Jimmie Dale Gilmore

August 1 - 8, 1 9 9 6 [Off the Record]

***1/2 Jimmie Dale Gilmore

BRAVER, NEWER WORLD

(Elektra)
Back in 1972, Gilmore and his high-school pals Joe Ely and Butch Hancock transformed the pre-Elvis sound of string-band country into a gorgeous token of post-'60s alienation on the nervous, pensive masterpiece Jimmie Dale and the Flatlanders. Now, five albums into his rewarding and well-rewarded comeback, this 50-year-old Austin institution is finally at home with the cosmos.
At first you might balk at the way his paeans to satori float by with their gaze fixed on some distant horizon, but down below Gilmore and producer T-Bone Burnett keep a firm foothold in a varied and solid post-Elvis landscape, one that includes contemporary folk, ageless blues, and flat-out rock and roll as well as traditional country. From the opening title track, with its pulsing, Indian-style guitars, to the closing "Outside the Lines," with its booming riff and driving backbeat, the album marks a breakthrough to a mature style. His youthful searching is over; now, with an inspiring new level of confidence, Gilmore brings his discoveries all back home.
-- Franklin Soults