The legendary Flatlanders -- Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch Hancock -- three of Texas most respected singer/songwriters, return with their new album Hills And Valleys. The three friends pooled their diverse, yet complimentary songwriting talents and co-wrote eight of the 13 tracks on the record, their first in 5 years, and only 4th studio album in 30 years. Hills And Valleys was produced by
Grammy Award winning producer Lloyd Maines (Dixie Chicks Home), who also appears on the album playing acoustic guitar, Dobro, pedal, steel and more.

The Flatlanders, known for their poetic lyrics and superior musicianship, do not disappoint on Hills And Valleys. The record kicks off with Homeland Refugee which Texas Music declares ...isn t just the best song ever recorded under the Flatlanders name; it could be the best song any of them have ever had a hand in writing, period a Woody Guthrie-worthy, state-of-the-nation elegy for the American Dream. Additional stand out tracks include After The Storm, Just About Time and Thank God For The Road.

More a legend than a band because, even though the Flatlanders included the likes of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock, their 1972 album wasn't actually released on vinyl until 1980 and on CD until 1990. By then, that trio of singer-songwriters had become solo stars. But this long-lost debut isn't just historically interesting. Gilmore songs here, such as "Dallas" and "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown," have become folk-country classics, and the old-time arrangements--often featuring little more than guitar, Dobro, and (on a few cuts) musical saw--are quite haunting, as are Gilmore's piercing lead vocals. --David Cantwell

Now Again, by Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock—collectively known as The Flatlanders—marks the first album-length collaboration between the trio of acclaimed Texas songwriters since their debut album three decades ago.

Now Again was ostensibly produced by Ely, but the album's tracks were a true collaborative effort. The songs (with the exception of U. Utah Phillips' "Going Away") were co-written by the trio, and most of them feature the rough-hewn vocal blend of all three men ("It was fun to learn we could still sing harmonies," laughs Ely). Besides the session musicians, two other original Flatlanders joined Ely, Gilmore and Hancock for cameos in the studio: musical saw player Steve Wesson and vocalist Tony Pearson.

"We said, let's not put any limits on this thing," Ely says. "It freed us up a lot. We had to resist the urge to write a 10-verse song. Every line became important. We had to think about the structure of the songs as a whole. It was a very different kind of writing than what we would do as individuals."

But there are touchstones that the music on Now Again shares with the best of Ely's, Gilmore's and Hancock's music: there is an abundance of clever wordplay; there is the freewheeling blend of folk, rock, country, and blues that has always informed their work; and there is the feeling of lazy intimacy, of old friends tossing music and words around like softballs. Songs such as "Waving My Heart Goodbye," "Yesterday Was Judgment Day," "Now It's Now Again," and "Down in the Light of the Melon Moon" can croon, swing, rollick, or cry, depending on the whim of the three tunesmiths. --John T. Davis

RECORDED LIVE IN AUSTIN TEXAS 16 tracks from this elusive band recorded live in the One Knite bar in Austin, Texas, the tape of which has only recently been discovered and has now been made available for fans of the band to enjoy

More a legend than a band because, even though the Flatlanders included the likes of Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock, their 1972 album wasn't actually released on vinyl until 1980 and on CD until 1990. By then, that trio of singer-songwriters had become solo stars. But this long-lost debut isn't just historically interesting. Gilmore songs here, such as "Dallas" and "Tonight I Think I'm Gonna Go Downtown," have become folk-country classics, and the old-time arrangements--often featuring little more than guitar, Dobro, and (on a few cuts) musical saw--are quite haunting, as are Gilmore's piercing lead vocals. --David Cantwell