The last time Rhett Miller released a solo album produced by Murry Hammond (Mythologies), the year was 1989, the Old 97’s didn’t exist and Miller was an 18-year-old St. Mark’s student who sang with a faux British accent.
Fast forward 36 years to A Lifetime of Riding By Night, Miller’s just-announced 10th solo album, produced by Hammond and due out Oct. 10. These days, the two are alt-country royalty in the Old 97’s who moonlight as solo acts. In July, Hammond released his own album, Trail Songs of the Deep, with help from keyboardist Annie Crawford, cellist/bassist Faith Shippey and drummer Richard Hewett — three musicians Hammond recruited to play on some of Miller’s new songs.
Also helping out on A Lifetime is Turnpike Troubadours frontman Evan Felker, who co-wrote four tracks with Miller, including the newly released single “Come As You Are,” a wistful ballad the Troubadours recorded in 2016.
Miller cut the album days before undergoing risky vocal cord surgery to remove a cyst in December. “All those years I spent laughing in the face of proper singing technique have come back to bite me … right in the throat,” he wrote on Substack. Later, he wrote the surgery was a success and he’s regained parts of his vocal range that had been hampered by the cyst. Judge for yourself when he plays solo Sept. 12 at Texas Live! and Nov. 9 at the Granada Theater. You can also see Miller, Hammond and the rest of the Old 97’s on Sept. 19 at Billy Bob’s.
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