Old 97s Hitchhike to Rhome

Old 97s Hitchhike to Rhome

By Brian Rock

The year was 1994. Mariah Carey was the queen of pop radio. The Seattle grunge scene dominated rock stations. And Tim McGraw was the Nashville approved face and voice of Country music. Even though all those acts sold millions of records, some people were hungry for a change.

Enter Old 97s.

Sounding like nothing that had come before them. They had a lo-fi, unpolished sound like Folk. They sang songs about drinking and broken hearts like Country. But they sang those songs with attitude (and the occasional F-bomb) like Punk. And they played it all fast and loose like Rockabilly. They could have called their style of music Folk-Co-Punk-Abilly, because at the time there was no other name for it. Luckily, the very next year, music editor Rob Bleetstein and radio promoter Jon Grimson coined the term that fit them perfectly – Americana. And although there have been many Americana acts since, Old 97s remain one of the true originals. To celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first landmark album, Omnivore records is re-releasing Hitchhike to Rhome as a deluxe, remastered, two CD set. (The additional disc features six songs not included on the original album and six alternate versions of album tracks).

The first notes of the leadoff track, “St. Ignatious,” virtually define the genre of Americana. A simple, mid tempo, four note progression played on a hollow body electric guitar. Then played again with an added flourish on the end. The drum beat is steady, but sparse. Then lead singer, Rhett Miller, adds his signature, desperate-but-disinterested vocal style. Sounding like a cross between Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes and fellow Texan Robert Earl Keen, Rhett sings stories (or rather fragments of stories) as if trying to piece together the details of a drunken night before. Radically departing from the traditional “story in song” template of Country, Rhett admits in his own lyrics, “I could save this song if I’d just sing real loud tonight. But I can’t find the words to make it right.”

But of course, he and his bandmates do make it right. They gallop through raucous rockabilly numbers like “504,” the Bob Wills influenced “Miss Molly,” and “Doreen.” Singing about love gone wrong, they put the fun in dysfunctional with lyrics like, “The way she tossed ’em back, I would’ve had a heart attack, but as it is I let her drive my car. We galloped through the boroughs like a pair of horny thoroughbreds until I said, ‘Stop the car Doreen.’”

Even when they shift down a gear on tracks like “Drowning In The Days,” “Hands Off,” and the Spanish Harlem-flavored “Dancing With Tears,” they still play with irresistible rhythms and irreverent lyrics. Adding musical texture with the occasional mandolin, banjo, and even accordion, Old 97s sample from a broad palette of American musical traditions. One of the first bands to embrace the full range of America’s rich musical heritage, they remain one of the best. And this reissue of their first album is a great reminder of the early days of the genre that they helped launch and define.

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