LITTLE ROCK — The Old 97’s have determined what their fans care about: hearing the group’s 1997 album, Too Far to Care, played in its entirety.
It’s not exactly like Pink Floyd co-founder Roger Waters going out on tour with his famous creation, The Wall, performed for fans in stadiums, assures Rhett Miller, co-founder of The Old 97’s.
“That would be hubris, comparing us with him,” Miller says with a laugh. “It’s not even the album that we put out that sold the most, but it’s the one that’s most beloved by our fans, our most famous album. It was our first major-label album, for Elektra Records, back when that meant something. And we were pretty grateful that we got to ride a bit of that wave.”
And the band was grateful enough that in 2012 it released Too Far to Care: Expanded Edition, available as a double CD or as a record, with additional material Miller describes as demos and out-takes, as well as “some stuff that’s a little bit embarrassing.”
The group is also marking, without any similar ceremony, its 20th anniversary. Miller and bassist Murry Hammond founded the band in Dallas in 1993, adding guitarist Ken Bethea and drummer Philip Peeples. Keeping a band’s lineup intact for two decades isn’t easy, but Miller says members have always gone off and done other projects and solo music, making it easier for everyone to also hang together.
“I think we were lucky in a way that we haven’t had greater success,” Miller says. “Everyone gets along pretty well.”
Although The Old 97 ’s were founded in Dallas, Miller moved away in 1998, first to Los Angeles and later to New York, where he remains when not on tour. Hammond also moved to Los Angeles. Miller says the band never gave any thought to moving to Nashville, Tenn., but there was consideration given to moving down Interstate 35 to Austin, Texas.
“We were not country enough for Nashville, and the way we thought about it, we decided we’d rather be a big fish in a small pond, not to say Dallas is a small pond, but there have always been so many bands in Austin, we decided not to be one of them.”
The Old 97’s came along during the “alt-country” movement championed by No Depression magazine (which is now just a website entity). The Old 97’s competed against such bands of the era as Uncle Tupelo, The Drive-By Truckers, The Jayhawks, The Bottle Rockets and Whiskeytown.
The show will open with a 20-minute solo acoustic set by Miller (who has released four solo albums), who will act as the master of ceremonies, he says, followed by a set by The O’s, a Dallas band he describes as a young, up-and-coming group the band admires.
“Then when The Old 97’s take the stage, we’ll do the Too Far to Care album, and then do 12 or 13 other songs from all of our other albums, and since we have about nine albums, we’ll try to make everybody happy.”
The Old 97’s Opening acts: Rhett Miller, The O’s 9 p.m. Wednesday, Revolution Room, 300 President Clinton Ave., Little Rock Admission: $18 advance; $20 day of show (501) 823-0090 revroom.com
Style, Pages 23 on 02/19/2013