Another member of the Old 97’s is taking a solo jaunt.
Following bassist Murry Hammond’s Trail Songs of the Deep last month, which marked his first such effort in nearly 20 years, front man Rhett Miller is releasing his 10th and latest solo LP, A lifetime of riding by night, on Oct. 10, which, as luck would have it, was produced by Hammond.
“When Rhett heard what I was doing, he heard Another Idle Day and heard Trail Songs — he just asked me ‘Would you do that for me?’” Hammond told KXT in July. “I said, “Yeah, sounds interesting.” I’ve only produced one record, ever, before my own, and that was in 1989 for a 17-year-old Rhett Miller.
“I produced his very first record, and I’ve not produced one since. The next one I did for somebody besides myself was Rhett Miller at age 50.”
The 13-track Night features Miller, who cut the record just days prior to a high-risk surgery on his vocal cords, co-writing alongside Turnpike Troubadours front man Evan Felker, Nicole Atkins, Caitlin Rose and Gin Blossoms’ Jesse Valenzuela. The lead single, “Come As You Are,” features Felker on background vocals, and drops today.
“That song came together at a time when Evan and I were both wrestling with the difficulty of leaving our loved ones behind to go on tour,” Miller said in a statement. “It’s a sweet song but there’s a sadness to it, which feels reflective of the true human condition. Evan’s band Turnpike Troubadours recorded a version of the song a few years back as a single, but it’s always been in my mind that I wanted to record my own version of the song.
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“Despite it being a co-write, ‘Come As You Are’ feels like a really personal moment. That said, I get a tickle out of hearing Evan’s harmony on there – he’s such a talented guy and a great friend.”
Night is the follow-up to 2022’s The Misfit, and in keeping with his decades-long collaborative friendship with Hammond, Miller did not second-guess his producer.
“Murry was a mentor to me when we made that first record all those decades ago, and this album felt like the right time to work with him in that capacity again,” Miller said in a statement. “I gave him carte blanche in a way I never have with any other producer—we went in and recorded 20 songs, and I flew home to New York without even knowing which songs he’d end up using or what the finished versions would sound like. I just let go and trusted Murry completely.”
Miller will hit the road in support of Night with an extensive tour bringing him through his hometown on Nov. 9, with a stop at the Granada Theater, which will double as his annual benefit for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Preston Jones is a North Texas freelance writer and regular contributor to KXT. Email him at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky (@prestonjones.bsky.social).Our work is made possible by our generous, music-loving members. If you like how we lift up local music, consider becoming a KXT sustaining member right here.
