Old Is New, And It Sounds Pretty Good

By Lizz Kannenberg in Arts & Entertainment on Sep 21, 2007 7:15PM

Rhett Miller is as poppy a dude as you'll find, but he's mastered the art of knowing when to hold back and when to let the whole symphony out to play. As leader of the seminal-turned-name-checkable insurgent Americana band the Old 97's, Miller culled a rep for giant, hooky melodies and had one of the sharpest tongues on the independent rock scene. As a solo artist, he's replaced much of the whiskey and vinegar of the 97's with melodic flourishes of strings and piano on 2002's The Instigator and 2006's The Believer. With the 97's touring again, perhaps on the strength of a kinda bizarre cameo (filmed at the Riv) in a certain Chicago-set Jennifer Aniston movie, now is the time to catch Miller alone and in an intimate setting where the real sweetness of his songs can shine through the snarkiness of his lyrics.

The last time we caught Rhett solo was at the Park West two springs ago, at a ballsy rock show that proved once and for all that the guy who used to desperately sing "I believe in love / but it don't believe in me" had finally grown into his role as spokesman for the playful, sexy side of alt-country ... the Brandon Walsh to Ryan Adams' Jordan Catalano, if you will. Gone for Miller are the days of drunken hook-ups and listless wandering as lyrical fodder, allowing the structural maturity of his pop songwriting to finally take center stage.

Rhett Miller plays tonight and tomorrow night at Schubas | 7:30 p.m. Sold out.