The Flatlanders were so ahead of their time that the trio—songwriters Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock—waited 30 years before making a follow-up. In the early ‘70s, the lifelong pals from Lubbock cut a set of demos with Buddy Holly’s dad, but they were soon lost. Their actual debut, 1973’s All American Music, essentially suffered the same fate, issued in an ultra-limited run of eight-track cassettes to skirt contractual snafus. But as Gilmore, Hancock, and Ely earned modest success with solo careers as early architects of alternative country, whispers of The Flatlanders’ bygone greatness spread. Their second act has now lasted for two decades, a dual ode to how prescient they were and how powerful they remain as singers and songwriters. Indeed, Gilmore and Hancock remain two indispensable country poets and singers, capable of cramming a half-dozen classic puns or metaphors or quips into a single song. Though the image-rich “Dallas” has remained Gilmore’s calling card, even recorded by Ely several times, he is a laser-sharp bard of lost-love songs, perfectly articulating how worthless a little hurt can make you feel. (And, yes, that’s Gilmore in The Big Lebowski.) Even as The Flatlanders have returned to record labels and a renewed legacy, Hancock has remained defiantly independent, running his own imprint and decamping to very rural Texas. These two Flatlanders reconvene at the edge of Appalachia, reminding us of the slow path music can take to recognize those who forever changed it.

Paul began playing music in New Orleans at the age of fifteen, on Jackson Square and in bars around the French Quarter. He lived in New York in the 80s and learned the art of songwriting as part of the Anti-Folk scene in the East Village. Paul spent the 90s and early 2000s making 11 albums and touring with New Orleans rockers, Cowboy Mouth. Still, after losing his home and possessions in the aftermath of Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans, he left the band he had helped form in 1992 and went home to New Orleans to rebuild his life. Sanchez has 22 solo releases, beginning with Jet Black and Jealous in 1992. His 22nd release, Mercy, My Sweet, was released in the summer of 2025.