PANHANDLING IN COWTOWN
“ONE OF THE MANY SIGNIFICANT CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE YEAR FROM HELL HAS BEEN THE POSTPONEMENT OF ONE OF THE MOST FEEL-GOOD EVENTS IN THIS SCENE, THE DEBUT OF THE PANDHANDLERS. THE FLATLAND SUPER GROUP OF JOSH ABBOTT, CLETO CORDERO, JOHN BAUMANN, AND WILLIAM CLARK GREEN DROPPED THEIR FIRST RECORD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE PANDEMIC HIT ITS STRIDE. TOURING PLANS WERE SQUASHED, AND LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, THE RECORD TOOK A BACK SEAT TO LOCK DOWNS, TOILET PAPER, AND HAND SANITIZER.
WHILE MAINSTREAM COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT RADIO PLAY TO MOVE ITS FAN BASE, THIS SCENE’S LIFEBLOOD FLOWS THROUGH LIVE SHOWS. THE ENTHUSIASM, THE LOYALTY, MERCH SALES, AND RECORD SALES; IT’S ALL DRIVEN BY SEEING OUR FAVORITE ARTISTS LIGHT IT UP ON STAGE. THE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE THIS MORE OBVIOUS THAN EVER, AND THE PANHANDLERS WERE DENIED THEIR OPPORTUNITY TO START THE ENGINE TO WHAT COULD BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONGOING COLLABORATIONS THIS REGION HAS SEEN. THAT FINALLY GOT RECTIFIED ON THURSDAY NIGHT WHEN THE BOYS FROM LUBBOCK TOOK THE MAIN STAGE AT BILLY BOB’S TEXAS.”
Oct 31, 2020
“THE PANHANDLE OF TEXAS IS A REALLY FORGOTTEN PART OF THE WORLD. IT’S NOT A PRETTY PLACE; IT’S DUSTY AND IT SMELLS LIKE COW SHIT, BUT IT HAS ITS BEAUTY. AND THE PEOPLE ARE JUST THE BEST,” SAYS WILLIAM CLARK GREEN, WHO WITH THREE FELLOW TEXAS SINGER-SONGWRITERS IS HOPING TO SHINE A LIGHT ON AN OVERLOOKED REGION OF THE STATE WITH THEIR NEW GROUP AND ALBUM.
THE PANHANDLERS — GREEN, JOSH ABBOTT, JOHN BAUMANN, AND CLETO CORDERO — RELEASED THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT IN MARCH, JUST PRIOR TO THE WORLD GOING TO HELL. LISTENING TO IT NOW, THE LP HAS THE UNCANNY ABILITY TO MAKE YOU PINE FOR A PLACE YOU MAY HAVE NEVER VISITED. WITH ITS IMAGERY OF HORSES ON THE RANGE, PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS FLOWERS, AND HITTING THE ROAD IN A “12-BUNK BUS,” IT’S A WIDE-OPEN RECORD FOR A CONSTRICTING, EVEN SUFFOCATING, MOMENT IN HISTORY.
May 22, 2020
THE PANHANDLERS ARE CARRYING ON A WEST TEXAS SONGWRITING TRADITION THAT’S BOTH WITTY AND WISTFUL, AND THEIR SELF-TITLED DEBUT ALBUM WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY APPEAL TO ANYONE WHO’S FOND OF THE LUBBOCK LIFE. WITH 10 ORIGINAL SONGS ABOUT THEIR HOME TURF, THE FOUR ARTISTS — JOSH ABBOTT, JOSH BAUMANN, CLETO CORDERO, AND WILLIAM CLARK GREEN — TEAMED UP WITH PRODUCER BRUCE ROBISON, WHO SOMEHOW MAKES THE TASK OF BALANCING FOUR LEAD SINGERS LOOK LIKE A BREEZE.
BY EMAIL, ALL FOUR OF THE PANHANDLERS FIELDED QUESTIONS FROM BGS ABOUT WORKING TOGETHER, WRITING ABOUT EACH OTHER, AND NOT QUITE BEING ABLE TO LEAVE WEST TEXAS BEHIND.
Mar 18, 2020
FROM THE PANHANDLE OF WEST TEXAS, THE PANHANDLERS ARE A COLLECTIVE OF FOUR SINGER-SONGWRITERS WHO HAVE BANDED TOGETHER FOR A SELF-TITLED — NOT TO MENTION SELF-AWARE — PROJECT.
RECORDED WITH PRODUCER BRUCE ROBISON, THE BAND CAPTURES THE WIDE OPEN SPACES AND THE OCCASIONAL MELANCHOLY OF THEIR HOME TURF, BUT NOT WITHOUT SOME SLY HUMOR MIXED IN.
TAKE A LOOK AT THEIR MUSIC VIDEO FOR “NO HANDLE,” THEN FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THEIR HOPES FOR THE ALBUM FROM EACH OF THE ARTISTS — JOSH ABBOTT, JOHN BAUMANN, CLETO CORDERO, AND WILLIAM CLARK GREEN
Mar 16, 2020
“ONE OF THE MANY SIGNIFICANT CRIMES COMMITTED BY THE YEAR FROM HELL HAS BEEN THE POSTPONEMENT OF ONE OF THE MOST FEEL-GOOD EVENTS IN THIS SCENE, THE DEBUT OF THE PANDHANDLERS. THE FLATLAND SUPER GROUP OF JOSH ABBOTT, CLETO CORDERO, JOHN BAUMANN, AND WILLIAM CLARK GREEN DROPPED THEIR FIRST RECORD AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, ABOUT THE SAME TIME THE PANDEMIC HIT ITS STRIDE. TOURING PLANS WERE SQUASHED, AND LIKE EVERYTHING ELSE, THE RECORD TOOK A BACK SEAT TO LOCK DOWNS, TOILET PAPER, AND HAND SANITIZER.
WHILE MAINSTREAM COUNTRY IS ALL ABOUT RADIO PLAY TO MOVE ITS FAN BASE, THIS SCENE’S LIFEBLOOD FLOWS THROUGH LIVE SHOWS. THE ENTHUSIASM, THE LOYALTY, MERCH SALES, AND RECORD SALES; IT’S ALL DRIVEN BY SEEING OUR FAVORITE ARTISTS LIGHT IT UP ON STAGE. THE YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC HAS MADE THIS MORE OBVIOUS THAN EVER, AND THE PANHANDLERS WERE DENIED THEIR OPPORTUNITY TO START THE ENGINE TO WHAT COULD BE ONE OF THE BIGGEST ONGOING COLLABORATIONS THIS REGION HAS SEEN. THAT FINALLY GOT RECTIFIED ON THURSDAY NIGHT WHEN THE BOYS FROM LUBBOCK TOOK THE MAIN STAGE AT BILLY BOB’S TEXAS.”
Mar 15, 2020
TEXAS COUNTRY MUSICIANS TEND TO BE A PRETTY TIGHT-KNIT GROUP. EVEN THOUGH THE LONE STAR STATE IS A TRULY MASSIVE PLACE WITH TONS OF MUSICALLY DIVERSE ARTISTS, THE BONDS BETWEEN THE MUSICIANS WHO MAKE A LIVING TOURING ITS HONKY-TONKS AND OTHER VENUES ARE STRONG, AND THEY’VE PRODUCED SOME TRULY BRILLIANT COLLABORATIONS OVER THE YEARS.
THE LATEST OF THESE TEAM-UPS IS THE PANHANDLERS. BRINGING TOGETHER JOSH ABBOTT, WILLIAM CLARK GREEN, FLATLAND CAVALRY FRONTMAN CLETO CORDERO AND JOHN BAUMANN, THE BAND IS A MODERN-DAY REBOOT OF WEST TEXAS COUNTRY LEGENDS THE FLATLANDERS, AN EARLY ‘70S ACT OUT OF LUBBOCK, TEXAS, THAT HELPED LAUNCH THE CAREERS OF JOE ELY, JIMMIE DALE GILMORE AND BUTCH HANCOCK
Mar 10, 2020
THERE’S A RECORD LABEL SITUATED ABOUT 30 MILES OUTSIDE AUSTIN, TEXAS, THAT HAS BEEN CURATING A SPECIFIC EXPERIENCE FOR FANS FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS. THOUGH NO ONE WORD CAN CAPTURE THE MISSION OF THE NEXT WALTZ, THE EXPERIENCE THIS LABEL IS CURATING MAY BE BEST DESCRIBED AS, SIMPLY, RURAL. WHILE THAT WORD MAY CONJURE IMAGES OF TUMBLEWEEDS AND CORNSTALKS FOR SOME, FOR BRUCE ROBISON, IT’S SOMETHING MUCH MORE TRANSCENDENT.
“THE FIRST THING I DID WAS BUILD A FENCE, THEN POUR A SLAB, THEN START HAMMERING NAILS,” ROBISON SAYS OF HOW HE STARTED THE NEXT WALTZ. THAT SORT OF WORK ETHIC — AN ETHIC THAT IS INHERENT TO RURAL LIFE — IS NOT ONLY PART OF THE PHYSICAL FOUNDATION OF THE LABEL AND ITS RECORDING STUDIO, BUT IT’S ALSO PART OF THE FABRIC OF WHO ROBISON IS AND THE KIND OF MUSIC HE’S DRAWN TO.
Mar 9, 2020
THE PANHANDLE OF WEST TEXAS IS NOT EXACTLY SOMEWHERE ONE WOULD CHOOSE TO END UP. BALLS HOT IN THE SUMMER, FRIGID AND WINDY AS HELL IN THE WINTER, WITH NO SHADE OR SHIELD FROM TREES OR REALLY ANY TOPOGRAPHY TO SPEAK OF, “FLATLAND” DOESN’T EVEN SEEM TO DO JUSTICE TO JUST HOW INCREDIBLY STILL THE SWALE OF THE EARTH IS THROUGHOUT THE REGION. IT’S ONLY DUE TO AMPLE OIL RESERVES, SOME DECENT GRAZING LAND, THE ABILITY TO GROW COTTON IN THE CRUMBLING GROUND—ALONG WITH AN OKIE OR TWO THAT BROKE DOWN IN DUMAS DURING THE DUST BOWL AND NEVER LEFT (PRONOUNCED “DOO-MUS” NOT “DUMBASS”)—THAT YOU HAVE ENOUGH POPULATION IN THE AREA TO JUSTIFY AN OUTLET MALL OR TWO.
Mar 6, 2020
LOVING THIS PROJECT SO FAR.
THE PANHANDLERS, THE NEWLY-FORMED TEXAS SUPERGROUP COMPOSED OF JOSH ABBOTT, WILLIAM CLARK GREEN, FLATLAND CAVALRY’S CLETO CORDERO, AND JOHN BAUMANN, ALREADY HAVE A FEW LIVE DATE ON THE BOOKS, HAVE RELEASED A FEW SONGS, AND BY THE LOOKS OF IT SO FAR, THIS ALBUM IS SHAPING UP TO BE PRETTY DAMN GOOD.
Feb 16, 2020
THE FOUR TEXAN SINGER-SONGWRITERS IN THE PANHANDLERS FORMED TO PAY TRIBUTE TO ANOTHER LONE STATE ALL-STAR GROUP, THE FLATLANDERS. BUT WHAT THE GROUP’S JOSH ABBOTT PITCHED AS A COVERS ALBUM HAS TURNED INTO A SELF-TITLED SET OF ORIGINALS, DUE OUT MARCH 6 AND INCLUDING THE TRACK “CACTUS FLOWER” PREMIERING ON BILLBOARD TODAY (FEB 13).
Feb 13, 2020