With the 2013 Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival lineup featuring marquee names like Paul McCartney, Mumford & Sons, and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, noticeable absent from the bill is Nashville native Jack White who last performed at the fest in 2010 with The Dead Weather. Although the endlessly talented guitar virtuoso won’t be making the short trek south to The Farm this year, that doesn’t mean he’ll be a complete afterthought come this June.

As you likely know, when Jack White isn’t producing his own prolific works he’s typically collaborating with luminaries like Gibby Haynes, Wanda Jackson, and Insane Clown Posse through his Third Man Records. So when some of the world’s greatest musicians descend upon Tennessee for Bonnaroo every year, White just can’t seem to help kicking up some sessions and setting the Bonnaroo speculation machine into overdrive even as the fest is ongoing.

Last year, Radiohead stopped at Third Man, even though White has claimed he didn’t play or produce anything, en route to their Friday night headlining performance while a never materialized Jay-Z project had the rapper name dropping White during his 2010 late night set. So who may roll through Nashville to jam with Jack in 2013? Any of the three aforementioned acts would be obvious choices, but what about a little further down the lineup poster? Here’s five Bonnaroo 2013 artists we’d love to see lay down some tracks at Third Man Records this summer.

Jim James

Although their backgrounds are pretty different, My Morning Jacket‘s Jim James and Jack White are in similar places in their career. Although James has been and will likely be with his band for a very long time, he just put out his first solo record which he’ll be bringing to Bonnaroo this year. White, although a member of several bands, also put out his first foray into front and center territory within the last year in the Grammy nominated Blunderbuss. While the two artists are exploring and indulging in work that is purely their own, wouldn’t it make for a great collaboration with White’s blues guitar mixing with James’ soul inspired croon? Then maybe White could return the favor by turning up on James’ Removador Recordings and Solutions imprint.

Tame Impala

The best contemporary psych band in the world may not immediately sound like instant partner fodder for Jack White, but the members of Tame Impala all have genuine chops in their own right and would be able to keep up with whatever the enigmatic producer may have to throw at them. It would be an interesting departure to hear Kevin Parker’s distinct, otherworldly vocal possibly over something not so awash in reverb. Or perhaps White would be inspired to take a trip down the rabbit hole with the Aussie hippies. Let’s just agree to meet somewhere in the middle on this one and everybody, including the music listening population at large, wins. Maybe something like the closing moments of Lonerism‘s “Keep On Lying” with a classic White solo soaring above the fray.

David Byrne & St. Vincent

Ok, this is sort of like cheating in that we’re linking towards a triple collaboration, but given that David Byrne and Annie Clark‘s shared studio work was more brass inspired then any of their previous solo endeavors, it would be curious to see how Jack White may be able to contribute in a similar setting. Maybe something akin to The Raconteurs’ “Many Shades of Black”? If the horns have the day off, then there’s plenty of room for noodling as Clark and White both appreciate a good distortionary guitar lick delivered in angry fits and bursts. Oh and David Byrne would be there too. Since Byrne and St. Vincent incorporate re-worked versions of their separate catalogue into their live show, the most interesting path might be to inject new life into a Jack White classic with a full brass band. Let each of the singers take a crack at a verse of “Conquest”(!).

Dirty Projectors

David Longstreth, Amber Coffman, Haley Dekle, and Olga Bell comprise the four pronged vocal powerhouse that lies at the center of everything Dirty Projectors does. Evidenced on last year’s Swing Lo Magellan, bandleader Longstreth is working in a new, accessible prime that produced genius pop constructions and inspired harmonic flourishes. It would assuredly be a treat to hear what the seemingly limitless singing prowess of the Dirty Projectors choir could do set against an original Jack White composition. We’ve already seen the tremendous results in the R & B realm with Coffman and Dekle contributing to The Roots’ “A Peace of Light” and the former’s dive into EDM on Major Lazer’s “Get Free”. Let’s see how Jack White would think to employ the unparalleled Dirty Projectors vocal range.

R. Kelly

Obviously.