Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller's latest self-titled album is another shiny entry into his solo catalog of well-tailored guitar-pop that's like a martini to the whiskey-and-Bud of his day job in the Old 97's. But come early for the rising folk-pop band Leslie and the Badgers, who play a swell take on L.A. canyon country with huge harmonies and effortless writing. Fri. 10 p.m. Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. $20. www.troubadour.com.

POP MUSIC Rhett Miller Miller's latest self-titled album is another shiny entry into his solo catalog of well-tailored guitar-pop that's like a martini to the whiskey-and-Bud of his day job in the Old 97's. But come early for the rising folk-pop band Leslie and the Badgers, who play a swell take on L.A. canyon country with huge harmonies and effortless writing. 10 p.m. Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. $20. www.troubadour.com. ART Jonas Wood The Los Angeles-based artist will unveil a new series of still-life paintings in his first one-person museum exhibition.

Rhett Miller is no quitter, not yet anyway. Which makes his new solo career less about discarding his band, Old 97's, than about making a calculated move to finally get his fine, nervous, romantic songs to a wider pop audience. "I'm in a band called Old 97's," he declared Tuesday during his show at the Troubadour, pointedly using the present tense. He knows the band is far from a spent force, with its last album, "Satellite Rides," possibly its best.

Rhett Miller's latest self-titled album is another shiny entry into his solo catalog of well-tailored guitar-pop that's like a martini to the whiskey-and-Bud of his day job in the Old 97's. But come early for the rising folk-pop band Leslie and the Badgers, who play a swell take on L.A. canyon country with huge harmonies and effortless writing. Fri. 10 p.m. Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. $20. www.troubadour.com.

Rhett Miller doesn't look like a guy you'd go to for relationship advice. His lanky, gee-whiz aura exudes innocence of those matters. But when he started singing and talking at Largo on Saturday, it was clear he has a good deal of experience. Still, Miller--taking a break from fronting alt-country band Old 97s for a solo acoustic gig--didn't seem like a great candidate to provide counsel and comfort. Love, to him, is something fated to turn sour, if it even gets started in the first place.

Local songster Rhett Miller heads to the Troubadour on Sept. 24. Tickets on sale now....Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch will make a stop at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sept. 26. Tickets on sale Saturday.... Bonnie Raitt and Lyle Lovett have added another show at the Greek on Sept. 23. Tickets on sale Sunday.... Luis Miguel has added another show at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sept. 15 . Tickets on sale Friday.... At the Glass House: Onesidezero on Sept. 19; tickets on sale Saturday.

POP MUSIC Rhett Miller Miller's latest self-titled album is another shiny entry into his solo catalog of well-tailored guitar-pop that's like a martini to the whiskey-and-Bud of his day job in the Old 97's. But come early for the rising folk-pop band Leslie and the Badgers, who play a swell take on L.A. canyon country with huge harmonies and effortless writing. 10 p.m. Troubadour, 9081 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood. $20. www.troubadour.com. ART Jonas Wood The Los Angeles-based artist will unveil a new series of still-life paintings in his first one-person museum exhibition.

When Rhett Miller and his band, the Old 97's, went into the studio last year to record their fifth album, "Satellite Rides," the objective was clear: "We wanted to be the saviors of rock 'n' roll," says Miller, with no discernible trace of irony. "But it just seems like a moot point to try and do something like that these days." Miller may be onto something. At a time when rock seems stuck in a perpetually callow adolescence, can a great record make a big enough noise in the culture?

You can't find a more fruitful topic than love if you're a songwriter, but you'd better be awfully talented if you're going to devote almost all of your songs to the subject. We've seen love examined from every angle and then some in pop, from the unyielding optimism of "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" to the heartache and desperation of "Love Has No Pride." Love hurts. Love is blue. Love is a battlefield. Love even grows where my Rosemary goes--whatever that means.

*** Old 97's, "20 Fight Songs," Elektra. Despite the Americana tinge of its name, Old 97's are not your standard-issue neo-traditional revivalists. Instead of conjuring evocations of hard-working plain folk and corn-pone heartache, this quartet doesn't flinch from real-life concerns. It also has a stronger taste for hard-driving pop melodies than its roots-rock brethren.

Rhett Miller is no quitter, not yet anyway. Which makes his new solo career less about discarding his band, Old 97's, than about making a calculated move to finally get his fine, nervous, romantic songs to a wider pop audience. "I'm in a band called Old 97's," he declared Tuesday during his show at the Troubadour, pointedly using the present tense. He knows the band is far from a spent force, with its last album, "Satellite Rides," possibly its best.

Local songster Rhett Miller heads to the Troubadour on Sept. 24. Tickets on sale now....Sheryl Crow and Michelle Branch will make a stop at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sept. 26. Tickets on sale Saturday.... Bonnie Raitt and Lyle Lovett have added another show at the Greek on Sept. 23. Tickets on sale Sunday.... Luis Miguel has added another show at the Universal Amphitheatre on Sept. 15 . Tickets on sale Friday.... At the Glass House: Onesidezero on Sept. 19; tickets on sale Saturday.

You can't find a more fruitful topic than love if you're a songwriter, but you'd better be awfully talented if you're going to devote almost all of your songs to the subject. We've seen love examined from every angle and then some in pop, from the unyielding optimism of "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" to the heartache and desperation of "Love Has No Pride." Love hurts. Love is blue. Love is a battlefield. Love even grows where my Rosemary goes--whatever that means.

When Rhett Miller and his band, the Old 97's, went into the studio last year to record their fifth album, "Satellite Rides," the objective was clear: "We wanted to be the saviors of rock 'n' roll," says Miller, with no discernible trace of irony. "But it just seems like a moot point to try and do something like that these days." Miller may be onto something. At a time when rock seems stuck in a perpetually callow adolescence, can a great record make a big enough noise in the culture?

Rhett Miller doesn't look like a guy you'd go to for relationship advice. His lanky, gee-whiz aura exudes innocence of those matters. But when he started singing and talking at Largo on Saturday, it was clear he has a good deal of experience. Still, Miller--taking a break from fronting alt-country band Old 97s for a solo acoustic gig--didn't seem like a great candidate to provide counsel and comfort. Love, to him, is something fated to turn sour, if it even gets started in the first place.

* Ryan Adams, "Demolition," Lost Highway. For this album, Adams took the best 13 songs from the four albums he had on the shelf and has made his most immediately appealing and consistent album so far. Where his two earlier solo albums tended to focus on specific sides of his music, this celebrates all of them, and makes him seem more interesting and human in the process.

"This is really going to annoy the purists," Old 97's singer Rhett Miller declared Thursday at the House of Blues. He was talking about the wounded pop of "Nineteen," a burst of melodic energy that moved the band a step further from its roots in straight alternative country. The purists might have been alarmed, but the song (from the new "Fight Songs" album) represents a wise move for the Texans.