In The Know

Wednesday, February 08, 2006

Rhett Miller - The Believer

RHETT MILLER MAKES VERVE FORECAST DEBUT WITH THE BELIEVER OLD 97'S FRONTMAN DELIVERS SECOND SOLO SET ON FEBRUARY 28, 2006

Verve Forecast is proud to announce the release of Rhett Miller's second solo album, The Believer, due in stores on February 28th 2006. A follow-up to the highly acclaimed The Instigator, the new record is brimming with, as Blender said, "knock 'em dead songs." Already widely-loved for his work as frontman and main songwriter of the hard-charging rock 'n' roll quartet the Old 97's (of which he is still a member), The Believer takes its predecessor's achievements several steps further, with a dozen deeply felt, craftily melodic tunes that demonstrate the Texas-bred artist's knack for using accessible songcraft to address complex emotional issues.

"The songs on The Believer are about sex, war, love and death...but mostly sex." Miller says. "Before going into the studio, I thought I'd be making a punk rock Ziggy Stardust, but I wound up with George Gershwin does T. Rex's The Slider."

The Believer was produced by George Drakoulias (Black Crowes, The Jayhawks, Tom Petty), and features an all-star cast of musicians including guitarist Lyle Workman (Sheryl Crow, Beck), drummer Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Tori Amos, David Bowie), multi-intsrumentalist Jon Brion (Kanye West, Fiona Apple), keyboardist Patrick Warren (Aimee Mann) and Gary Louris of The Jayhawks on background vocals. Rachel Yamagata lends a hand as well.

Miller continues to balance his solo endeavors with his membership in the Old 97's. The still-active quartet has released seven albums since 1994, and is prominently featured in the soon-to-be-released Jennifer Aniston/Vince Vaughn romantic comedy The Breakup.

Along with labelmates on the re-launched Verve Forecast label Brazilian Girls, Lizz Wright, Jamie Cullum, Susan Tedeschi, Teddy Thompson and others, Rhett Miller joins a fine tradition of legendary artists emanating from Verve including Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, The Velvet Underground, and the Righteous Brothers just to name a few.

Miller and his new band will be on tour for most of 2006 -- more details to come soon.

Critical acclaim for Rhett Miller:

“(Rhett Miller is) his generation’s answer to Nick Lowe or Marshall Crenshaw…knock ‘em dead songs, some happy, some exuberant and a few wistful” – Blender

“(Miller’s live show) recall(s) the urgent, bouncy jangle of vintage Elvis Costello, the Smithereens and the Del-Lords.” – Daily Variety

“…His clever, poignant love songs balance the sad-sack heartache of an Elliott Smith with the trenchant observations of a Randy Newman, and his detailed folk pop never wants for the occasional blast of power-pop pep. In other words, he’s the kind of guy you’d dump just to let him persuade you to take him back. – Boston Phoenix

The Believer available on CD February 28, 2006.
Label: Verve Forecast http://www.verveforecast.com/
Artist site: http://www.rhettmiller.com/

AUDIO – Help Me, Suzanne
WMA:
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/verve/rhett_miller/help_me_suzanne.wax?ie
Real:
http://boss.streamos.com/real/verve/rhett_miller/help_me_suzanne.smi?ie
QuickTime:
http://boss.streamos.com/qtime/verve/rhett_miller/help_me_suzanne.mov?ie


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