The Old 97's Wrap Up the Rock Hall Summer Concert Series

The Rock and Roll Hall will wrap up this year’s Summer Concert Series on August 27 with the Old 97’s, a band with more than 30 years of experience touring, cutting records, and carving out a niche for themselves somewhere between genres.

The Old 97’s started blending roots rock with the western flavor of their native Texas in the early ‘90s. They were dubbed alt-country, although “y’allternative” is more fun and might better capture their energy and influences. They told stories of mischief-makers and people just hanging on, mixing rock anthems with twangy ballads. They built a following with a sense of humor and a sense of irony, and by knowing how to whip crowds into a frenzy.

Singer and lyricist Rhett Miller has a favorite way of describing the band’s style. “People would often joke that we were Johnny Cash meets the Clash, and I always felt like that’s like that’s about as close as you can get to kind of describing what we do,” Miller says. “Johnny Cash was basically the folkiest version of country music, and that was that’s what appealed to me. And then the Clash was like the most fun, high-energy version of punk rock, which is sort of what we try to bring to our live shows. And it winds up being like this kind of really joyful, folky-but-loud rock and roll with a kind of an Americana bent to it. So that’s what we are.”

Miller shares the stage with bandmates bassist Murry Hammond, guitarist Ken Bethea, and drummer Philip Peeples. Together they mix harmonies and riffs with driving beats and hooks. Bethea plays with equal parts fire and feeling. Hammond lends a vocal drawl. And after three decades their live shows still have the energy band half their age.

The foursome has made the most of their years together. They’ve recorded 14 albums and collaborated with a range of artists as diverse as Waylon Jennings, R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, and John Doe and Exene Cervenka from the punk band X. They’ve appeared on Austin City Limits, the long-running concert series airing on PBS, and received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2025 Americana Music Honors and Awards. There’s a documentary in the works, following the band as they record their next album, which will release next year.

The band’s sounds hits the sweet spot for Hollywood producers, who have used their songs in television and movies. They’ve even gotten some screen time, themselves. In 2022 they showed up in the Marvel universe, portraying alien rockers with a tenuous grasp of the meaning of Christmas in the Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, directed by James Gunn. Kevin Bacon co-starred and shared a mic with them on the band’s, “Here It Is Christmastime.”

“That’s fun stuff,” Miller says. “I mean, that Guardians of the Galaxy thing was so validating and James Gunn is such a cool guy and a big fan, and my phone’s been blowing up the last few days because the new season of Reacher just dropped and we’ve got a prominent placement in one of the early episodes in that.”

Miller admits he’s never been able to check out the Rock Hall, although his work has been on display there.

“They did an exhibit on alt-country probably 10 years ago,” Miller recalls. “And they had me send in my songwriting notebooks and they exhibited a bunch of different pages of songs of mine that they considered important songs from the alt-country. And, so I’ve been exhibited in the Rock Hall but I’ve never been in it.”

Changes in the music industry forced the the Old 97’s to be nimble, doing stints with both indie and major labels. A major record label was the big prize for a new band. Now, streaming, downloads, and algorithms have replaced radio airplay and CD sales as measures of success and fan engagement. Miller thinks about how his kids grew up in this new environment. “The TikTok thing is real,” he says. “It’s kind of crazy how that has become the default information processing system for their age group.”

There have been side projects along the way. Hammond released 2 solo albums, Miller 10. He also hosts the “Wheels Off” podcast, focusing on the creative process, where he interviews musicians, writers, and comedians. He’s written short stories and children’s books, and teaches a class on songwriting which he is adapting into a book. Over the years Miller and Hammond have moved from Texas, to New York and Washington State, respectively.

“Change is always stressful” Miller adds. “Any iteration of transformation can be anxiety-producing, but for us, I’ve always been pretty confident in the ability of the band to make the best of whatever situation we’re in. And you know maybe it’s because we’re a band, and I don’t feel like I’m all alone, and I can trust in the talents and commitment of my bandmates.”