“Well fix your hair up big as Heaven I’ll go down to the 7-11,” begins one of the Panhandlers newest creations, Midland Jamboree.

This evening , in the neighboring county of Midland, the Panhandlers performed live at the historic Ector Theater.

Keller Cox kicked off the show, opening for the Texas Country supergroup the Panhandlers. Accompanying Keller was Flatland Cavalry fiddle player, Wesley Hall.

Keller Cox announced during his set that he has been in Lubbock Texas just this week recording for an upcoming LP.

The Panhandlers is made up of Cleto Cordero the front man for Flatland Cavalry, William Clark Green, Josh Abbott of the Josh Abbott band, and John Baumann. I always knew these people were some extraordinary songwriters in their own right, but when the four of these guys got together to write some songs what they came up with was magical.

I discovered the Panhandlers after an introduction to songwriter Charlie Stout at the BlueLight in Lubbock by Mason Server of Mason and The Gin Line. Stout had written a song called “West Texas in My Eye.” The song was covered by the Panhandlers band. The song appears as performed by the Panhandlers on the television series Yellowstone. I was proud to hear William Clark Green give a huge shoutout to Stout tonight from the stage for his songwriting ability and work on that song. Green also explained that it was Josh Abbott who pitched the song to the group. “We’ve got to do this song,” Abbott told the others. What a beautiful decision it was for all involved.

The Panhandlers original LP has become one of my favorite albums of all time. The song Cactus Flower, penned by Cordero for his wife Kaitlin Butts quickly became “our song,” for my girlfriend and I. We were both emotional after finally getting to hear the song live together this evening.

Currently the Panhandlers have 14 original songs. In tonight’s set the group of songwriters each performed one of their own original songs. They also covered a few more. During the encore, the group did a stellar performance of the Terry Allen tune Amarillo Highway.

I had a grand time seeing these guys play. If you get a chance to see them, it’s a show that you won’t want to miss. I’ll keep listening and looking forward to more songs about the culture and class of the West Texas Caprock.

West Texas is The Best Texas

Pancho.