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The Old 97's will head to Dreamland Studios in upstate New York in February to record their sixth album. The Texas rockers will preview new songs on a ten-date January tour, their first string of shows outside of their native state in two and a half years.
"Right now my personal favorite is a song called 'The New Kid,'" says frontman Rhett Miller of the new material. "It was a tune Murry [bassist Hammond] had a melody line and one line of lyrics for, and he asked me if I could finish it. I finished it in a couple days and brought it back to him. I think it's one of the best songs we've ever written."
The new record will be co-produced by the band and Mark Neil, who built the room in London's Toe Rag Studios where the White Stripes recorded Elephant. The album, which the Old 97's hope to have out in June, will be their first for New West Records and first since Miller put out a solo album, The Instigator, in 2002.
Miller will contribute nine or ten songs to the record with few others added by Hammond. The group is also trying to get guitarist Ken Bethea to step up to the microphone for a vocal. "Another thing that my solo career has made possible for me is that I feel like I can let go and let the other guys do even more on the band records," says Miller.
Another cut, "Won't Be Home No More," was spawned by Miller and Hammond's country and western alter ego the Ranchero Brothers. "Originally Ken didn't like it," Miller says, "and then he changed his mind about it. So it went from being a Ranchero Brothers song to an Old 97's tune." The track "No Mother" was written for a former crew member who was killed by a drunk driver. "It's a sad tune," Miller says, "but I know that's going to make it on the record."
Miller has also been writing songs for his next solo album, which he plans to record in the spring and release in the summer. Miller says the set might be influenced by a recent gig writing short bursts of teaser music with drummer Jerry Marotta (Paul McCartney, Elvis Costello) for the ABC sitcom I'm With Her. "I play lead guitar, which is its own challenge because I've never done that before," he says. "It got me thinking that that's an interesting way to make a record. Maybe work with Jerry and record pretty quickly and do sort of a rock & roll thing."
Old 97's tour dates:
1/14: Dallas, Sons of Herman Hall
1/16: Minneapolis, First Avenue
1/17: Chicago, Metro
1/18: Madison, Luther's Blues
1/19: Indianapolis, Vogue Theater
1/21: Cleveland Heights, OH, Grog Shop
1/22: Philadelphia, Theater of Living Arts
1/23: Washington, DC, 9:30 Club
1/24-25: New York, Bowery Ballroom
COLIN DEVENISH
(January 9, 2004)