Butch Hancock
Encyclopedia
Butch Hancock is a country
/folk music
recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas
. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders
along with Joe Ely
and Jimmie Dale Gilmore
, but he has principally performed a solo career.
In 1972, he formed The Flatlanders together with his old high school friends. Although critics were positive, the enterprise was not successful and they disbanded the following year. Hancock continued to write songs and in 1978 he founded a recording company, Rainlight Records and released his first solo album, West Texas Waltzes and Dust-Blown Tractor Tunes. He continued to bring out albums with folk tunes, first with only guitar and harmonica and subsequently with expanded use of instruments and arrangements. From the late 1990s he has reappeared with the Flatlanders, with whom he was to release a series of albums in 2004.
Hancock lived in Austin
, a place congenial to his progressive country
style, for a couple of decades until he moved to the ghosttown region of Terlingua, Texas in the '90s, preferring more rural environs.
.
In addition to the more traditional sounds Butch Hancock infused eclectic styles
in his earlier recordings with artists Alex Coke
, Austin Klezmorim's
Bill Averbach, Spyder Johnson, John Hagan, the Squeezetones' Ponty Bone
, and pianist Marcia Ball
. For his fans his tunes evoke mystical visions of wind-swept, dry-plains and prairies.
Hancock has deliberately avoided satisfying the cravings of the markets, preferring to see his music as an end in itself, recording and releasing much of his music on his own and spending his energies on other things than a musical career. He is a talented photographer, with a gallery named "Lubbock or Leave it" in the 1980s and 1990s, and currently (Fall 2009) showing his photographs and drawings at Bluebird Gallery in Wimberley, Texas.
Interviews with Butch Hancock, Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore along with many others of the so-called Lubbock Mafia appear in the film: Lubbock Lights
which was released in 2005.
Trivia: The album titles "Own & Own" and "Own the way over here" are making use of a play on words, 'own' being a Texan dialectical pronunciation of the word 'on'.
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
/folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
recording artist and song writer. He was born July 12, 1945 in Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock, Texas
Lubbock is a city in and the county seat of Lubbock County, Texas, United States. The city is located in the northwestern part of the state, a region known historically as the Llano Estacado, and the home of Texas Tech University and Lubbock Christian University...
. Hancock is a member of The Flatlanders
The Flatlanders
The Flatlanders are a country band with considerable country rock influence from Lubbock, Texas founded by singers/songwriters/guitarists Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Joe Ely, and Butch Hancock....
along with Joe Ely
Joe Ely
Joe Ely is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist whose music touches on honky-tonk, Texas Country, Tex-Mex and rock and roll....
and Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmie Dale Gilmore
Jimmie Dale Gilmore is a country singer, songwriter, actor, recording artist and producer, currently living in Austin, Texas.-Biography:...
, but he has principally performed a solo career.
Background and career
Hancock entered architecture school but dropped out in 1968 and worked for nearly a year driving a tractor on his father's farm in Lubbock, Texas. He recalls that the experience of elemental simplicity and reading books opened up the metaphysical universe for him.In 1972, he formed The Flatlanders together with his old high school friends. Although critics were positive, the enterprise was not successful and they disbanded the following year. Hancock continued to write songs and in 1978 he founded a recording company, Rainlight Records and released his first solo album, West Texas Waltzes and Dust-Blown Tractor Tunes. He continued to bring out albums with folk tunes, first with only guitar and harmonica and subsequently with expanded use of instruments and arrangements. From the late 1990s he has reappeared with the Flatlanders, with whom he was to release a series of albums in 2004.
Hancock lived in Austin
Austin
Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas.Austin may also refer to:-In the United States:*Austin, Arkansas*Austin, Colorado*Austin, Chicago, Illinois*Austin, Indiana*Austin, Minnesota*Austin, Nevada*Austin, Oregon...
, a place congenial to his progressive country
Progressive country
Progressive country is a subgenre of Texas country music started in the early 1970s in Austin, Texas. The term was coined by programmers at Austin's KOKE-FM in 1972 as a way to differentiate the style of country music in Austin from that being made in Nashville...
style, for a couple of decades until he moved to the ghosttown region of Terlingua, Texas in the '90s, preferring more rural environs.
Music
Butch Hancock has been called "one of the finest songwriters of our time" and is acknowledged by his peers as one of the premier Texas singer-songwriters. His lyrics are ingenious, excelling in metaphor and irony and displaying a world-weary trait, just as he is a master of seeing the miracle in the ordinary. His lyric style has often been compared with that of Bob Dylan, and his songs have been sung by the likes of Emmylou HarrisEmmylou Harris
Emmylou Harris is an American singer-songwriter and musician. In addition to her work as a solo artist and bandleader, both as an interpreter of other composers' works and as a singer-songwriter, she is a sought-after backing vocalist and duet partner, working with numerous other artists including...
.
In addition to the more traditional sounds Butch Hancock infused eclectic styles
Eclecticism
Eclecticism is a conceptual approach that does not hold rigidly to a single paradigm or set of assumptions, but instead draws upon multiple theories, styles, or ideas to gain complementary insights into a subject, or applies different theories in particular cases.It can sometimes seem inelegant or...
in his earlier recordings with artists Alex Coke
Alex Coke
Alex Coke is a jazz saxophonist and flutist. He graduated with his B.A. from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 1976. Before moving to Amsterdam in 1992, he was the recipient of many local awards. In the 1990s, Coke toured with the Dutch jazz ensemble the Willem Breuker Kollektief...
, Austin Klezmorim's
Austin Klezmorim
Austin Klezmorim is a klezmer music group founded in 1979 in Austin, Texas by trumpeter and composer Bill Averbach.-Recordings:Self-Published Recordings*Shalom Y'all 1979*Texas Klez 1984*East of Odessa 1992*Bubba's Waltz 2005Compilations...
Bill Averbach, Spyder Johnson, John Hagan, the Squeezetones' Ponty Bone
Ponty Bone
Ponty Bone is a Texan accordionist who has led his 1980s band, the Squeezetones to international popularity over a twenty year period.Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Bone began studying accordion when he was only 5 years old. Later, he learned to play trumpet also...
, and pianist Marcia Ball
Marcia Ball
Marcia Ball is an American blues singer and pianist, born in Orange, Texas but who grew up in Vinton, Louisiana. She was described in USA Today as "a sensation, saucy singer and superb pianist.....
. For his fans his tunes evoke mystical visions of wind-swept, dry-plains and prairies.
Hancock has deliberately avoided satisfying the cravings of the markets, preferring to see his music as an end in itself, recording and releasing much of his music on his own and spending his energies on other things than a musical career. He is a talented photographer, with a gallery named "Lubbock or Leave it" in the 1980s and 1990s, and currently (Fall 2009) showing his photographs and drawings at Bluebird Gallery in Wimberley, Texas.
Interviews with Butch Hancock, Joe Ely and Jimmie Dale Gilmore along with many others of the so-called Lubbock Mafia appear in the film: Lubbock Lights
Lubbock Lights
The Lubbock Lights were an unusual formation of lights seen over the city of Lubbock, Texas, from August-September 1951. The Lubbock Lights incident received national publicity and is regarded as one of the first great UFO cases in the United States....
which was released in 2005.
Trivia: The album titles "Own & Own" and "Own the way over here" are making use of a play on words, 'own' being a Texan dialectical pronunciation of the word 'on'.
Solo
- West Texas Waltzes And Dust-Blown Tractor Tunes (1978)
- The Wind's Dominion (1979)
- Diamond Hill (1980)
- 1981: A Spare Odyssey (1981) LP only, not on CD
- Fire-water…Seeks Its Own Level (1981)
- Yella Rose (with Marce LaCoutureMarce LaCoutureMarce Lacouture is an American folk music and cajun recording artist and song writer.- Biography :Lacouture grew up in Texas and Louisiana.She began singing professionally in Austin folk and rock bands and in 1984 formed a duo with Butch Hancock, with whom she recorded two albums...
) (1985) - Split & Slide II (1986) cassette only, not on CD
- Cause Of The Cactus (with Marce Lacouture) (1987) cassette only, not on CD
- Own & Own (1989)
- No Two Alike (14 cassettes) (1990) not on CD
- Two Roads: Live In Australia (with Jimmie Dale Gilmore) (1990)
- Own The Way Over Here (1993)
- Eats Away The Night (1994)
- ChippyChippy (album)Chippy, also known as Songs from "Chippy", is an album by Terry Allen, Joe Ely, Butch Hancock, Robert Earl Keen, Wayne Hancock, Jo Harvey Allen and Jo Carol Pierce...
(1995) - You Coulda Walked Around The World (1997)
- War And Peace (2007)
With The Flatlanders
- One Road More (1972)
- Now Again (2002)
- Wheels of Fortune (2004)
- Live at The One Knite, June 8, 1972 (2004)
- Hills And Valleys (2009)