THE FLATLANDERS
Now Again
(New West)
Almost thirty years ago, legendary Texas singer/songwriters Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock formed a short-lived band called the Flatlanders in Lubbock, Texas. The group played a strange hybrid of traditional string-band country and counterculture hippie music. They managed to make only one record, One More Road, that saw very limited release and then only on 8-track.

By the time Rounder Records reissued the record as More a Legend Than a Band in the late 80s, the three principals had established long-running solo careers and become icons in the burgeoning alternative country/Americana movement. Hancock has quietly amassed a huge catalog of songs that blend Romantic poetry with American folk music, dusty cowboy songs and Eastern philosophy, a catalog mined by a wide array of performers. Gilmore is one of the most distinctive singers in contemporary roots music, a man of nearly impeccable song choices and an impossibly soulful croon that could make nursery rhymes sound like profound statements; he's also a fine writer when he wants to be. Ely, with a musical sense that refuses to recognize boundaries between rock, C&W, folk, blues and norteño, practically invented what we now call alt.country on his debut album in 1977. Plus he's become one of the best and most beloved live performers in roots rock, with a personal charisma and love of concert work that rivals that of his friend Bruce Springsteen. The trio remained friends through the years, playing shows together and appearing on or writing for each other's records, so an eventual Flatlanders reunion has been a tantalizing rumor for some time. After Ely, Gilmore and Hancock did indeed reconvene for a cut on the soundtrack of The Horse Whisperer, they had such a good time they decided to continue the reunion and the Flatlanders were officially reborn.

Now, a mere 28 years after their first record, we have the second Flatlanders album Now Again. With the easy camaraderie that comes from lifelong friendships in their favor, one would think this triad would produce an album that would encapsulate their innovative careers in Texas music. Alas, that's not the case. Mind you, the album is filled almost to bursting with good songs and performances. The trio has developed a lush harmony vocal style unknown in the members' careers up to this point, and the mostly acoustic arrangements blend folk, blues and C&W in that seamless manner that's apparently built into the genes of Lone Star musicians. Songs like "Down in the Light of the Melon Moon," "Yesterday Was Judgment Day" and "My Wildest Dreams Grow Wilder Every Day" would be excellent additions to any of the principals' main careers. The melodies are strong and Ely, Gilmore and Hancock sound like they're having a blast. Only the overly silly "Pay the Alligator" strikes a bum note. There's nothing but solid craftsmanship here, and that's the problem: there's nothing here that wouldn't have fit in just as well on any of the artists' solo records. Even though nearly all the songs were written by the trio together, none of them sound any different that they would have if written solo.

All this isn't to say the record is bad—it most certainly is not. The considerable talents involved prevent it from being so. After all, these three men have been responsible for some of the greatest music to ever come out of Texas. Everyone sings well, everyone plays well, and there's a joy to these performances that can only come from a gathering of old friends of like mind doing what they love best. But there's little that indicates that the Flatlanders have anything unique to offer the world of music outside of the limited marquee value of the names involved, and even that can be had on nearly any of the trio's solo records. There's so much untapped potential on Now Again it nearly overshadows the good vibes and easy appeal. If the group decides to stick together for the foreseeable future, perhaps it will step outside the boundaries of friendly jamming and into the realm of creative collaboration. Then the Flatlanders could make an album that's as much an artistic success as an entertaining one. Michael Toland [buy it]

For fans of: Walter Hyatt, Gillian Welch, Willie Nelson