Editing Old 97's (section)

==Career==
Initially a popular Dallas bar band, Old 97's toured the country after releasing their first album, 1994's ''[[Hitchhike to Rhome]]'' and 1995's split EP release ''Stoned / Garage Sale'' with fellow Dallas band Funland on [[Idol Records]]. In Chicago, they caught the attention of [[Bloodshot Records]] and were signed to record their next album. 1995's ''[[Wreck Your Life]]'' brought them to the attention of [[Elektra Records]],<ref name= bio/> who hoped that alt-country could be a new post-[[grunge]] trend. Lead singer [[Rhett Miller]], born in Austin, later lived in New York City and Los Angeles. Many of the band's songs include local [[Texas]] references, with references to New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago appearing as well.

Most songs are written and sung by Miller, with bassist Murry Hammond picking up the vocals on one or two tracks per album. Hammond also handled a number of country covers, especially in the band's earlier years. Hammond also performs gospel at his local church. The band's 2004 album ''[[Drag It Up]]'' also includes a song written and sung by guitarist Ken Bethea, "Coahuila."

In 2005, ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'' magazine ranked the band's then most successful single, 1999's "Murder (Or a Heart Attack)", as the 176th greatest song "since you were born."<ref>{{cite news|title=The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born: 151-200 |work=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |date=October 2005 |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1764 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113151850/http://www.blender.com/guide/articles.aspx?ID=1764 |archive-date=January 13, 2009 }}</ref>

Their music has been featured in a number of films and TV series, including ''[[The Break-Up]]'' ("Salome", "Melt Show", "Timebomb"), ''[[Clay Pigeons]]'' ("Timebomb"), ''[[Slither (2006 film)|Slither]]'' ("The New Kid"), ''[[Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide]]'' ("Big Brown Eyes"), ''[[Ed (TV series)|Ed]]'' ("Question", "King of All the World"), ''[[Scrubs (TV series)|Scrubs]]'' ("Question"), ''[[Veronica Mars]]'' ("Adelaide", "Four-Leaf Clover", "The New Kid") and ''[[Scorpion (TV series)|Scorpion]]'' ("Question").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1851153/|title=Old 97's|website=IMDb.com|access-date=2009-02-16}}</ref> With respect to ''The Break-Up'', a key scene toward the end of the film takes place at an Old 97's concert.

Rhett Miller has recorded seven solo studio albums and one live album, with 2002's ''[[The Instigator]]'' receiving substantial airplay on [[alternative rock|alternative]]-oriented radio stations. He toured with [[Neil Finn]] in 2004. Miller's second major commercial album, ''[[The Believer (Rhett Miller album)|The Believer]]'', was released in February 2006.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rhettmiller.com/music/discography/| title=Music| work=Official Community of Rhett Miller| access-date=2008-05-21 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080416055314/http://www.rhettmiller.com/music/discography/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archive-date = 2008-04-16}}</ref> Murry Hammond's solo album, ''I Don't Know Where I'm Going But I'm on My Way'', was released April 21, 2008.

Old 97's have been heralded as a great live band, although they claim never to rehearse their act.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/dc9/2008/02/qa_murry_hammond_of_old_97s.php| title=Q&A: Murry Hammond of Old 97's|website=Blogs.dallasobserver.com|access-date=2008-02-16}}</ref> They included five live songs as a bonus disc on ''Satellite Rides'', and released a live double CD set recorded at historic [[Gruene Hall]] in 2005, ''[[Alive & Wired]]''.

[[Rhino Entertainment]] released ''[[Hit by a Train: The Best of Old 97's]]'', an eighteen-track compilation of songs from the band's beginnings through 2001, featuring liner notes and an essay by rock critic [[Robert Christgau]].

Satellite Riders is a faux "tribute band"—it is actually an alias the band performs under when contractual obligations prevent them from using the Old 97's name.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2008-08-27/calendar/satellite-riders/|title=Satellite Riders|last=LAVASSAR|first=MA'CHELL DUMA|date=2008-08-27|publisher=[[Seattle Weekly]]|access-date=2008-11-22}}</ref> The Ranchero Brothers is the name used when only Rhett and Murry Hammond perform. The recording of "Timebomb" from the live album ''[[Alive & Wired]]'' was made available for download along with other alt-country songs for the music video games ''[[Rock Band]]'' and ''[[Rock Band 2]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rockband.com/news/alt_country|title=Rock Band Gets a Second Dose of Country Plus a 3-Pack From Jimmy Eat World|date=2009-02-20|publisher=[[Harmonix]]|access-date=2009-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090227121417/http://www.rockband.com/news/alt_country|archive-date=2009-02-27|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Their next studio project, ''The Grand Theatre'', was released in two volumes. The first, ''[[The Grand Theatre, Volume One]]'', was released on October 12, 2010.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cindyroyal.blogspot.com/2010/07/round-up-of-old-97s-new-songs.html |title=on that note...: Round up of Old 97's New Songs |publisher=Cindyroyal.blogspot.com |date=2010-07-25 |access-date=2014-07-10}}</ref> The second, ''[[The Grand Theatre, Volume Two]]'', was released on July 5, 2011.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old97s.com/2011/05/27/tgtv2-cover-revealed/ |title=Old97's » TGTV2 Cover Revealed |publisher=Old97s.com |date=2011-05-31 |access-date=2014-07-10}}</ref>

In 2013, the band released an EP containing two tracks with vocals by country music legend [[Waylon Jennings]] entitled ''[[Old 97's & Waylon Jennings]]''. Rhett Miller called the previously unreleased tunes with Jennings "the band's 'holy grail.'"<ref>{{cite news | first = Andy | last = Langer | title = For Old 97's, a Collaboration That Never Ages | date = 2013-09-28 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/29/us/for-old-97s-a-collaboration-that-never-ages.html | work = The New York Times | access-date = 2013-10-29}}</ref>

The band's tenth studio album, ''[[Most Messed Up]]'', was released April 29, 2014, by [[ATO Records]] and was their best-selling album to date, reaching #30 on the Billboard 200.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/277106/old-97s/chart|title=Old 97's - Chart history {{!}} Billboard|website=www.billboard.com|language=en|access-date=2017-08-11}}</ref>

Their next two releases on ATO Records were ''Graveyard Whistling'', their 11th studio album, released February 24, 2017,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old97s.com/2017/02/24/new-album-graveyard-whistling-out-today/ |title=Old97's » NEW ALBUM 'GRAVEYARD WHISTLING' OUT TODAY |website=Old97s.com |date=2017-02-24 |access-date=2017-03-24}}</ref> and ''Love the Holidays'', an album of mostly original Christmas songs, released November 16, 2018.

ATO Records released the band's next studio album, aptly named ''Twelfth'', on August 21, 2020. The twelve tracks were produced by Vance Powell, who produced ''Graveyard Whistling''. Old 97's noted that the recording sessions in [[Nashville]] started on the night of a deadly [[Tornado outbreak of March 2–3, 2020|tornado outbreak]] and right before the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] hit.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://old97s.com/2020/06/23/twelfth-studio-album-announced/ |title= Old97's » Twelfth Studio Album Announced |website=Old97s.com |date=2020-06-23 |access-date=2020-06-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | first = Joseph | last = Hudak| title = Old 97's' Rhett Miller Wrote Killer Drinking Songs. Now He's Sober and Still at the Top of His Game | date = 2020-06-23 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/old-97s-rhett-miller-getting-sober-new-album-1019075/ | magazine = Rolling Stone | access-date = 2020-06-27}}</ref>

The band members portrayed the alien rock band Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen in ''[[The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special]]'', singing the original song "I Don't Know What Christmas Is (But Christmastime Is Here)" and their 2018 song "Here It Is Christmastime," the latter with [[Kevin Bacon]] singing lead.<ref name="Guardians">{{Cite web |last=Seibold |first=Witney |date=2022-11-25 |title=Who Is The Alien Band In The Guardians Of The Galaxy Holiday Special? |url=https://www.slashfilm.com/1114063/who-is-the-alien-band-in-the-guardians-of-the-galaxy-holiday-special/ |access-date=2022-11-26 |website=Slashfilm}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davids |first=Brian |date=November 18, 2022 |title=James Gunn Talks Writing 'The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special' in Just a Few Hours and the Latest on His Final 'Guardians' Film |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/james-gunn-guardians-of-the-galaxy-holiday-special-1235265608/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221119071331/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-features/james-gunn-guardians-of-the-galaxy-holiday-special-1235265608/ |archive-date=November 19, 2022 |access-date=November 19, 2022 |website=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]}}</ref>