[Ed Note - I originally did this interview in June of 2004 for another site. But, with the Old 97s prominent role in the new Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Anniston film The Breakup I thought it was worth reposting here.]

Big things come from Texas. The Old 97s continue that tradition and their combination of blending Texas twang, punk, folk, pop, and alt-rock is making a big splash well beyond the Lone Star State's borders.

The band was formed in 1993, and released their debut album, "Hitchhike to Rhome" on the indie label Big Iron, followed in 1995 by "Wreck Your Life," issued on Bloodshot Records. The success of these two indie projects earned them a major-label deal with Elektra Records. Each of their three Elektra albums, 1997's "Too Far To Care," 1999's "Fight Songs," and 2001's "Satellite Rides," were critically acclaimed and the band saw increased radio play and earned new fans around the world.

The band is about to take their killer live show on the road for a summer/fall tour in support of Drag It Up. I was lucky to catch up with guitarist Ken Bethea before the band hits the road:

JD: How did you guys meet to form The Old 97s?

KB: Rhett and Murry had met each other around '86 when Rhett opened for Murry's band the Peyote Cowboys. I met Philip in '89 when we were in a band together called the Smeg Wentfields. A few years later, I moved across the hall from Murry in some Dallas apartments. Rhett also lived in the same building and we started playing guitars together. We eventually started playing, just the three of us at little coffee shops and bars. We decided we wanted a drummer. We got this guy Darin Lin Wood to play drums for a bout 6 weeks or so but he was borrowing Phillip's kit. Darin was more a front man type than a drummer, so eventually he went on to start his own band called Fireworks and Philip joined us.

JD: Are you all from the Dallas area?

KB: Philip and Rhett grew up in Dallas. Murry grew up in a small town called Boyd. I grew up outside of Tyler on a dead end road. The sticks. The only store I ever got to go to growing up was a bait shop. They also sold balsa wood airplanes, fireworks and snow cones with pickle juice.

JD: Now that's Americana...speaking of which, my earliest childhood memory of a favorite song was Johnny Cash's "I walk the line" - obviously from the band's name you guys are fans too.

KB: I believe Murry grew up a huge Johnny Cash fan. His family listened to a lot of country. I really didn't know much about him until I bought a box set of his in the late 80's and really got in to him and playing guitar in that Luther Perkins style. Once Rhett, Murry and I were playing together we needed a band name and quick lest we be forever dubbed "Rhett Miller Band". After tossing around "Up The Junction" and a few more I can't remember, Murry sold us on Old 97's by saying "Numbers are cool. Joe Strummer's first band was called the 101ers." I wouldn't say Johnny Cash has inluenced the band overall though as much as the Beatles, Kinks, Bowie, X or the Clash. BTW, my family listened to Barbara Streisand so if I had been more assertive maybe we could have been called "The Corners of My Mind".

JD: Well we're glad you kept that to yourself my man...Any influences for you personally as a guitarist?

KB: My favorite guitar player of all time is Brian May of Queen. You can hear me steal from him directly in the middle break on "Streets of Where I'm From." I also grew up really liking Angus Young, Billy Zoom, Johnny Ramone and Keith Richards.

JD: You guys have been true road warriors, particularly early on in your career. What's your favorite part of being on the road?

KB: Breakfast with the guys, hang out with fans, reading and playing video games.

JD: least favorite?

KB: These days being away from my kids. In the early days I got tired of staying on people's floors.

JD: Any favorite cities to play in?

KB: Columbia, MO, Lawrence, KA and of course, NYC.

JD: Who are some of your favorite bands/artists that you've played with?

KB: John Fogerty, Slobberbone, The Gourds, the various members of X (though we've never directly played w/ the band), Joe Ely and the Deathray Davies

JD: Whose the best band/artist you've come across that hasn't gotten the recognition they deserve?

KB: I'm normally the type that thinks you get what you deserve more or less. I think alot of people would dig the Deathray Davies if they just checked them out. They are complicated, but very likeable.

JD: What's currently in your cd rotation?

KB: I just bought an mp3 player with a 30 gig hardrive. It's crazy. I've put about 60 cd's on it so far and that's taken up 4 gigs. I've been listening
to some Martin Denny, outtakes from Ziggy Stardust, Camper Van Beethoven and the Violent Femmes. I had forgotten how good, the Femmes, were.

JD: Alot of folks overlook the Femmes as a good band because of their party tunes, but they are solid band.

It can be a touchy subject, but what's your view on the downloading of songs from the net?

KB: Well, if you pay it's not touchy. If you don't, it's stealing. But so is copying and even in a weird way, buying used cd's. Well, that's not really stealing but the artist doesn't get paid. Bottom line is we make our money off of concert revenue not music sales.

JD: The new cd "Drag it Up" is due out in July. The band has had success in cultivating a recognizable sound, but also progessing musically with each
cd. How is the new cd similar and/or different from your earlier work?

KB: It's slower, and more thoughtful than normal. We had some deaths to deal with and also just getting back together after a 2 year break. We recorded
it to 8-track so it's rawer than any cd we've ever done. This will show up the most in the background vocals which are usually limited to just one track rather than a bunch of overdubs. The guitars are simpler too. For instance, on Too Far To Care I often had 6 or even 8 guitar tracks on a song. At most I have 2 on Drag It Up. It's cool. I'm very happy with it. I feel like we're getting to make music that we've always wanted to. Generally, we're pretty experimental types. I think we'll keep working in the future on how far we can push the envelope.

JD: Where did you do the recording?

KB: Half of it in Woodstock in a 100 year old church and half in Mark Neill's (producer) home studio in San Diego.

JD: You guys are known for putting on a great live show, has it gotten any easier to capture what you do on stage in the studio process?

KB: Hmmmm.... Kind of. We are much better musicians now than we were the first few years of the band. But the goal is not to put the live show on tape. It's to put good music on tape. Some times those two things intersect and sometimes they don't.

JD: Did you notice we've got this far into the interview and I haven't used the phrase "alt-country"?

KB: Haha.... good. I guess. It's a useful term at least. You say "alt-country" I know who you are talking about.

JD: I just consider you guys a rock band with some country influence. I know some of my musician friends hate it when people try to over categorize what
they're doing. How do you describe the band's sound?

KB: At this point, we sound like the Old 97's.

JD: Yes, you do have your own sound, no doubt about that. You guys did a small tour earlier this year, did you enjoy playing the new stuff live?

KB: Yeah by and large. It's always a bit sucky to play new stuff because 99% of the crowd doesnt' know except for the one person up front who has heard it at one of Rhett's show or whatever. THAT person then goes WAY out of their way to sing the words and over-dance just to show the others how hardcore he/she is. (laughing).

JD: Are you psyched to get back on the road this summer?

KB: I can't wait. I'm going to be sad leaving home but I'm really looking forward to touring this record.

JD: Obviously you'll be playing songs from the new record, but can we
expect to hear songs from all the cds to date?

KB: Yeah, we'll be going over all of that soon. The thing is, we now have 6 cd's. We play about 26-29 songs. So that's not even 5 per. More and more we
are having to be selective. I wish more people knew "Hitchhike to Rhome", our first cd. There are some good songs on it. Most people just know "Doreen" and "4-Leaf Clover" because they were released on later albums. It's on itunes.com now btw so you can get it there. We've always played stuff off of all our cd's which I think is one reason we draw so well. Fans can expect to hear all kinds of stuff, not just new stuff. People like what they are comfortable with. They like songs that remind them of another time
or place or whatever. Musicians need to remember that. Sometimes we feel like we're just, as Rhett once put it, a "traveling museum of our early years" but that's what it means to be in a band. What if you went to see Chuck Berry and all he played was new songs? Yuck. The funny thing is, before you know it, the new music is no longer new. It mellows and matures with age and the next thing you know, IT becomes part of the classic material.