Old 97's

[redsock]

A direct quote from Pollstar:
 
 " The Old 97's are hard to pin down. Hailing from Texas, the members are deeply influenced by early country artists such as Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline, and Willie Nelson. And yet they seem to share an equal love for Brit-pop. Throw in a little rock â??n' roll and you have a band that defies convention."
 
 Brit-pop and Rhett, in the same paragraph?

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Rhett's solo debut from 1989 was god awful, but goes for a hefty sum when one of the 1000 copies goes up for sale on Ebay.
 
 From Allmusic:
 
 Mythologies finds young Texan Rhett Miller sounding curiously British at times during a collection of bare, acoustic folk tracks. Erroneous accent aside, the 1989 offering gives fans an opportunity to observe the early stages of development in the career of a great young songwriter. Miller's longtime partner in crime Murry Hammond, who would later join Miller in Sleepy Heroes and finally the Old 97s, produces all 13 tracks and performs on ten of them as well. Though nothing on Mythologies quite reaches the level of quality of later Miller/Hammond collaborations, there is some strong material here. "Iron Child," "Song for Truman Capote," "Redbird Song," and "I'm Coming Home" show the potential that would be realized on later releases, while the playful "Candy Apple Corkscrew Hair" is more fun than anything you'd expect to find on a folk album. As to be expected given the young age at which Miller wrote these songs, there are some awkward moments like the unfortunate "Honey in My Tea," but for the most part Mythologies is not only a great find for curious Old 97s fans but is also an album that can stand alone on their own merit.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

An FYI to those planning on going to the show:
 
 9:30 box office person told me show was selling well, and should sell out before day of show.

[thirsty moore]

Ah, thanks for the heads up.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Old 97's news...interesting news they are going to be on New West Records.
 
 Wednesday, January 7 1:33 PM:  The Old 97's have just added a January 14 Dallas show at the legendary Sons of Hermann Hall, to their upcoming January mini-tour. So the Dallas show, which will come at the end of several days of "hard rehearsals for the new record" officially kicks off the countdown to the next Old 97's CD release, now planned for this Summer on New West Records. FWIW, along with the crazies over at Bloodshot Records, New West is THE premier label for all your Roots Rock, Southern Rock, and your alt-country listening needs. You say you like them Drive By Truckers? Them boys in Slobberbone? Billy Joe Shaver? The Flatlanders? Well now you can call 'em all label-mates of the Old 97's.
 
 The 97's will be cut the album's basic tracks in Woodstock, NY, with finishing touches applied in San Diego, and on the technical side, the guys have signed one of the great Rockabilly knob-meisters to helm the boards as producer and engineer for their upcoming release. In fact, Murry calls him the "king of rockabilly recording in the U.S.." He's Mark Neill, and you can hear his work on wax from Big Sandy, The Paladins, Deke Dickerson, Rip Carson, and as producer on the last couple of Los Straitjackets CD's. Neill's reputation is that of a Rockabilly craftsman with an unmatched store of knowledge and and skill in recording techniques down through the decades. So does all this mean what I think it means? Will the next 97's disc see a return to the amps-at-10 twang of Wreck Your Life and Too Far To Care? Stay tuned!

[grotty]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  Old 97's news...interesting news they are going to be on New West Records.
 
 ...the next Old 97's CD release, now planned for this Summer on New West Records. FWIW, along with the crazies over at Bloodshot Records, New West is THE premier label for all your Roots Rock, Southern Rock, and your alt-country listening needs. You say you like them Drive By Truckers? Them boys in Slobberbone? Billy Joe Shaver? The Flatlanders? Well now you can call 'em all label-mates of the Old 97's.
 
 

That's a great addition to what's easily now the best 'alt-country' label.
 
 Lost Highway's had it. They must be kicking themselves over the DBT debacle. It's one of the best records of the year and they didn't think it was good enough. And then to top that they 'encourage' Ryan Adams to record Rock N Roll because Love is Hell was not really what they were looking for. Pared down to one record, Love is Hell would have been one of his best. Another huge mistake, if they had any intention of having any sense of artist integrity.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

couple of mini fan reviews from the first show of the tour...
 
 Wow what can I say about last nights gig. They where amazing. Rhett
 looked really happy to be back with the rest of the band. Murry and
 him are just amazing together. There are really two frontmen in this
 band and it works perfectly. The new songs are just awesome. murry
 did a number about singing and smoking that I think should be the
 first single. They did all the hits and favourites. Victoria was
 amazing, so was rollerskate skinny which they did as the 2nd song of
 the night!! Rhett did an acoustic number not sure of the name
 (sorry). Valentine was one of the highlights in a night full of them.
 The hall was extremly hot. a problem you wont have in Chicago I
 suppose I really cant wait for the new album, if what we heard last
 night was a taste of things to come, I know that better days are
 ahead for Dallas's favourite sons. have a great time on saturday.
 Peace Out Bro
 
 Old 97's fans rejoice!! Now that the days of Rhettploitation are
 behind us, the band is back together and firing on all cylinders. They
 sounded good, I mean really good.
 
 The band seemed to really be enjoying themseleves, tons of energy...
 Rhett was screaming like a maniac during Doreen. Damn, it was just
 LOUD and fun.
 
 The new stuff was excellent. Some of it is Ranchero's stuff with the
 full band. Rhett kept making comments to the audience like, "stick
 with us, we'll get back to the old stuff soon." Honestly though, I
 think that everyone was digging the new tunes.
 
 They did "Won't be Home no More", which I've heard Rhett do solo and
 didn't think it could be improved upon. But they play it cranked up a
 notch and it sounds great. "Driving Sheets of Rain" was the other
 Ranchero's song they play.
 
 If I had to sum it up, the Old 97's are embarking on a TFTC revivial
 and I couldn't be happier

[ratioci nation]

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  couple of mini fan reviews from the first show of the tour...
 

good, no mentions of full band versions of Erica the Beautiful and hopefully they won't be performing his solo material

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

I did read that he also plans on putting another solo album out this summer, in addition to the 97's album.
 
 This little blurb makes me think Murry is the one with all of the taste:
 
 Murry Hammond, bassist and best songwriter in the Old 97s, was the best man
 at my wedding. He is also the godfather of my son, Sam. We went to school
 together in the tiny town of Boyd, Texas. I have followed Murry's musical career
 since he was 18. I heard him bang out hardcore in the great Mindless Thrash
 (great name). He then partook of the illegal and formed the Peyote Cowboys, a
 great psychedelic rock trio who mixed husker du and the moody blues. I have a
 great tape of the peyotes playing Austin in l986. Murry was even a publisher,
 putting out the punk fanzine AKA while still a student at the University of
 Texas in Arlington. Rhett was a big fan of the Peyote Cowboys and was usually at
 their shows all dressed up in Sgt. Pepper garb with freshly washed hair and
 groupies even then. Rhett was only 17 and playing godawful bowie covers. Hammond
 and Miller formed the pychedelic/folk/pop outfit Sleepy Heroes and put out one
 rather bad CD (Oh, Hammond also produced Rhett's even worse solo CD
 "Mythologies."). After the Heroes folded, Hammond and Miller formed the ill
 conceived grunge/folk band Rhett's Exploding, a bizarre attempt to ape Nirvana,
 sub pop, etc. It failed miserably and finally Murry convinced Rhett to cut his
 hair and start singing like he was actually from Texas.
 
 
 

Originally posted by pollard:
   

Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
  couple of mini fan reviews from the first show of the tour...
 

good, no mentions of full band versions of Erica the Beautiful and hopefully they won't be performing his solo material [/b]