Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller atBell House
Background information
Birth name	Stewart Ransom Miller II
Born	September 6, 1970 Austin, TexasU.S.
Origin	Dallas,TexasU.S.
Genres	Country rock alternative country power pop alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician Singer-songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals Rhythm guitar
Years active	1986–present
Labels	Carpe Diem Elektra Verve Forecast Shout! Factory Maximum Sunshine ATO Records
Website	www.rhettmiller.com

Stewart Ransom "Rhett"Miller II (born September 6, 1970)^[1][2] is the lead singer of thealternative country rock bandOld 97's. He also records and performs as a solo musician, and has been published as a writer of both fiction and non-fiction.^[3][4]

Miller, a seventh-generation Texan, was born inAustin, Texas.^[1] Miller's parents divorced when he was 17 years old. Miller, the oldest of three children, has a younger brother and sister.^[5][6] Rhett's paternal grandfather, Giles E. Miller, was a young millionaire scion of a successful textile family who, in 1952 owned the first NFL football team in the south, theDallas Texans. The Texans folded after seven games, marking the last time an NFL franchise would go bankrupt.^[7][8]

Miller's family lived inHighland Park, Texas, where he went toArmstrong Elementary School. In 4th grade, Miller was hospitalized for several months due to a severe inner-ear problem. In 6th grade, he began attendingSt. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school inNorth Dallas. He started taking guitar lessons when he was 12 years old and writing songs when he was 13. Miller has said that his time at St. Mark's was very difficult, and that he was ostracized and bullied, leading to depression which culminated in a suicide attempt at the age of 14.^[1] The following year in April 1985 Miller played his first gig at 500 Cafe in downtown Dallas.^[6] Through high school Miller played in bands, becoming a local folk performer and headlining small venues and opening for such nationally touring artists asRosanne Cash,Chris Isaak, andThe Lords of the New Church. Also in high school, Miller edited St. Mark's literary magazine and helped start an alternative literary magazine calledThe Rag, for which he wrote poetry.

In 1989, Miller graduated fromSt. Mark's School of Texas.^[1] He briefly attendedSarah Lawrence College on a creative writing scholarship before deciding to move back to Texas to pursue a music career.^[9]

In 1989, while still in high school, Miller released an album calledMythologies. The album title was taken from a book of essays by the French media philosopherRoland Barthes. Only 1,000 copies of the CD exist. Miller signed and numbered each one.^[1]

In 1990, when Miller returned to Dallas after his semester at college, Miller formed a band called Sleepy Heroes with childhood friend and future Old 97’s bassist Murry Hammond. Sleepy Heroes was a power-pop three piece. They released one album,Under a Radio Sun, before they broke up. The Old 97's song, "Victoria", was written during the last few months of Sleepy Heroes.^[1]

Miller was the lead singer of various bands in Dallas between 1990 and 1993: Rhett Miller's Third Eye, Buzz, Rhett's Exploding, and Retablo, for which Miller self-recorded an unreleased record on cassette which included some early Old 97's songs.^[1]

In 1993, Miller and Hammond formedOld 97's as a three piece acoustic act along with their neighbor at Dallas' Marquita Court Apartments, guitarist Ken Bethea. They played as a three piece for six months before adding Darin Lin Wood on drums. He played with the band for a few weeks in the summer of 1993 before being replaced by Philip Peeples who has remained the band's drummer ever since.

Old 97’s first album,Hitchhike To Rhome, came out on local Dallas label Big Iron Records in 1993. During the first year of Old 97’s, Miller also performed as a touring member of the bandKillbilly. It was during a Killbilly tour that Miller metNan Warshaw, owner of Chicago'sBloodshot Records, the label which released Old 97’s second album,Wreck Your Life.

After a sold-out SXSW showcase in 1995, Old 97’s found themselves the subject of a major label bidding war. 15 record labels fought to sign the band, withElektra Records A&R rep Tom Desavia finally inking the band to a multi-album deal. Their first Elektra release,Too Far To Care, came out in 1997, followed byFight Songs andSatellite Rides.^[10]

In 2002, Miller releasedThe Instigator onElektra Records. The record was produced and recorded withJon Brion, received critical acclaim and substantial airplay on alternative-oriented radio stations.^[3]

In 2006, Miller releasedThe Believer on theVerve Forecast label.^[11] It includes a cover of Brion's "I Believe She's Lying" and "Fireflies", a duet withRachael Yamagata.

In 2009, Miller released his fourth record, the self-titledRhett Miller, onShout! Factory. The record includes Jon Brion on guitar and bass,The Apples in Stereo'sJohn Dufilho on drums and Billy Harvey on guitar.^[12] In 2011, Miller self-released a live recording ofThe Interpreter: Live at Largo.

In 2012, Miller releasedThe Dreamer.^[13] The record, a Maximum Sunshine release which Miller self-produced,^[14] included collaborations withRosanne Cash andBen Kweller.^[15]

In 2015, Miller released his sixth solo record, calledThe Traveler, onATO Records.^[16] The album was a notable shift for Miller, as he recorded it with aPortland, Oregon-based bluegrass band calledBlack Prairie, which includes members ofThe Decemberists. The album also features contributions fromPeter Buck andScott McCaughey ofR.E.M.^[17]

In 2018, Miller releasedThe Messenger onATO Records.^[18]

Miller has written short stories, essays and articles that have appeared inRolling Stone,The Baffler,Bookforum,Sports Illustrated,McSweeney's,^[19]The Atlantic, andSalon.^[4]

In addition to his solo work, Miller has worked on various collaborations, including co-writing with other musicians.^[20]

• 2004: Recorded a version ofSimon and Garfunkel's "Homeward Bound" for one ofMasterCard's "Priceless" advertisements^[21]
• 2008: Co-produced the first EP,No One Will Know, of New York bandThe Spring Standards
• 2009: Appeared as a member of the musical ensemble in the30 Rock episodeKidney Now!^[22]
• 2019: On 1/23/19 Miller announced the 1/24 start of his podcast,Wheels Off, subtitled A Show About the Messy Reality Behind the Creative Life. In partnership with Revoice Media, it's an 11-episode series; each segment features host Miller conversing with musicians, writers, artists, actors, comedians and other creative people about the pivotal moments that shaped their work, what it means to create in a digital age and grappling with the challenges and joys of living a creative life.^[23]

In 2006, Miller and his brother Ross Miller launched the Breathe Easy Concert Series, an annual event in Dallas that raises money for theCystic Fibrosis Foundation and awareness aboutcystic fibrosis.^[24]

In 2016, Miller appeared as part of the Okay to Say initiative sponsored by the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute in Dallas, which encourages the use of therapy to prevent suicide and address mental health issues.^[25] In the campaign, Miller discusses his own suicide attempt when he was 14 years old,^[6] and how therapy has helped him over the years.^[26] Miller said thatJason Isbell encouraged him to talk publicly about his sobriety.^[18]

In 1997, Miller moved from Dallas to Los Angeles. In 2000, he moved to New York City. Miller and his then-fiancée, Erica Iahn, lived three blocks south of theWorld Trade Center and were at home on9/11. He shared journal writing about their experience, which was published inThe Atlantic in September 2011.^[27] Miller now lives in New York'sHudson Valley.^[6]

In 2002, Miller married former model Erica Iahn a week after he completed production ofThe Instigator. Iahn found out she was pregnant with their first child, Max, while Miller was on tour withTori Amos to promote the album. Their daughter, Soleil, was born in the spring of 2006.^[28][29]

Miller said he got the nickname "Rhett" because his mother likedRhett Butler from the movieGone with the Wind.^[8]

• 2011:The Interpreter: Live at Largo (Maximum Sunshine Records)

• 2003:The Executioner's Last Songs: Volumes 2 & 3 (Bloodshot Records) – "Dang Me"
• 2005:This Bird Has Flown - A 40th Anniversary Tribute to the Beatles' Rubber Soul (Razor & Tie) – "Girl"

Chronological order

• McSweeney's 12: Twelve New Stories from Twelve New Writers.Unpublished, Unknown, or, Unbelievable Plus Twenty-Nine Stories Written in Twenty Minutes Each. and a Story from Roddy Doyle. in Over Two Dimensions. Almost Three. San Francisco, CA: McSweeney's Quarterly. 2003.ISBN 978-1-93-241606-0.OCLC 54697932.
• Miller, Rhett (2009). "Tender 'Til The Day I Die". In Schaper, Julie; Horwitz, Steven (eds.).Amplified: Fiction from Leading Alt-Country, Indie Rock, Blues and Folk Musicians. Brooklyn, N.Y.: Melville House. pp. 171–182.ISBN 978-1-93-363371-8.OCLC 297148858. – short story
• Miller, Rhett (September 2011)."About That Day: A diary of 9/11".The Atlantic.
• Miller, Rhett (24 May 2012)."Trust me on this: David Bowie's "Hunky Dory"".Salon.
• Miller, Rhett (12 January 2015)."We Could Have Been Cowboys".Sports Illustrated.
• Miller, Rhett (15 January 2016)."David Bowie was my North Star: My peace and escape was in his music, especially side two of "Hunky Dory"".Salon.
• Miller, Rhett (4 December 2017)."The Loneliness of the Long Distance Rocker".The Baffler.
• Miller, Rhett; Santat (art by), Dan (2019).No More Poems! A Book in Verse That Just Gets Worse. New York: Little, Brown and Company.ISBN 978-0-316-41652-8.OCLC 1089741084. - poetry

Wikimedia Commons has media related toRhett Miller.

• Rhett Miller
• Old 97's
• Rhett Miller discography atDiscogs
• Rhett Miller atIMDb

• 1970 births
• American alternative country singers
• American country singer-songwriters
• American male singer-songwriters
• Elektra Records artists
• Living people
• Singers from Dallas
• Singers from Austin, Texas
• St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni
• Verve Records artists
• Wrasse Records artists
• American country rock singers
• Singer-songwriters from Texas
• People from Highland Park, Texas
• 21st-century American singer-songwriters
• Country musicians from Texas
• 21st-century American male singers

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts
• Commons category link is on Wikidata