Rod Stewart, take heed: when you told Rolling Stone during a recent Grammy party that you wanted to record a blues album backed by the Black Keys, the Black Keys were listening.

Drummer Patrick Carney tells Billboard.com he read the news online the day it was posted, and was flattered by Stewart's rhetorical question: "Do you think that they know who I am?"

But if Stewart wants to work with the Black Keys, he may have to join them on their home turf in northeast Ohio. Guitarist/vocalist Dan Auerbach says they'd be happy to record with the Rodfather, "As soon as he comes to Akron. Maybe somebody will make the first move."

The Keys are no strangers playing with rockers more than double their age. They covered the Kinks' "Act Nice and Gentle" with the help of that group's frontman, Ray Davies, at the 2005 Tibet House concert in New York, and last year collaborated on material with late rock pioneer Ike Turner.

Auerbach says those tracks, which found the Keys and Turner collaborating in different studios, will likely be released at some point.

As previously reported, the Black Keys' new Nonesuch album, "Attack & Release," is due April 1 and was produced by Danger Mouse. First single "Strange Times" will be supported by a Lance Bangs-directed video.

A U.S. tour kicks off in mid-March at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas.