Concerts

Get Rhett-y for an Old 97 to rumble into Boston

Prolific bandleader and solo artist Rhett Miller will headline City Winery on July 9 will multi-BMA winner Will Dailey in tow.

Photo by Ebru Yildiz

By Blake Maddux

1 minute to read

Singer-songwriter, composer of poetry and prose, author of a children’s book (with another due in August), and podcaster Rhett Miller — born Stewart Ransom Miller II — recorded five albums with the alt-country quartet Old 97’s between 1994 and 2001.

In the July 26, 1996 edition of The Austin Chronicle, outlaw country legend Waylon Jennings was quoted as saying, “I saw this group down there in Atlanta…called the Old 97’s. They are great! They are country, but I think country is headin’ that way, right there. And Old 97’s is from a song called `The Wreck of the Old 97.’ I watched ’em. Man, that thing hits ya right there. They were strong!”

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In 2002, Miller began a parallel solo career with the release of “The Instigator.”

In the 20 years since, the band has added seven albums of original material to its discography and Miller has tacked on five to his.

And those who need their fix can rejoice, as the sixth is in the pipeline.

“I made a solo album during the pandemic that’s gonna come out in September,” Miller said in a recent interview with Forbes.

“I let myself get weird in a way that I never would have done if I had not been able to get off the conveyor belt,” he continued. “In addition to more traditional stuff, there’s synth-y stuff and 808 drum machine stuff. It’s the kind of stuff that if I had never had a forced reset, I wouldn’t have allowed myself to try that stuff. ‘Cause I would have thought, ‘Nobody will go along for the ride with me if I do this.'”

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Save for a gig on 4th in their hometown of Dallas, Old 97’s will be on break from their 2022 tour in July. Miller is taking this as an opportunity to play a handful of solo shows, the first of which will be at City Winery on July 9.

Opening the show will be local favorite Will Dailey, whose seven Boston Music Awards since 2006 include three for Best Male Singer-Songwriter, two for Male Vocalist, and one each for Album of the Year and Artist of the Year.

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