Rob Miller, Rhett Miller Talk Country, Punk, and Bloodshot Records

This is a FREE ticketed event with limited seating: first come, first served.

Bookends & Beginnings is delighted to partner with Evanston's live music hall, SPACE, to present an afternoon with Rob Miller in conversation with Rhett Miller about Rob's new book, The Hours Are Long but the Pay is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music. The event will take place at SPACE, 1243 Chicago Avenue in Evanston, at 3PM.

In 1993, while working as a house painter in Chicago, Rob Miller co-founded the Bloodshot Records label which featured independent artists that blended the spirit of punk and country music that he first discovered in dive clubs and oddball record stores, on flea market 45s and end of the dial radio shows. Rob’s new book, The Hours Are Long but the Pay is Low: A Curious Life in Independent Music (3 Fields Books, 2025) tells the story of this music scene in what Neko Case describes as “a glorious, detailed landscape of how it feels to be transformed and elevated by music.”

Although Bloodshot nurtured unknown artists into grammy winners and sellers of hundreds of thousands of albums, Miller and the label remained fiercely independent for more than 25 years helping build the music community in Chicago and prioritizing off-the-beaten-path showcases, indie record stores, and music venues like the ones Miller worked at in his boyhood city of Detroit as a stage manager, roadie, and end-of the-night custodian.

Rhett Miller is a revered and award-winning singer-songwriter known for his more than three decades fronting the popular rock band Old 97’s. In addition to his songwriting, Miller has authored short stories, essays and articles that have been featured in Rolling Stone, Bookforum, Sports Illustrated, McSweeny’s, The Atlantic and Salon. He has also published two children’s books via Little Brown Young Readers.

The discussion and Q&A will take place at the Lobby at SPACE and will be followed by a book signing. Doors will open at 2:30 PM for this event.

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