Back in the second Clinton administration, when No Depression proudly billed itself as “The Alternative Country (whatever that is) bi-monthly magazine,” no band seemed to carry more potential to bring this music into the mainstream with its integrity intact than Old 97’s. Solidifying its four-man lineup in Dallas in 1993, the band — an amalgamation of the Meat Puppets, Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, The Replacements, Merle Haggard, and yeah, okay, The Beatles –…

The Old 97s made their triumphant return to the 9:30 Club last night. Photo by Lisa Johnson. Our Nation’s Capitol has seen a lot more of the emancipated Rhett Miller in recent years than it has of his band, Old 97s. Miller may write most of the songs for the hard-charging country-pop-punkabilly quartet, but somehow he’s only about one–eleventh as interesting when he doesn’t have Murry Hammond singing harmony and Ken Bethea blasting out those…

Spring is when we get busy here in the Ist-A-Verse. Very busy. But, after staying bundled-up indoors all winter, it’s nice for us to be out, about, and collecting things to write about for you. Here’s a glimpse at what’s been keeping your favorite citybloggers busily away from home and out of bed. For LAist, strong winds attacked LA on the same day the Feds raided the Crips. Not to fear, though: the Japanese version…

The Old 97s, the long-touring alt-country band, arrived at the 9:30 Club on Saturday night with a trail of questions in tow – What happened with Rhett Miller’s solo album? What keeps this band going 11 years later, if they’ll never break the charts, fill arenas, or anchor festivals? How can so many variations on the same song formula still be so damn catchy? And yet, the most important question of the night is one…