It’s easy to dismiss West Texas as just a vast, barren wasteland void of nuance or life. Those West Texans born and bred, they often daydream of escaping the endless miles of mesquite bush pastures, cotton field patches, and iron orchard oil wells. Still, something draws them back time and again. For millennia, its inhabitants have etched out corners and dugouts to break from the wind and fight off the sun. And through it all, they attempt to capture the brazen beauty of the land and the spirit of its people in song and story. It ain’t for the faint of heart. It’s a tough, bold country. The Panhandlers are four native sons from the outskirts of Texas society, having spent much of their lives in the high desert and southern prairie. Individually, Josh Abbott, John Baumann, William Clark Green, and Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero have long pursued that Far West Texas mythos and Panhandle lore. Scattered throughout their solo catalogs, the four frontmen have delivered earnest anthems and endearing balladry that embodies a Flatland life and South Plains dreams. Still, that hasn’t ever been quite enough for Abbott, Baumann, Cordero, and Green, who in early 2020 released The Panhandlers. […]
