With a warm, warbling tenor voice and folksy, personable approach to both his music and his audiences, Jimmie Dale Gilmore is the archetype of a Texas singer/songwriter, with his eye for the dusty beauty of the Southwest meshing beautifully with the Zen cowboy demeanor that informs his music and his persona. Gilmore came out of the fruitful Lubbock, Texas music scene of the '70s, and his early work with Joe Ely and Butch Hancock as the Flatlanders was a crucial precursor to both the outlaw country and alt-country movements. The Flatlanders' 1972 debut album was barely heard in...