For folks who love alt-country music, or go out to see live bands in the Dallas area, this band needs no introduction. They’ve been going strong since 1994, when they released their first album “Hitchhike To Rhome”. That’s not a spelling error, it’s a little Texan town outside the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex, population 1967.
Before you write them off simply for being a Texas country band, note that they’ve had songs on the TV show Scrubs, they have fans like Rob Thomas (Matchbox 20), and used to play in bands with people like Clark Vogeler (The Toadies). This ain’t no shit-kickin’ country, son. It’s bigger than that.
Since ’94, Old 97′s have been pioneers in the alt-country genre, making country that’s not just for drunk cowboys and starry-eyed teenage girls. It’s got a little bit of punk bite, a fair amount of urbane sensibility, and a helluva lot of Texas twang. Lead singer and songwriter Rhett Miller is a local celebrity in Dallas but has lived in all three of what Texans consider the most important cities in the US: Los Angeles, New York, and Austin. His background represents what the Old 97′s are to the entire genre, some good ol’ boys from Texas who rock hard no matter where they’re plugged in.
Their latest album is entitled “The Grand Theatre, Volume Two”, released less than a year after “Volume One”. It was produced, of course, by their bedfellow in the Big D, singer/songwriter Salim Nourallah who produced the last two albums and two of Rhett Miller’s solo releases. The formula for “The Grand Theatre, Volume One” was simple: Old 97′s played a set of new songs at Dallas’ Sons of Hermann Hall, then cut the album from the tracks that recieved the best audience response.
The band doesn’t stray far from the path for “Volume Two”, playing songs that both please the loyal listeners and “git in where they can fit in” (that means they have a good deal of versatility, for you Yankees). You can hear these songs where they’re meant to be heard, on tour - mostly in states that love country music, but also on a few dates in California. Even if you don’t, these little ditties are bound to sound good anywhere from your local stage to the CD player of the dusty F150 you’re driving back West on Highway 114.
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Old 97′s – “Brown Haired Daughter”
