By JOHN GEROME

AP Entertainment Writer

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (AP) — For musician Jack White, there are two approaches to stardom.

One is to play it safe and do whatever it takes to maintain your celebrity. The other is to follow your heart and pursue new ideas that come to you.

Obviously, White subscribes to the latter.

Already a member of The White Stripes and The Raconteurs, White unveiled his newest rock band, The Dead Weather, on Wednesday.

"The bands are all still happening. Everything is still occurring. This is a new one to add to the mix," said White, who wore his curly black hair askew and puffed on a cigar during a party at his Third Man Records label to announce the project.

During the party, White and the three other members of the group — Alison Mosshart of The Kills, Dean Fertita of Queens of the Stone Age and Jack Lawrence of The Greenhornes — previewed their new album "Horehound" due out in June.

The four of them sat on a couch as the music played, White closing his eyes and swaying his head, Mosshart chain smoking and mouthing the lyrics. Black and white footage taken inside a vinyl record pressing plant flickered on a white tile wall beside them.

Afterward, the musicians performed a handful of new songs for the 150 or so guests that included Sheryl Crow, Martina McBride and White's partner in The White Stripes, Meg White.

The music was bluesy, raw and aggressive, with Mosshart handling lead vocals and White playing drums. They played in a performance space in the same building as White's label offices, set in a gritty neighborhood of warehouses and adult businesses.

Mosshart and White wrote most of the album's 11 tracks, sometimes together, sometimes alone, sometimes with Fertita and Lawrence — both of whom also perform with White in The Raconteurs. The lone cover is a revved-up rendition of Bob Dylan's "New Pony."

"We didn't write that one," White cracked during the preview.

White, 33, is known for his electric guitar work, but he started out a drummer. He said the new project allows him to reconnect with the instrument.