridor, which issued more than 50 releases, mostly 7-inch singles, and he became one of the two drummers of Mick Collins's Dirtbombs. He is the official archivist of the White Stripes and a co-founder of Third Man Records, where he oversees vinyl production. Third Man's Detroit branch opened in the former Willys Overland building in the Cass Corridor in November 2015, and in 2017 it added the first record pressing plant to open in the city since 1965. His song “Bury My Body at Elmwood” is about the east side's historic Elmwood Cemetery.
Highlights
- Drummer of the Dirtbombs
- Founded Cass Records in 2003
- Co-founder of Third Man Records; official White Stripes archivist
- Rolling Stone College Journalism Award (2004)
- Named one of Crain's Detroit Business “Twenty in Their 20s” (2007)
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 3
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Founded · 2015–present
Third Man Records Cass Corridor
Third Man's Detroit store, venue and vinyl pressing plant in the former Willys Overland building, opened November 27, 2015; the pressing plant followed in 2017.
Studied here · early 2000s
Wayne State University
He studied journalism here for three years and wrote for the student paper The South End.
Related place
Elmwood Cemetery
Historic east side cemetery that inspired his song “Bury My Body at Elmwood.”