Rhett Miller made his name over two decades ago, first as the leader of the much-revered Old 97’s, and later as a solo artist of solid standing. He affirms this authority on The Traveler, an album that is as energized and assertive as any roots-rock outing in recent memory. Teaming with Black Prairie, the Americana outfit spun off from The Decemberists, Miller sets the tone early on, thanks to the emphatic opener “Wanderlust,” a song that rides atop the crest of pure fiddle frenzy. (R.E.M.’s Peter Buck and Scott McCaughey also lend extra hands.) Various tracks that follow build on those rousing refrains, whether it’s the unbridled exhilaration of “Kiss Me on the Fire Escape,” the reckless abandon etched intensely in “Escape Velocity,” or the sheer, uninhibited enthusiasm echoing through the rousing and romantic “Most in the Summertime.” Other songs may opt for a softer strum— the lofty “Lucky Star” and the descriptively titled “Dreams Vs.Waking Life” among them—but the immediate impact simply isn’t diminished, even when The Traveler follows a more pensive path.