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Coming up on 30 years since Joe Ely, Jimmie
Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock recorded their one and only album
-- which was released at the time only as an 8-track -- this
amazing Texas trio proves the open highways they sing about are
not always smooth. Their solo careers have had an uncountable
number of potholes and missed exit ramps, yet as music-makers
they are a joy to watch as individuals and a decidedly American
treasure to behold collectively.
Having done friendly gigs over the years
in and around Lubbock and Austin, Texas, along with a New York
gig last year, this was their first show in L.A.
Loose and engaging, they swap lyrics line
by line or verse by verse with a deportment of instinct rather
than rehearsed accuracy. Gilmore has the most distinct voice
of the bunch, a nasally high-pitched quiver that he uses to hold
notes for a disquieting quarter-beat longer than any other singer
around. Ely is the shouter and the storyteller, while Hancock
covers the panhandle talk-sing twang.
Material ventured all over the Texas map,
from Western swing to rockabilly to honky tonk to a pair of Townes
Van Zant songs. The Flatlanders unveiled new songs such as the
fun-loving "I Thought the Wreck Was Over" and a tune
that found a protagonist reporting back on what happened to him
on Judgment Day. Recently written songs, including the graceful
"South Wind of Summer" recorded in 1998 for "The
Horse Whisperer" soundtrack, were given debuts and all were
true to each individual's form: Hancock punches out rhymes reminiscent
of early Bob Dylan, Ely crafts stories of lost men in search
of redemption and Gilmore examines basic human thoughts and queries.
They all like similar imagery -- long empty roads, trains, daybreak
and hard-hearted women -- and approach adventure with wide-eyed
enthusiasm. Songs, several of which were performed, have been
written for a second Flatlanders album; no word yet on a label
deal.
Highlights included Ely's "I Had My
Hopes Up High," which opened the show with a rousing version
of Gilmore's "Dallas," and a devilish Ely romping through
Terry Allen's "Gimme a Ride to Heaven," in which a
traveler picks up a hitchhiking Jesus Christ.
Time has never quite caught up with the
Flatlanders, as their 30 years of musical pilgrimages have earned
them endorsements from punk rockers such as the Clash, Mudhoney
and television's Richard Lloyd along with Bruce Springsteen and
virtually every Texas troubadour that has come along since.
Some of their solo records have been gorgeous
keepsakes -- most recently Ely's "Letter to Laredo,"
Gilmore's "Braver Newer World" and Hancock's "Eats
Away the Night" -- but Tuesday's 85-minute outing proved
there's still plenty of magic waiting to be played out.
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