Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

About Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for the Old 97s, hosts “Wheels Off” a show about the messy reality of the creative life. Conversations with musicians, writers, artists, actors, and comedians about the pivotal moments that shaped their work, what it means to create in a digital age and grapple with the challenges, and the joy, of living a creative life.

Publisher

Rhett Miller

Category

arts · music

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 Jan 2019

Latest episode

17 Feb 2026

Latest episodes

38 of 243 episodes have a transcript.

1. 

   17 Feb 2026TRANSCRIPT

   Jared Mezzocchi on Creativity, Grief, and Building “Impossible” Theater

   Multimedia artist Jared Mezzocchi discusses ambitious theater projects, grief, and technology with host Rhett Miller, exploring how mortality and impermanence shape his creative work in this interview.

2. 

   3 Feb 2026

   Lizzie No on Folk Music, Protest, and Surviving the New Music Economy

   Lizzie No makes music rooted in the traditions of blues, folk, and country, filtered through an indie sensibility that resists easy categorization. Often compared to Allison Russell, Rhiannon Giddens, and Adia Victoria, she moves easily between musical worlds, collaborating with artists including Brian Dunne, Pom Pom Squad, and Domino Kirke. In this episode, Lizzie joins Rhett to talk about why folk music is a process rather than a style, and how songwriting, community, and organizing intersect in her work. She also gets practical: how she works through self-doubt, why making records is financially unsustainable for many artists, and how those constraints are pushing musicians back toward live, imperfect, human performances. The conversation also touches on her latest album, Halfsies, an immersive, narrative-driven record that follows the character Miss Freedomland from isolation toward liberation, confronting personal grief alongside an increasingly volatile American political landscape. LIzzie is on tour with the Old 97s beginning in March. Follow Lizzie @lizzie.no Follow Rhett @rhettmiller Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer is Kirsten Cluthe, Studio Kairos. Music by Old 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Watch the podcast on Spotify, and listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3. 

   21 Jan 2026

   Rodney Crowell on Intention, Patience, and the Long Game

   Rodney Crowell, often called a “songwriter’s songwriter” and a foundational voice in Americana, joins Rhett for a conversation about intention, craft, and the long game of staying creatively alive. Crowell shares hard-won lessons about process: how spending time on memoir pages puts him in a “workshop of words,” so that when he turns back to the guitar he’s already thinking in language. He talks about patience as the difference between forcing a song and letting it reveal itself, his approach to collaboration, the discipline of revision, and how creative confidence is built the unglamorous way: by showing up for the work, again and again. His new album “Airline Highway” is available now. Follow Rodney @rodneyjcrowell Follow Rhett @rhettmiller Wheels Off is hosted and produced by Rhett Miller. Executive producer is Kirsten Cluthe, Studio Kairos. Music by Old 97’s. Episode artwork by Mark Dowd. Show logo by Tim Skirven. Watch the podcast on Spotify, and listen wherever you get your podcasts. You can also ask Alexa to play it. Revisit previous episodes of Wheels Off with guests Rosanne Cash, Rob Thomas, Jeff Tweedy, Lucinda Williams, Stewart Copeland, Jennifer Egan, Nick Hornby, and more. If you like what you hear, please leave us a rating or review. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inside a recent episode

Jared Mezzocchi on Creativity, Grief, and Building “Impossible” Theater

Published 17 Feb 2026 · Transcript excerpt

[…] Those things are, we're asking those same questions like we did hundreds of years ago except the tools are a little different and how we remain on Earth is very different these days than when Aristotle was writing things down. And but it's just the use of the technology that's changed not what our wants are of mortality and mortality love. So I don't know, I think that theater has a phobia of technology because they want it to be sacred. People and candles and the sun beaming through but that's not the mirror that's held up to society today. You know, that people are walking in the middle of the streets with their phones almost getting in accidents. […]

Who has been a guest on Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Jared Mezzocchi
• Chris Trapper
• Jordan Wax

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

606 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

72 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 74 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

90

Social presence

97

YouTube

0

Engagement

99

Contact Wheels Off with Rhett Miller

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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