These days, left-of-center country artists, who might be categorized as alt-country or Americana or roots rock, cross over pretty regularly with the country mainstream, whether as collaborators or songwriters or fellow live performers. But before artists like Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson were winning awards and selling albums, a handful of acts in the mid-’90s combined a ragged indie-rock aesthetic with country sounds to shake up a typically staid genre. One of the pioneers of that sound was the Texas band Old 97’s, led by singer-songwriter Rhett Miller.

Since the band’s 1994 debut album Hitchhike to Rhome, Old 97’s have straddled the divide between country and indie rock; they made appearances on MTV’s influential alt-rock show 120 Minutes (which they parody in recent music video “Good With God”) and also collaborated with late country legend Waylon Jennings on a few songs. Paste said that the band’s newest album, Graveyard Whistling, “might actually be the most country Old 97’s record in years,” and the band members (the same four since the beginning) sound re-energized. “I’ll never stop. I’ll just always keep going,” Miller told Rolling Stone just before Graveyard Whistling’s release. His pioneering band is as vital as ever.

Hard Rock Hotel, 8 p.m. April 2, starting at $22 plus tax and fee. 888.929.7849