Old 97's Rhett Miller Learns Life Lessons From Rosanne Cash

Old 97's singer and guitarist Rhett Miller hit a milestone this past September. Just before he and his longtime band released their latest album, 'The Grand Theatre, Volume One,' he turned 40.

"I did a gig in Brooklyn the other day. It was this club for kids during the day. It was really sweet," Miller explains to Spinner. "The band that opened for me was this band of 22-year-olds from Brooklyn, Spirit Family Reunion. There was a Q&A after and the little kids asked the band, 'How old are you'. They guys were like, 'Oh, we're 22'. Then they got to me and I answered."

The result was something like shocked silence from all in the room. "It seems that 40 is a number that is so astronomically high when you're under 10," Miller says, laughing. "I remember when I was 18, thinking that by the time I was 40 life was over. But it's not -- that's the good news."

In fact, Miller says he's happier now than ever.

"I spent so many of my younger years feeling like I didn't belong wherever I was, like I was a fraud or something," says the Texas native. "I think a lot of people do, especially when they're younger. I'm reading Rosanne Cash's memoirs right now. I love her. In the book she says she had the same feeling, like 'I'm a sham and people can see through me.' It's sort of sloughed off as I got older, when I realized everyone wrestles with that.

"I feel good about my career and my life," he adds. "I've been able to do the stuff that I wanted to do and I try to be a good person. I feel more like I belong in this moment I'm inhabiting. That's how I feel right now, but if my blood sugar is really low, well, that's another story."