1.26.2010 6:54 PM:

Howdy gang! First up, even if yer webmaster hasn't been of late, your Old 97's remain ridiculously prolific, waxing tracks to keep piping fresh pop product on your shelves. Up next: At the behest of Tom DeSavia, once the Old 97's A&R rep at Elektra and now of Notable Music, Rhett Miller hit the studio with producer Salim Nourallah to cover Bobby Hebb's 1966 classic, "Sunny." Named by music publisher BMI as #25 in the Top 100 Songs of the [20th] Century, "Sunny" has been covered by the likes of Frank Sinatra with Duke Ellington, Cher, Johnny Rivers, Stevie Wonder, Ella Fitzgerald, The Four Seasons, Frankie Valli, The Four Tops, Wilson Pickett, Dusty Springfield, James Brown, and now in what may be its first-ever cover by a rock artist, by Rhett.

It should be on finer digital store shelves everywhere (emusic, iTunes, Amazon, etc.) any day now, ~~but for now I may have a little leak of a surprise for the first caller ;-)~~

Also, I recently received a link to an in-progress documentary about the Carter Family, called The Winding Stream: The Carters, the Cashes and the Course of Country Music. Check out the link, and make sure you have Java enabled and your sound turned up. You may recognize the singer. Wow, can't wait!

In other news, for those of you who missed the NYE-week "An Evening with Old 97's" shows at Dallas' Sons of Hermann Hall, well... Psych! Those were some great, great gigs, but ones for which we may someday all get a souvenir. Plus, rumor has the 97's in the studio, or at least headed that way in the coming days, to deck their next record. Stand by for more soon.

Also, in upcoming tour news, the Old 97's gigs-o-the-year so far look like this:

Feb 25: Winstar Casino - Thackerville, OK
Feb 26: Wormy Dog Saloon - Oklahoma City
Feb 27: Cain’s Ballroom - Tulsa
Apr 09: Fair Park - Dallas
Apr 10: House of Blues - Houston
Jul 03: Oak Canyon Ranch - Silverado, CA

And Rhett's solo shows are shaping up thusly (note the full band gigs with "The Serial Lady Killers" who are reportedly the crackerjack "Believers" from Rhett's 2007 solo shows):

Feb 03: Belly Up w/The Serial Lady Killers - Solana Beach, CA
Feb 04: The Galaxy w/The Serial Lady Killers - Santa Ana, CA
Feb 05: The Troubadour w/The Serial Lady Killers - El Lay, CA
Feb 06: The Independent w/The Serial Lady Killers - San Francisco
Mar 05: Shank Hall - Milwaukee
Mar 20: City Winery - NY, NY
Mar 25: Narrows Center - Fall River, MA
Mar 26: Stone Mountain Arts Center - Brownfield, ME
Mar 27: Regattabar - Cambridge, MA
Apr 02: John & Peters - New Hope, PA
Apr 03: Rams Head Tavern - Annapolis, MD

And just as soon as I can get another hour of free time, I'll add these to the Tour Dates page proper. I know, don't look, I haven't updated it since the Bush Administration and owe you an explanation: The main reason for my slackness here is that for the past year and a half or so, in addition to the regular job, I've be fightin' the man as a union organizer and officer. Yeah, I know, I'm a usually a Republican, so don't hate me on either account. In any event, my term in office is up on March 1, so join me won't you, in a toast, as I drink to having a life again? I'm told it's fun ;-) Cheers! - frank

Labels: murry, rhett, tour dates

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1.10.2010 3:04 PM:

Satellite Rides wasnt good enough to be named one of Dallas Observer Best Area Albums of the '00 list, but it did make Rolling Stone, The Decade's Best Under-the-Radar albums.

First up, 2001’s Satellite Rides by the Old 97’s, a Dallas band who turn out crafty pop-rock songs rooted in the Byrds and old AM radio hits. Frontman Rhett Miller sings about the vagaries of love earnestly and intelligently on this turning-point LP, and on “Rollerskate Skinny” he offers the thesis “I believe in love, but it don’t believe in me.”

Texas Music magazine also named Satellite Rides to its list of Best Albums of The Decade list.

~michael

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12.31.2009 1:07 PM:

Well, the boys' four-night stand at Sons of Hermann Hall is in the books — and in the can, as the entire shindig was recorded. Cross your fingers that it will see the light of day. I was only able to attend night two, but I can attest that they were on fire, and the rarities just added to the fun.

You can read a couple of good reviews at The Dallas Observer and at Pegasus News.

And for your reading pleasure, here are the setlists from all four nights:

NIGHT ONE
Bird in a Cage
504
Streets of Where I'm From
My Two Feet
Crash on the Barrelhead
You Belong To My Heart
The New Kid
Barrier Reef
Friends Forever
Old Familiar Steam
Busted Afternoon
I Will Remain
Iron Road
Stoned
King of the World
Miss Molly
The Easy Way
------------
Champaign, Illinois - Ranchero Brothers
Harold's Super Service - Ranchero Brothers
Bel Air
Ride
Curtain Calls
Timebomb

NIGHT TWO
Niteclub
Jagged
Here's to the Halcyon
Weightless
Let the Train Blow the Whistle
Moonlight
Victora
Murder (or a Heart Attack)
If My Heart Was a Car
Alone So Far
She Loves the Sunset
Buick City Complex
Can't Get a Line
St. Ignatius
Indefinitely
Am I Too Late
Big Brown Eyes
-----------------
Daybed - Ranchero Brothers
In the Satellite Rides a Star - Ranchero Brothers
Five Years (David Bowie cover)
Dressing Room Walls
Nineteen
Timebomb

NIGHT THREE
The Fool
Just Like California
Book of Poems
Making Love to You
W. TX Teardrops
Dancing With Tears in My Eyes
Lonely Holiday
Early Morning
Melt Show
Valium Waltz
The Other Shoe
Let the Idiot Speak
Color of a Lonely Heart Is Blue
Question
Designs on You
The One
Four Leaf Clover
----------------
Sweet Thing Pine Bluff - Ranchero Brothers
Lost at Sea - Ranchero Brothers
Tupelo County Jail (Webb Pierce cover)
Salome
W.I.F.E.
Timebomb

NIGHT FOUR
Won't Be Home
Dance With Me
Over the Cliff
Adelaide
Up the Devil's Pay
Bloomington
Desperate Times
The Villain
What We Talk About
Eyes For You
Wish the Worst
Valentine
No Baby I
What I Wouldn't Do
Blinding Sheets of Rain
Oppenheimer
Smokers
The House That Used To Be
Drowning in the Days
Rollerskate Skinny
Doreen
----------------------
Visiting hours - Ranchero Brothers
Mama Tried - Ranchero Brothers
Coahuila
Broadway
Goin', Goin' Gone
Nervous Guy
Timebomb
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Cryin' Drunk
Jack

That, my friends, was one for the ages.

-jefe

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12.23.2009 5:36 AM:

There is a new merch store for Old 97's. There are some of your old favorites and new t-shirts. There will be more product coming soon. Old97's.com is going to be run by a new company. The old one wasnt keeping up with tour dates and the store had some problems. The new site should be better and up and running soon.

~michael

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