The Flatlanders

On Tuesday night (April 9, 2013) we were again fortunate to see The Flatlanders (Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock) at the historic Horseshoe Tavern on Queen Street in Toronto, Ontario. We enjoyed them at Antone's in Austin back in February and decided there and then to see them again when they came to Toronto. Our excuse, a modest one, was Cindy's birthday. She and Pat were great fans of this music and had introduced us to the artists as individuals and as The Flatlanders. It was pay back time for Cindy and, I know, she was pleased to see and hear them.

We drove over to Toronto on a dreary wet afternoon, had dinner at the Peter Pan Bistro just down the street from the Horseshoe and returned home after the show not getting to bed until after 2:00am. The doors opened at 8:30 with Joe Pug fronting at 9:00 (he joined The Flatlanders for a couple of tunes near the end of their show) then The Flatlanders a little after 10:00 with their show ending around 12:00 (a far cry from the early show at Antone's). It was a long day but well worth the drive.

The photo is Joe Ely who is probably the more famous of the trio -- certainly the most prolific with an extensive catalogue of music to explore. While Butch Hancock is perhaps the most prolific writer of the three (they all write) and Jimmie Dale Gilmore has the signature voice I've come to appreciate even more the music that Joe Ely writes and performs. He sang a song I had not heard before, "Not That Much Has Changed" from his last album "Satisfied at Last" (2011), that brought me to tears. It's a sentimental story of returning to your home town where not that much has changed -- "the grass is a little drier, the trees are a little higher.... the drug store is still for sale, they still sell cotton by the bale." A simple story, with well worn lines but moving none the less. You could easily imagine a prodigal son returning to the small town of his child hood in the flat lands of the West Texas where nothing much has changed.. That's where it began -- West Texas and the fertile grounds of Lubbock where, by happy coincidence, a motley crew gathered in the early 1970's to found a new kind of country music.

They asked if anyone in the audience had ever been to Lubbock. While it was a fan filled house very few had ever been. They talked about their early years together in those dry lands where, as children, they had never seen a "stream" -- it's very dry and dusty out there in the flat lands. Dry lands, cotton by the bale? Well yes they grow cotton on the Texas flat lands. Some irrigate from deep wells, dry land farmers and pray for rain.

Sow the seed in the ground below
Fall to your knees and pray real slow
That rain will come and kiss the seed
And Bless you with all that you need

That's from another song which really moved me -- "All That You Need" from Joe Ely's 2003 album "Streets of Sin".

There were lots of songs from all of The Flatlanders that stick in my memory.  Of course they did their 'hits' like "Dallas From A DC-9", "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown" and more from their  1972/1990 'debut' album "More a Legend Than A Band".  But some of their more recent tunes made an impression -- the why haven't I heard that before experience. Jimmie Dale Gilmore did the song "No Way I'll Never Need You" from The Flatlanders 2009 album "Hills and Valleys". That one is a love song with a jaunty Tex/Mex rhythm and has been quite an ear worm ever since. Butch Hancock sang "Thank God For The Road" from the same album. I have that album, I need to take the time to listen to it!

This show was a little different from the Antone's show. There was the same hot band with solid bass, drums and hot electric guitar. But there was also an opening act Joe Pug -- a three piece band from Chicago (via Austin, Texas). Joe Pug is a young buck who had an interesting story about touring in small town West Texas with Joe Ely. He was out and about getting breakfast, buying some beer, etc. in this very small town where everyone he bumps into keeps saying how they were looking forward to his show that night. After a while he starts thinking, hey there's something great going on here, everyone is keen about my music, I'm moving on up, etc. Then he sees his reflection in a store window to discover that he's wearing a Joe Ely T-shirt. Ah, now it makes sense -- everyone thinks I'm Joe Ely!

Another difference -- they came on later (no early to bed for the geezers from St Mary's) and played longer. They spent more time chatting with the audience -- explaining how they got together in Lubbock back in the early 1970's, how their first album was recorded in 1972 and only released in the UK some 10 years later then in the US another 10 years later. Their latest album, "The Odessa Tapes", was recorded way back then in Odessa (several hours away from Lubbock) and lost for years.

There was a time during the show where the band left the stage to leave the three to chat with the audience and played acoustic to swap songs like in those early days when they shared a home together. Stories were told of Butch dreaming a tune in which Jimmie sang; and how the dream had only revealed part of the song and so Butch had to go back to sleep and rewind the tape player to find the rest of the song.

In homage to the musical saw heard on so many of their albums Butch played a bit of "jaw harp" to accompany his friends. The acoustic set was an intimate moment and a bit of relief from the "big band" sound.

It was a great show with an older and reverential audience who hung on every word of each song -- even the opening act held the audience in his hands. We were all there to hear these songs. To hear them again and to hear them anew. And the sound system and acoustics of the venue was perfect to showcase the music. It would have been a show worth recording -- "The Horseshoe Tapes".  But sometimes an experience is best recorded in your memories and a few photos.

We especially enjoyed how the three swapped tunes back and forth. They're equal voices who often trade off verses on a song and share the chorus. When a single voice carries a tune we're surprised to discover that the song is written by one of the others but seems tailor made for the voice who carries it. They play together and showcase one another with no egos in the way. There are no stars here.

We enjoyed all the tunes they played and are keen to research our music library (hats off to Pat and Cindy there) to hear them yet again.

To end the night they encored with Townes Van Zandt's "White Freightliner Blues" as they had at Antone's and as a second tune in the encore they played Terry Allen's "Gimme a Ride to Heaven Boy". Terry Allen, again it's Pat who introduced us to that weird duck, was apparently part of that motley crew from their Lubbock youth. I didn't recall that connection! The story in the song is a weird take on picking up Christ hitch hiking with twist on how "He" works in very mysterious ways. Terry Allen is another artist that I knew a little about but have come to realize that I ought to know more. And then of course there's Lloyd Maines -- another one of the Lubbock crowd who is so pervasive in this Texas music Pat showed us. And don't get me started on the Jo Carol Pierce connection! Lubbock, what a rich breeding ground for so many interesting artists.

We were told that The Flatlanders were to play Carnegie Hall NYC on the following evening. I wonder how music that works so well in this small venue will sound in a big hall. One certainly won't have the same intimate experience as in this small bar. While the sound experience of Carnegie Hall is renown it's not the Horseshoe Tavern.

The Horseshoe is 65 years old. A tenuous 65 years with some near death experience. But it survives and is in pretty good shape with a good sound system, nice acoustics and a respectful audience. We've seen some important music there over the years -- Jerry Jeff Walker, Eric Bogle and Robert Earl Keen come to mind.

It was a pleasure to return to the Horseshoe Tavern and a great privilege to see The Flatlanders again.