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FEATURING:
Rhett Miller, guitar & vocals |
Texan Rhett Miller is best known as lead singer/guitarist for Dallas' alt-country band the Old 97's. The Old 97's, formed in 1993, issued their debut LP, Wreck Your Life, in 1995. Their follow-up, Fight Songs, was issued in 1999; the same year, the early-1994 recording Hitchhike to Rhome was reissued on CD, and the mini-album Early Tracks delivered more of the same in 2000. Their 2001 release, Satellite Rides, gained critical acclaim as well as substantial airplay on college radio stations around the United States.
Rhett Miller has also had a successful music career away from the Old 97's. He recorded his first solo album, Mythologies, in 1989. Future Old 97's bassist and songwriter Murry Hammond produced the album, which was a series of acoustic folk songs. Miller and Hammond also perform as the Ranchero Brothers; a group that started as Miller and Hammond's way to test new music for the Old 97's in front of a live audience as a two-man acoustic duo. The Ranchero Brothers developed their own following, however, and hit the studios to record an album of their own in May of 2000. In 2006, Miller released his latest CD, “The Believer.”
"The songs on The Believer are about sex, war, love and death . . . but mostly sex,” Rhett Miller says of The Believer, his second solo album and his Verve Forecast debut. “Before going into the studio, I thought I’d be making a punk rock Ziggy Stardust, but I wound up with George Gershwin does T. Rex's The Slider.”
Miller revealed a more introspective side with his acclaimed 2002 solo debut The Instigator. The Believer takes its predecessor’s achievements several steps further, with a dozen deeply-felt, craftily melodic tunes that demonstrate the Texas-bred artist’s knack for using accessible songcraft to address complex emotional issues.
The Believer ranges from the puckish rock punch of “My Valentine” and “Ain't That Strange” to the expansive art-pop textures of “Brand New Way” and “Meteor Shower.” “Help Me Suzanne,” “I'm with Her" and "Fireflies” — the latter a duet with Rachael Yamagata — demonstrate Miller’s ability to write poignant, pointed love songs whose depth and insight are matched by their tunefulness. The spare, thoughtful “Question” finds Miller revisiting an Old 97's favorite from an older-and-wiser perspective. The album’s one cover is a buoyant, barbed reading of “I Believe She's Lying,” written by frequent Miller collaborator Jon Brion.
The Believer’s quietly powerful title track was inspired by Miller's acquaintance with the late alt-rock troubadour Elliott Smith. “I wrote it in New York City the day he died,” he explains. “It really hit home for me. I met him and spent some time with him during his last years. My first date with my wife was seeing Elliott play at the Royal Albert Hall, and his drummer Scott McPherson ended up playing with me on the tour for The Instigator. I had a pretty serious suicide attempt when I was 14 years old, and I've always wrestled with that impulse, as do a lot of people in my line of work. I don't know if the song is all about Elliott maybe it's about me at 14, I'm not exactly sure. But the song's kind of saying thanks for doing the good work you did, and I understand that you were doing your best.”
Miller recorded The Believer with renowned producer George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers) and a distinguished musical cast including guitarists Lyle Workman and Josh Schwartz, bassist Salim Nourallah, drummer Matt Chamberlain and keyboardists Patrick Warren and Jon Brion, whose collective resumé encompasses work with the likes of Tori Amos, Fiona Apple, Frank Black, Macy Gray, Robyn Hitchcock, Aimee Mann, Michael Penn, Todd Rundgren and Elliott Smith. Gary Louris of the Jayhawks adds backing vocals.
Miller continues to balance his solo endeavors with his membership in the Old 97’s. The still-active quartet has released seven albums since 1994 (the latest being the live set Alive and Wired) and are prominently featured in the soon-to-be-released Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn romantic comedy The Breakup.
“I love to rock, but it's liberating not to always have to keep up with the freight train that is the Old 97's,” Miller says of his dual musical careers. “When I made The Instigator, I was constantly calling the 97’s, sending them mixes, trying to feel out how this was gonna work. But making The Believer, I felt like I didn't have to answer to anybody. Part of that was because I’d proven that I could do both, and part of it was because the guys in the band have been so cool about it. After ten years, we're beyond the bullshit. The other guys all have lives and families, so now we're at a point where we can do the Old 97’s for the rest of our lives, but we don't have to do it every day.”
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