Friday, March 20, 2009

Alt Country's Rhett Miller (Old 97s) To Release Solo LP

His new record Rhett Miller will hit stores June 9, with a tour to follow. The album is a personal affair with a beat you can bop to... or something.

“My approach to songwriting has always been to take a heavy subject and put it to a bouncy tune. This record takes that trick to the next level.” Miller says. “Don’t get me wrong, there are some rays of sunshine on the album, but there is a lot of deep night.” He explains further, “The death of my grandmother, the suicide of my hero, David Foster Wallace. In my head, I was sort of in a dark place when I made this record.” Laughing, he adds, “It’s still a fun record to listen to. It’s a fine line you gotta walk, right?” Additionally he added “Sometimes’ came out of hearing my two-year-old daughter singing to herself in her crib one morning. I took her little tune and fleshed it out into first a chorus and then a whole song.”

Rhett Miller has also released three previous solo albums, Mythologies, recorded during his junior year in high school and produced by future Old 97’s co-founder, Murry Hammond, in 1989, 2002’s The Instigator, and The Believer in 2006. While based in Dallas, Miller and Hammond formed Old 97’s in 1993.

Rhett Miller Track Listing:
1. Nobody Says I Love You Anymore
2. Like Love
3. Caroline
4. I Need to Know Where I Stand
5. Happy Birthday Don’t Die
6. Bonfire
7. Haphazardly
8. If It’s Not Love
9. Another Girlfriend
10. Refusing Temptation
11. Lashes
12. Sometimes

Live:
March 24th - Solana Beach, CA Belly Up

March 26th - Los Angeles, CA Largo

March 27th - Redondo Beach, CA Brixton South Bay

March 28th - Santa Cruz, CA Crepe Place

March 29th - San Francisco, CA Yoshi’s

April 11th - Ithaca, NY Castaways

April 16th - New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge

May 1st - Red Bank, NJ Count Basie Theatre - Writers in the Raw w/ David Johansen of the New York Dolls, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and others.

May 13th - Northampton, MA Iron Horse

May 14th - Boston, MA The Paradise

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