“Isn’t that band you like in this new Marvel special?”
The text came in the day after Thanksgiving. Yes, I responded, that band I like is in that new Marvel special!
That band would be the Old 97’s – an alternative country group from Dallas, Texas. The foursome — lead singer Rhett Miller, lead guitarist Ken Bethea, bassist Murry Hammond and drummer Philip Peeples — is my parents’ favorite band. They actually met through an online fan group back in 2000.
Apparently, filmmaker and screenwriter James Gunn, best known for Guardians of the Galaxy, is also a big fan — which is why, in his The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, which released Friday, Nov. 25 on Disney+, these four guys play the alien band.
Guitarist Bethea wrote about his experience with the Marvel cinematic universe in Dallas’ D Magazine. Gunn, he wrote, had been a longtime fan of the band since the 1990s. The filmmaker had reached out when the Guardians movies blew up, saying he’d love to include them in a project, but using a song of theirs was unlikely because Guardians used songs from the ‘70s. But, you never know, as Bethea put it, “Strange things tend to happen in Guardians of the Galaxy.”
And what could be stranger than four Texans donning alien makeup and singing holiday tunes in Knowhere?
The Old 97’s star as alien band Bzermikitokolok and the Knowheremen. Miller’s character, Bzermikitokolok, actually has a speaking role opposite Chris Pratt, who plays Peter in the Guardians movies. Bethea wrote that Miller was “super nervous about this,” but he overheard Pratt tell him, “Don’t worry about screwing up. I do it all the time, and James makes me look like a genius.”
In the film, a hopeful Bzermikitokolok asks Peter for his opinion on the “little ditty” he and his bandmates are working on. With Miller strumming the opening chords, the song starts off like any other Christmas tune, mentioning “a holiday they call Christmas” and “ a jolly old fellow who brings toys to everyone.” However, the second Miller’s bandmates join in, it becomes an Old 97’s concert. Miller is front and center, demonstrating his trademark “windmill” arm move, with Hammond and Bethea to his left and right, respectively, and Peeples holding down the fort behind him. And the song! No wonder Gunn wanted his songwriting help. In classic Rhett Miller fashion, he rhymes “toes” with “flamethrower.” I felt like I was watching a 97’s show on another planet.
They play another song at the special’s conclusion, one from their 2018 Christmas album “Love the Holidays,” this time with Kevin Bacon, the real star of the special, sharing lead vocals.
I’ve been to at least a dozen Old 97’s shows in my lifetime. Miller has dedicated their 2014 song “Longer Than You’ve Been Alive” to my younger brother and me (we’re always in the first few rows) at multiple live performances — an upbeat love letter to being a band on the road, despite the difficulty they’ve endured along the way. Miller, who has also released several solo albums, is my favorite songwriter of all time.
In November 2021, I interviewed the 97’s bassist, Murry Hammond, for my music journalism podcast, Skylines, and we talked about the band’s unique story and how they’ve continued to build success for multiple decades now.
Never heard of the 97’s? James Gunn has your back: he’s put together a quintessential Old 97’s mix on Spotify!