WATCH: Rhett Miller Covers the Great American Songbook
This episode continues our video series to benefit the wonderful Mighty Writers, a Philadelphia-based non-profit that teaches reading and writing to thousands of low-income and marginalized students every year and is seeing more need than ever during the pandemic (head here to learn more). We’ve been asking singer-songwriters about their writing and reading lives—their influences, writing habits, favorite books—and while they’re at it, to play us a song or two. Check out earlier episodes with Amanda Shires with Jason Isbell, Marcus Roberts, Jewel, Phil Augusta Jackson, Devon Gilfillian, and Valerie June.
Today’s episode features Rhett Miller, frontman of Old 97s’, as he sings and discusses classic American songs, as well as the craft of songwriting. He also treats us to one of his own songs, in celebration of his recent critically-acclaimed album, Twelfth.
From the episode:
[after finishing playing Somewhere Over the Rainbow] I always thought that was a good question to ask ourselves. “Why can’t I? Why not me?” If you are interested in writing and creating, why does anyone else have a better chance of succeeding in creating than you? The truth is, they don’t. You just have to do it. Don’t let the internal voices stop you.
