Old 97’s Miller is keeping it normal

It’s easy for Rhett Miller, front man of the groundbreaking alt-country band Old 97’s, to transition between the band and his solo work.

For all the musical differences fans note, Miller himself sees the music as part of the same whole.

“I think the alt-country tag the Old 97’s got saddled with is useful [in its] way when people need to talk about music,” he said. “To me there isn’t a huge difference between the Old 97’s [sound] and my solo work. The difference is there is a collective and a dictatorship.”

Despite that definition, forget the rumors that Miller is leaving the Old 97’s. The band he founded in 1993 — which was among the first to pave the way for alt-country and the music of Drive-By Truckers, Whiskeytown and the Bottle Rockets — is headed for a long life.

“It’s the nature of any band to have disagreements,” Miller said, speaking of several key points in the band’s history including Electra’s signing of him as a solo artist. “It never was at a point that would make us break up. Even if we had thought of such things, we would have said this is too valuable to throw away because of ego.”

If anything, Miller’s solo career seems to have given him more of a reason to stay. The songs on his self-titled album — the fourth solo album he’s released — are all tunes the Old 97’s rejected. No matter. The solo career gave him a chance to work with producers and others to refocus the sound a bit and release it.

“This record didn’t have to sound different from the Old 97’s the entire time but it had to make the case for making solo albums,” he said.

Few critics will likely question it does just that.

Although the Old 97’s is worthy of every kudo tossed its way, Miller’s solo album lets him really soar. Any doubters need only listen to one of the standout tracks, “I Need to Know Where I Stand,” where he lets killer guitar work and a deeply resonating voice free of the Old 97’s twang do the talking for him.

But for all the critical acclaim he receives, Miller seems very comfortable in his own, out-of-the-spotlight life, where he gets to stay home with his wife and watch his son go to his first day of school and talks excitedly about having literary works published.

“In general, I try to keep my life pretty normal,” he said. “I would likely have a greater level of success if I lived in Hollywood and had gone out on dates with movie stars. I did live in Hollywood and dated movie stars, and it just felt fraudulent and depressing,” he said. “I have a family now I come home to. I try not to get too hung up on what could have been. I ride the wave and let it be.”