For more than a decade, the Old 97's have been the golden boys of (at different times) the Dallas, alt-country, and pop rocker scenes. From playing the parking lot behind Bar of Soap to major venues around the world, the band has ridden a career roller coaster and is still hanging in there.

Decidedly alt-country on their initial release and its followup, the Old 97's were generally mentioned alongside Wilco, Son Volt and Ryan Adams as standard-bearers of the No Depression movement. But with a major label behind them in the mid-to-late ninties, the 97's veered more heavily into hooky pop. Thanks to musical trends, erratic promotion and bad single quarterbacking on the part of the label, the band never "hit it big" as so many of their fans were sure they would.

While Rhett Miller took time off to release a well-received solo album (with another on the way), the band and its several side projects forge on, best known for their electrifying live shows, as captured on 2005's Alive and Wired.

From staff reports.

Musicians

• Rhett Miller: guitar, lead vocals, vocals
• Murry Hammond: bass, vocals
• Ken Bethea: guitar, vocals
• Philip Peeples: drums

Influences

X, The Pixies, Merle Haggard, Jon Langford, The Kinks, Elvis Costello, The Clash

Albums

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Something missing?

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