Saturday, April 08, 2006  

Rhett Miller at Black Cat: Old 97's and Some Newer Ones
Washington Post, Saturday, April 8, 2006; Page C07

It's hard to take your eyes off of Rhett Miller. The singer-songwriter plays with unabashed enthusiasm, thrusting his guitar as if he's in a rock-and-roll joust and shaking his shag-cut hair like a caffeinated Beatle. It doesn't hurt that he's model handsome, either. The crowd at the Black Cat on Thursday was certainly glued to Miller's every move and the 29 songs he raved through.

Miller heads the alt-country band Old 97's, and a large number of people did fervent singalongs when he dipped into that group's catalogue. But Miller's also come into own as a solo artist. The two albums he did apart from the Old 97's -- 2002's "The Instigator" and this year's "The Believer" -- feature numerous great tunes that are unabashedly power pop, such as "This Is What I Do" and "My Valentine."

It's a style that suits his strong voice (complete with on-key falsettos) and joie de vivre even more so than the rootsy ramble of the Old 97's. But in concert his solo songs and those of his other band blended together easily. The songs from "The Believer" and "The Instigator" were less glammy and more rustic live, while the Old 97's tunes were more direct and punchy as played by Miller's new backing band.

Texas native who now spends much of his time living in New York, Miller still has the manners of a Southern gent, saying, "Thanks, y'all," after several tunes and because the crowd brought him back for two encores. Two hours after they began, Miller and Co. closed with the Old 97's song "Four Leaf Clover," which features the lyrics "I ain't got no hope of getting you." Actually, Miller owned the Black Cat. --Christopher Porter

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