Rhett Miller & Josh Rouse

Texas native Rhett Miller is perhaps best known as the frontman of the Dallas-based alt-country band the Old 97ʼs, although he has also pursued a critically acclaimed solo career. Formed in 1993, the Old 97ʼs built a devoted following with their brash blend of country and power pop influences, making a splash with 1995ʼs Wreck Your Life, which won the group a brief stay on the roster of Elektra Records, a period kicked off with one of their finest hours, 1997ʼs Too Far to Care. All four members also pursued side projects, but Millerʼs solo career captured the most attention, with the literate songwriter training his eye on such subjects as fatherhood, sex, and love. Making his solo bow with 2002ʼs The Instigator, most of Millerʼs solo albums have been dominated by cool, melodic pop tunes with a drier and more confessional bent than his work with the band, though 2012ʼs The Dreamer explored a middle ground between his pop and alt-country sensibilities, and the 2011 set The Interpreter: Live at Largo revealed heʼs a sure hand with other peopleʼs songs. Strictly speaking, Miller launched his own career before the Old 97ʼs were formed. He recorded his first solo album, a series of acoustic folk songs entitled Mythologies, in 1989. Future Old 97ʼs bassist (and a solid songwriter in his own right) Murry Hammond produced the album, and their partnership later blossomed into a full-fledged band. While releasing a string of well received albums with the Old 97ʼs, Miller and Hammond also performed together as the Ranchero Brothers, a two-man acoustic duo that was originally launched as a means of testing new music for the Old 97ʼs in front of a live audience. The Ranchero Brothers developed their own distinct following, although no albums resulted from the project. Taking time off from the Old 97ʼs, Miller began recording his first major-label solo effort in February 2002, this time with the help of producer/multiinstrumentalist Jon Brion. The Instigator appeared nearly seven months later, followed by a tour with ex-Crowded House frontman Neil Finn in early 2003. Miller then returned to the studio with the Old 97ʼs, squashing worried rumors that he planned to halt the bandʼs career and focus on his solo efforts. He did, however, find time to balance the two projects, and his second solo release, The Believer, was issued by Verve in February 2006. After returning to the studio with the Old 97ʼs for 2007ʼs Blame It on Gravity, Miller continued his juggling act by recording another solo album. The self-titled record appeared in 2009 courtesy of his new label, Shout! Factory. His next two solo albums, 2010ʼs The Interpreter: Live at Largo and 2012ʼs The Dreamer, were both released by Millerʼs own Maximum Sunshine label. After releasing one of the Old 97ʼsʼ strongest albums in years with 2014ʼs Most Messed Up, Miller took a new turn in his solo career with 2015ʼs The Traveler, which featured backing from the band Black Prairie (which includes several members of the Decemberists) and a guest appearance from Peter Buck of R.E.M. Following more recording and touring with the Old 97ʼs, Miller repaired to Brooklyn, New York, where he cut the 2018 album The Messenger with producer and multi-instrumentalist Sam Cohen, who previously worked with Apollo Sunshine and Yellowbirds. The album was released by ATO Records.

You donʼt have to work hard to enjoy Rouseʼs music. His songs present themselves to you with an open heart, an innate intelligence and an absolute lack of pretension. They are clear-eyed, empathetic and penetrating. Without pandering, they seek to satisfy both your ear and your understanding. The verses draw you in with telling detail, both musical and thematic, and the choruses lift and deliver. They resolve without seeming overly tidy or pat. Josh Rouse was born in Nebraska, and following an itinerant upbringing he eventually landed in Nashville where he recorded his debuDt ressed Like Nebraska (1998). The albumʼs acclaim led to tours with Aimee Mann, Mark Etzel and the late Vic Chestnut. The followup- Home (2000)—yielded the song “Directions” which Cameron Crowe used in his film Vanilla Sky. “Every time Iʼve made a record, Iʼve tried to make it different from the last one,” says Rouse. “I always became fascinated by a different style of music. But at the end of the day, no matter how eclectic I try to make it, itʼs my voice and melodic sensibility that tie things together.” For his breakthrough album,1972 (2003), which happens to be the year he was born, Rouse decided to cheer up a bit. Noting that heʼd earned a reputation for melancholy, he says, with a laugh, “I figured this is my career, I might as well try to enjoy it.” While the Seventies are often identified with singer-songwriters, Rouse was primarily attracted to the warmer sound of albums back then, as well as the more communal feel of the soul music of that time. The follow up, Nashville (2005) continued the hot streak and expanded his audience further. After relocating to Valencia, Spain with his wife Paz, Rouse has released a steady stream of high quality songs and albumsS.ubtitulo (2006) contained the international indie folk hit "Quiet Town". On El Turista (2010) he even experimented with writing and singing some songs in Spanish. In 2014, he won a Goya Award (the Spanish equivalent of an Oscar) for best song for "Do You Really Want To Be In Love," from the film 'La Gran Familia Española.' His latest, Going Places came together over the last two years when Josh Rouse found himself unable to tour and hunkered down with his family in Spain. Together with his Spanish band, he began workshopping new songs in a small local venue owned by a friend, resulting in ten road-ready tracks with a looser, more relaxed vibe.