Jimmie Dale Gilmore

With a warm, warbling tenor and an easygoing manner both onstage and in his writing, Jimmie Dale Gilmore embodies the classic Texas singer/songwriter whose affection for the arid landscapes of the Southwest blends seamlessly with the Zen-inflected outlook that shapes his work and public presence. Emerging from Lubbock’s fertile music community in the 1970s, he helped lay groundwork for the outlaw-country and alt-country waves through his early partnership with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock in the Flatlanders. The group’s 1972 debut received scant attention upon release and later resurfaced in multiple editions, most recently as the 2024 collection All American Music. After stepping away from music for a period, Gilmore reentered performing in 1980 once Ely had cut two of his compositions on solo records from the late 1970s; his own self-titled debut appeared in 1988. The 1991 major-label outing After Awhile showcased his songwriting range and command of folk, country, and pop forms. In many respects Gilmore came to stand for Austin’s distinctive fusion of country, rock, and folk traditions in the same manner that Willie Nelson had personified the city’s cosmic-cowboy spirit during the 1970s. He maintained a measured recording schedule through the 1990s, then returned to independent labels in the 2000s for projects such as One Endless Night and Come on Back that centered on his readings of other writers’ material. He also rejoined the Flatlanders for three studio albums beginning with Now Again in 2002, along with various live outings. After maintaining a regional focus for years, Gilmore embarked on a 2017 tour alongside roots-rock veteran Dave Alvin; the partnership produced two joint albums, Downey to Lubbock in 2018 and Texicali in 2024.

Gilmore’s background traces to Tulia, a modest West Texas community where his father performed lead guitar in a country ensemble. The family relocated to Lubbock during his elementary years, a Panhandle locale that has launched an uncommon number of musicians, among them Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Terry Allen, and Gilmore’s former singing partners Butch Hancock and Joe Ely. There he met Hancock at age twelve; the two have remained close friends and recurring collaborators ever since. Later encounters with Terry Allen prompted Gilmore to begin composing his own material. One of his earliest efforts, written around age twenty, was the enduring “Treat Me Like a Saturday Night.” Through Ely, another Lubbock acquaintance, he discovered Townes Van Zandt’s music, an encounter Gilmore has described as transformative for its fusion of folk and country idioms.

Gilmore and Ely first performed together locally in the T. Nickel House Band. After a short interval in Austin, Gilmore rejoined Ely and Hancock in Lubbock to form the Flatlanders, whose original lineup also featured Steve Wesson, Tony Pearson, and additional supporting players. The ensemble cut an album in Nashville in 1972 that surfaced only on eight-track at the time; Rounder Records finally reissued it in 1990 as More a Legend Than a Band. Blending acoustic folk, string-band country, and country blues, the set contained another signature Gilmore piece, “Dallas,” issued then as a promotional single with minimal impact. The group disbanded by year’s end.

Gilmore relocated to Denver and treated music as a pastime while Ely secured a recording deal and tracked several Gilmore compositions. Returning to Austin in 1980, Gilmore began regular club appearances. His first solo album, Fair and Square, arrived in 1988 on Hightone, the label Ely was then associated with. Both that record and the 1989 follow-up Jimmie Dale Gilmore included material from Gilmore, Hancock, and Ely delivered in a direct honky-tonk style distinct from his earlier or later work. The pair of releases brought fresh recognition as Austin regained prominence as a music center. A 1990 reissue of the Flatlanders album coincided with Virgin Australia’s release of Two Roads, a live duet set with Hancock captured during their Australian tour. Elektra soon signed Gilmore and issued After Awhile in 1991 within its American Explorer series; the album preserved a country sensibility yet moved away from honky-tonk textures, earning further praise.

Nashville remained largely uninterested in Gilmore’s approach to country, yet critics embraced his output. Spinning Around the Sun followed in 1993, again mixing new and traditional country-leaning songs with a richer instrumental backdrop anchored by his resonant voice. Braver Newer World appeared in 1996 under T-Bone Burnett’s production. The most notable development for fans arrived in 1998 when Gilmore reunited with Ely and Hancock to record a new Flatlanders track for the soundtrack of The Horse Whisperer. While continuing his solo work with the early-2000 release One Endless Night, the trio resumed occasional touring and completed a second album, Now Again, in 2002, followed by Wheels of Fortune in 2004. That same year, recordings from a vintage Flatlanders performance received commercial release as Live at the One Knite, Austin TX, June 8th 1972. Gilmore resumed solo activity in 2005 with Come on Back, a set of classic honky-tonk and folk numbers dedicated to his late father; Joe Ely produced and contributed playing. In 2011 Gilmore and his informal band the Wronglers issued Heirloom Music, a selection of vintage folk and country pieces performed on period instruments.

After several low-key years with few appearances outside the Southwest, Gilmore launched a 2017 co-headlining tour with roots-rock mainstay Dave Alvin, trading songs and anecdotes nightly. The dates proved successful enough to yield the joint album Downey to Lubbock in June 2018. The Flatlanders mounted another reunion tour that produced the 2021 studio set Treasure of Love, heavy on covers and the trio’s vocal interplay. The next year Joe Ely released Flatland Lullaby, a collection of songs originally recorded for his children in the 1970s and 1980s that included guest vocals from Gilmore. Building on the reception of their first collaboration, Gilmore and Alvin returned to the studio for the 2024 follow-up Texicali. Also in 2024, Omnivore Recordings released All American Music, gathering every surviving track from the Flatlanders’ 1972 Nashville sessions—including four songs absent from More a Legend Than a Band—plus an alternate version of “Dallas” previously heard on a 2015 Bear Family compilation.