Scott Rosenberg
July 31, 2008
What's the recipe for sustaining a successful band for 15 years?
"Spend big chunks of time away from each other," says Rhett Miller, the lead singer and guitarist of the Dallas-based band the Old 97's, with a laugh.
The Old 97s were on the forefront of the alt-country scene in the late '90s alongside Wilco, The Jayhawks and Whiskeytown. And if you watch the show "Scrubs," you've likely heard the band, as they're often in the soundtrack.
Besides playing with the full band, Miller also broke free for a couple of solo albums that fell comfortably in the pop rock genre, a big departure from the Old 97's alt-country sound.
That changed seeped into the Old 97's music, swinging a little toward more traditional pop, though you can still hear the country touchstones on the new album, "Blame It on Gravity," that littered the early records.
Would you still classify Old 97's as an alt-country band? I don't know. That's something more for journalists or fans to work out. The alt-country tag used to really bother me because it was reductive. It ignored big chunks of our influences. But at the same time, that alt-country crowd was a real scene and it was fun being a part of it for all those years.
You've moved to New Paltz in upstate New York. Did leaving Dallas influence your songwriting? I don't know. People ask that a lot and I wonder that about other songwriters, too. But I don't think it's geographic as much as it is where you are in your life -- the difference between being a 21-year-old who's just living for the next beer and the next chick I'm gonna, you know, see if I can make out with, versus being a guy in my mid-30s with a couple of kids. I can still tap into that young alcoholic version of me, but it's not my everyday existence, thank god.
When you're writing songs, how do you determine what is for your solo albums, and what goes to the band? The songs that sound a lot more like straight pop end up being obvious solo songs, and right now I'm imaging my next solo record will be real acoustic and quiet. Pretty much everything else gets to be The Old 97s.
Do you still enjoy touring after all these years? When I was in my early 20s, it was so awesome, riding around America in a van and feeling like you're in a little army trying to conquer every town. I still feel an element of that, but it's a little tougher because obviously I miss the family. And some of the initial excitement of seeing, let's say, Nashville, for the first time has worn off because -- god knows -- I've been through Nashville. But it's also nice because I'm on a bus with two living rooms and my own little bunk.
Old 97's are at Webster Hall on Friday.
Time: 7 p.m.
Tickets: $28
Address: 125 E. 11th St.
Phone: 212-353-1600
AM New York