Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock formed The Flatlanders 37 years ago. When the trio decided to collaborate on songwriting for Hills And Valleys, the fourth in a rather elongated string of Flatlanders albums, they realized it wouldn’t be easy. They’d done it before for one thing, first for the soundtrack to the 1998 film The Horse Whisperer, then for their “reunion” album, 2002’s Now Again. So they already knew they’d be as likely to spend hours trading tales and laughing uproariously as they would trying to agree on a lyric.
They didn’t set out with an agenda, but what Ely calls “the heavy-dutiness” of the last eight years—9/11, Katrina, Iraq, border walls going up while the economy careened downward—all were definitely on their minds as they wrote.
After the Storm and Homeland Refugee form a trilogy of sorts with the Tex-Mex-flavored Borderless Love. Over the jaunty notes of honorary Flatlander Joel Guzman’s accordion, the song draws the conclusion: A wall is a mirror, it can only reveal one side of the story that passes for real.
In addition to their long musical history with Maines, a member of Ely’s band for years and produced Gilmore’s Hightone Records debut, Gilmore points out a trait that further strengthens their bond--Maines’ off-the-wall sense of humor is similar to theirs. His Dixie Chick connection apparently didn’t hurt, either; daughter Natalie’s bandmate Martie Maguire contributed some fiddle. A who’s-who of Austin sidemen also participated--Robbie Gjersoe on guitars, Glenn Fukunaga on bass, Rafael Gayol on drums, Bukka Allen on keyboards and accordion, Brian Standefer on cello and Pat Manske on percussion. Maines played steel, mandolin, banjo and guitar and contributed harmonies.
But here The Flatlanders are, 37 years after they were prodded into recording together the first time, still collaborating—and still the best of friends. In his soft Texas drawl, Ely sums the philosophy behind their creativity: “We might as well write music and make songs up, because there’s not anything that we’d rather be doing.”

Ryan Bingham
Hard-living Texan Ryan Bingham, 28, has been on his own since his midteens and rode bulls on the rodeo circuit before becoming a troubadour. Major-label debut album, Mescalito (2007) produced by former Black Crowes guitarist, Marc Ford, earned him comparisons to Bruce Springsteen and Exile on Main Street-era Rolling Stones. In June 2009 Ryan Bingham and The Dead Horses released their third album titled Roadhouse Sun via Lost Highway Records, once again produced by Marc Ford.

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