Alt-country icons Old 97s happy they never got 'time-stamped'

Rhett Miller always figured bands had "an expiration date."

Thankfully, he was wrong.

"The narrative that was sold to us when I was coming up by the bands from the 1960s was that you can't rock after you're 30 years old," said Miller, 45. "You have to retire or become an embarrassment.

"I'm glad that was proven false."

Instead, Miller and his band, Old 97s, became what he called "a career band."

"I really feel a great deal of pride for what the band has done. We've done what we set out to do ... to have a catalog we could be proud of not having to apologize for any of the phases of our career," Miller said.

"We're continuing to put out music that's relevant, so we can continue to tour and have not ever been seen as a nostalgia act," he said. "Thank God it worked out. I've got friends in those bands who have to go out on package tours (with other bands) and play their hits from the '90s."

Miller and the band, more than 20 years into their careers as alt-country pioneers, continue to put out relevant music, most recently the band's 2014 album "Most Messed Up" and his May release, "The Traveler."

The band's most recent tour will bring them to Amarillo for the first time together for a 10 p.m. Wednesday show at Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave.

It helps, Miller said, that the band never really had a breakout success, despite being one of the most critically acclaimed bands in a genre they helped invent.

"In a way, I'm glad we never had that hit, that we never got time-stamped," Miller said. "We get to stay relevant - or as relevant as we ever were."

Miller first entered the music biz as a Dallas high schooler, when he released the 1989 album "Mythologies," which got rave reviews and raised expectations that he would soon break out.

He and bassist Murry Hammond formed The Sleepy Heroes in 1990, but success didn't come: "We were calculating when we should have been just creating," Miller said.

"When we finally gave up on that or figured out how flawed that approach was and decided to strip it back and do the music we really, really liked," he said. "We formed a band that would only play in coffee houses and had no chance of signing a record deal ... and ironically, that's the thing that really worked for us."

Alt-country's mid-'90s heyday found Old 97s signed to Elektra Records with a near-hit single, "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)," but mostly, the band has found critical success and a moderate but fervent fan base.

Miller has continued to issue regular solo albums, alternating writing strictly for himself and writing for the band.

"I have so many songs, and so many of them don't fit into the Old 97s machine," he said.

His current output does, though: "I'm writing like crazy for the band right now," he said. "I've got a bunch of songs that I think are going to be great. ... My gut instinct right now is it's going to be a really good record."

how to go

o What: Old 97s

o When: 10 p.m. Wednesday

o Where: Golden Light Cantina, 2906 S.W. Sixth Ave.

o How much: $25

o Information: 806-374-9237 or www.old97s.com