The band’s latest release, 2008’s Blame It On Gravity, which came 15 years after its formation, has frontman Rhett Miller and bandmates bassist Murry Hammond, drummer Philip Peeples, and guitarist Ken Bethea returning to their Texas roots in a rip-roaring concoction of hard twang and power pop that fits like an old jean jacket.
Meanwhile, Miller’s eponymous third solo album was released on June 9. It features some of the tunesmith’s craftiest songwriting to date, and for a guy who’s known for his whip-smart wordplay, that’s saying a lot. Even Rolling Stone offered up a four-star review, calling Rhett Miller “…his strongest solo set ever.”This summer the singer hits the road for “An Evening with Old 97s,” a full night of 97s music that features opening sets by Miller and Hammond.The tour stops at Maxwell’s in Hoboken for four nights beginning Friday.
“I think it’s gonna be great,” Miller says by phone from I-90. “I anticipate a very familial kind of atmosphere. There’s a lot of love in our band right now, and we want to bring that to the fans.”
But the view wasn’t always so rosy. After releasing a couple of albums on notorious Chicago cow-punk label Bloodshot in the mid-’90s, Old 97s was snapped up by Elektra. Its first release for the major label (remember those?) was Too Far to Care,an album that captured both the band’s raw live energy and Miller’s winsome tunefulness, and Old 97s was well on its way to the top of the burgeoning genre known as alt-country. Somehow, the movement lost momentum, though, as its leaders drifted into other genres; even subsequent Old 97s albums found the band veering from its country-punk roots and experimenting with garage rock and ’60s-style pop.
Miller released two successful solo al bums earlier this decade, but despite TV show soundtrack hits like “Question” and a cameo in the 2006 movie The Break-Up, bigtime fame remained elusive, and Old 97s was on the verge of disbanding.
But something happened on the way to the trash heap: The band refused to be tossed out. Negotiating that delicate balance between solo careers, families and playing was the key, and once they found that, the guys in Old 97s felt they owed it to themselves and their fans to keep on twangin’. “We’ve got a lot to be proud of, the longevity that we’ve had,” Miller says. Given the footstomping joy of Blame It On Gravity and Miller’s upbeat new solo record, the contentment in the Old 97s camp is obvious.
Despite being eternally on the fringe of stardom, Miller and the 97s never quite made it to arena-tour status—and the 38-year-old songwriter’s just fine with that. “I would never want to compromise the way I go to work every day,” he admits. “If I did that, it would kill whatever it is I do bring to the table. Even when we’ve even flirted with all that stuff, to me it feels like it’s just so obvious to the audience, you know?”
“One thing we said from the beginning was that we wanted a career, not one big burst of fame. We were on Elektra for seven years, and a lot of the bands that we were label mates with... Look, I’m sure Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind still makes a lot of money. But I love my job, and I don’t think I would trade places with that guy.”
As for the summer club tour with Old 97s, Miller’s going to find himself straddling another line, one where he plays two sets of different material each night. “Well, I’ll have to save some energy for the rock show. I’ll either be in great shape or a complete wreck when this is over,” he laughs. “Or both.”
> Old 97s
June 19, 20, 23 & 24, Maxwell’s, 1039 Washington St. (at 11th St.), Hoboken, 201-798-0406; 8:30; $40
