The Panhandlers

One Liner: A mediangroup making seriously great Texas-centric country tunes

Wikipedia Genre: No Wikipedia, but country, Americana, red-dirt
Home: West Texas

Sunday

Thoughts:  This is actually pretty great.  What do you call a supergroup that isn't made of big stars?  Like, The Highwaymen are a clearcut mega supergroup - Willie, Cash, Waylon, and Kris.  You don't even need full names to know who they are.  The Flatlanders aren't so big, but you've still likely heard of these dudes if you are in to Texas music: Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock.  So, this one is Josh Abbott, John Baumann, William Clark Green, and Cleto Cordero.  In the band's own bio on their own website, it describes that last one as "Flatland Calvary's Cleto Cordero."  If you are having to be described as a member of the band you are in, then you are not part of a supergroup.  I have heard of Josh Abbott, but I don't know his music.  I like William Clark Green - he came to ACL like a decade ago.  Never heard of Baumann or Cordero.  It's a ModestGroup!  A MiddlingGroup?  MedianGroup.  We need to get a focus group together.

No Wikipedia, but I did learn that a lot of people think they have a panhandle.  Alaskan Panhandle, Alabama Panhandle, Connecticut Panhandle, Florida Panhandle, Idaho Panhandle, Maryland Panhandle, Nebraska Panhandle, Oklahoma Panhandle. Texas Panhandle, Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia, and Northern Panhandle of West Virginia.  GTFOH trying to claim two panhandles, West Virginia.  You're lucky we don't just turn you into real Virginia.  I also like that Alabama claims a panhandle, but Mississippi, which is like a little mirror image on the other side, does not give a damn about their little turd of a tail enough to name it.  Also, maybe I don't recall my state shapes, but Nebraska claiming a panhandle for an area that is just marginally smaller than the rest of the state is bullhonkey.  Utah isn't trying to act like they have a panhandle for a similarly sized nub.  Screw you, Nebraska.  Huh, I actually just looked at the shape of West Virginia, and seriously WTF.  That is an awful state shape and it really should just be swallowed up by Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky.

Anyway, I seriously digress.  This is a pretty damn great little band.  They do a very cool job of locating their music, with lots of tunes about West Texas - mentioning all sorts of great little nuggets about that wonderful part of the state.  Cotton, Big Bend, Valentine, the water table, the boll weevil, Midland, rough necks, etc.  I don't love the one where they feel the need to diss Austin for being full of Californians and vegans, but I'll allow it.  The album was produced by Bruce Robison, which already means I approve of the whole thing, and it really has a nice throwback sound and fun.  Like, I freaking love "The Chilton Song."  In part, because it is a fun little jazzy country tune that sounds very nice, but also because a Chilton is a fantastic drink that should get more love in the world.  Pretty sure it is a Lubbock beverage, so this makes sense to rep it on this album.

The mics on that version leave a lot to be desired, but it absolutely makes me want to be in some low-key little bar in Marathon right now, sitting on one of those barstools and sipping a Chilton.  I wonder where that is.  The band hats at the top of the bar have blue and gold colors and a W on them.  Ah, the notes say filmed at the West Table.  "Lubbock's premier restaurant for seasonal upscale dining."  Damn.  I wanted it to be something cool.

Two albums - 2020's The Panhandlers and 2023's Tough Country.  Bits of them make me think of other classic songs - "Tough Country" is a good tune on it's own, but it sort of sounds like they wanted to make another "Levelland."  "West Texas Girl" sort of uses the same chord progressions and tune as John Prince's "Paradise."  I hear classic Pat Green and Jack Ingram in here too.  The top song, by a lot, is a cover called "West Texas in my Eye."  22.6 million streams.

Hey, that's Cathedral Mountain!  I have a lot of pictures of Cathedral Mountain in my phone.  They do a good job of giving each dude a verse, and they sound really good together.  I really love both of these albums - I've just been letting them roll for the past two days and it scratches an old itch that I sort of forgotten that I'd had.  Clever lyrics, referential to a place that I think is cool, with relaxed and pleasant music underneath it all.  I'm in on this one for sure.