By Chris Varias
Enquirer contributor

After the White Stripes dedicated their breakthrough 2001 album White Blood Cells to Loretta Lynn - whom they didn't know personally at the time - the country music legend sought out the artful garage-rock superstars and a fast friendship formed.

The unlikely kinship has spawned the striking Van Lear Rose, Lynn's just-released CD, produced and arranged by White Stripes singer/guitarist Jack White and featuring the rhythm section from local garage rockers the Greenhornes.

The record has 13 original Lynn songs colored by White's arrangements. They range from classic country weepers to noisy, feedback-drenched rock. The album - the first for which Lynn has written all the songs - has generated positive buzz reminiscent of other recent music-legend reclamation projects, such as Johnny Cash's final albums for American Records and Solomon Burke's widely praised 2002 comeback album, Don't Give up On Me.

"It's already getting lots of radio airplay on rock stations," says Greenhornes drummer Patrick Keeler. He and bandmate Jack Lawrence (bass) were hand-picked by White to play on Van Lear Rose, and the local connection has already paid off, with Oxford's WOXY-FM (97.7) adding four of the album's songs to its playlist.

The pair will join Lynn and White for appearances on the Late Show with David Letterman on Monday and the Today Show next Wednesday.

"I never really thought about how big it could be or about a Grammy when we were making the record," Keeler says. "I was only thinking about how cool the whole thing was."

Keeler took a few minutes recently to answer a few more questions:

Why did Jack White pick you and Jack Lawrence to play on the album?

We've known the White Stripes for about six years. Our bands started out around the same time, and we got to be friends from playing shows together in Detroit. He has recorded our band before, and he likes the way we play.

What was your reaction when he asked you to do it?

It was really exciting ... She's an icon. My mom's a big fan. I'm a fan, too. Not to the point where I have autographed collector's plates sitting around, but I have a few of her records.

When did you record it?

We did demos in June in Nashville, and went back down to do the album in September, about two weeks in all.

Did Jack or Loretta instruct you to play "country?"

No, there was no direction at all. We would listen to her song, and we would go through and figure out how we wanted to play it. She would pretty much tell us to do whatever we wanted. That's why (in the album's liner notes) she called us the Do Whaters. She said we are gonna shake up (Nashville's) Music Row.

What was Loretta like to work with?

It was really nice. It felt like you've known her a long time. She would work nine and 10 hours a day, and a lot of it was just sitting around and her telling great stories.

Is it destined for success?

I don't see how it wouldn't happen - because of Jack's history. Plus, it's a really cool record. I don't think there's anything fake on it.

Are you going to tour with her and play her usual circuit of states fairs and casinos?

There's talk of a tour, but not state fairs and casinos. I think it would be more like rock clubs. Loretta's a rock star now.

Does Loretta like the Greenhornes?

I think she does. Yeah, she's a huge Greenhornes fan.

E-mail cv@fuse.net