“ When we started Over the Rhine, every band wanted to have a record deal. That was sort of the great goal. When we got signed to I.R.S. records we got a lot of press. It was a big deal that the same A&R man that had signed R.E.M. signed us. That’s kind of what it was all about. I.R.S. records was one of the early casualties of music industry consolidation and we found ourselves fairly quickly back on the street, sort of starting over. We released a very personal little project called Good Dog Bag Dog independently that really took Over the Rhine’s music to a different place. I think it taught Karin and I that at the end of the day it’s really not about the music industry. It’s about the songs. If people are inviting those songs to be a part of the big moments of their lives, that’s really what it’s about. So we’ve kind of kept our focus on just trying to do the best work that we’re capable of. Pop music is very youth-obsessed, but we’re still open to the idea that we might be getting better as songwriters and that we can continue to improve and that our best record might still be out there somewhere.
— Linford Detweiler (via American Songwriter)
