Veteran New Orleans piano player and composer Dr. John is currently in a Nashville, Tenn. studio recording with Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach. Dr. John first heard The Black Keys’ music earlier this year thanks to his granddaughter and met up with Auerbach the next time the guitarist was in New Orleans. The promoters of the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival heard about their plans to record and booked Auerbach and Dr. John to anchor their famed SuperJam this past June.

Dr. John and Auberbach started work on a new studio album in September and plan to continue the sessions during the Thanksgiving holiday. Produced by Auberbach, who spit mixing duties with engineer Collin Dupuis, the record will come out under Dr. John’s name in 2012. The album also features contributions from longtime Daptone associates—and current Black Keys touring members—Leon Michels (keyboards) and Nick Movshon (bass), as well as multi-instrumentalist Brian Olive and drummer Max Weissenfeldt. For more on the collaboration, please pre-order the January/February issue of Relix featuring The Black Keys.