Jack White performs at SXSW today

Austin’s SXSW is in full swing. One early highlight took place this afternoon when Jack White played a surprise two-song set in a parking lot in the middle of the city. White—who is in Austin to promote his Third Man Records—performed Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” and The White Stripes’ “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground.” The performance took place outside the traveling Third Man Record store.

The guitarist has not performed White Stripes material live since the final episode of Late Night with Conan O’Brien in early 2009. Now that The White Stripes has officially split, White may start working the band’s material into his solo live sets. White’s new Rome project with Danger Mouse and Norah Jones is profiled on the cover of the April/May issue of Relix.