Although they have only released two albums, The Flatlanders rank among the greats in country music. The band from Lubbock, Texas, formed in the early ‘70s with Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock. Soon after releasing their 8-track tape album – which was later re-released in 1990 under the title More A Legend Than A Band – the group split and went their separate ways.

All three members launched solo careers, although Gilmore didn’t release an album until 1988. It was around then that he began to receive acclaim from fans of traditional country. Nashville by and large ignored Gilmore in favor of honky-tonk, but Austin, where he was based, was hot for him.

While The Flatlanders officially split at the end of the ‘70s, the three members remained friends, and Ely and Hancock have contributed to much of Gilmore’s solo work. In 1997, the trio hooked up to work on a song for the movie “The Horse Whisperer.” And with that, The Flatlanders were back.

The group released their second album, Now Again, two decades after their first and they’ve been touring for the past two years in both North America and the U.K. They wrap up overseas gigs November 24 in Dublin and have a show together on December 6 in Texas.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore has a month of solo gigs starting January 22 in Madison, Wis.