Thursday, November 04, 2004

Two Reasons to Forgive Texas

Sorry for the delay, folks. I'm sure the reasons are obvious enough, and the need for pop even more obvious. Hell, we have to manage the dopamine levels in our brains somehow. (True: an MSW friend of mine tells me that thinking happy thoughts, reading or watching or listening to things that make you happy, can actually change your brain chemistry and help conquer the blues. Looks like we'll need that advice for a while.)

Meanwhile, lest we blame Texas too much for the dismaying state of the nation, it's worth remembering that there's a lot of good music coming out of the Lonestar State Last week, Rhett Miller sat down with The Dallas Observer and talked about past, current, and future plans.
What's on the cover of the album [1994's Hitchhike to Rhome]?

It's an 8-by-10 black-and-white that I found in an antique store. At the time, the kid kind of looked like me, and the girl was beautiful. I still believe the great album covers have women on them--like the Pixies' Surfer Rosa.

The back cover of the album is a distant photo of the band, and I remember that I was so hellbent on escaping the tag of "pretty-boy teen folkie" that I demanded they use a photo where you couldn't see my face. Now it makes me laugh. I'm like, "Oh, I'm so good-looking I have to hide."


According to their website, the Old 97's have just finished a stint on the road where they were joined by several dates by another Texas band, The Deathray Davies. The latter band has been on the road for a few months, and has a bunch of dates through November, mostly in the west and southwest.

(Thanks, Mike!)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Mike just turned me on to this website.

If you like The Old 97's and The Deathray Davies, you should check out I Love Math, which features members of both bands. Their eponymous album is available on the Summer Break label and comes HIGHLY recommended. I especially like "$100" and "The Radio's a Drag".