The Panhandlers are preparing to release their sophomore album, and they're giving fans a preview of the title track via a Taste of Country exclusive. Press play below to hear "Tough Country," an early taste of the group's forthcoming project.

"Tough Country" celebrates the simple pleasures and fierce pride of life in an area where just getting by is no simple trick.

"Rough, but man she’s beautiful / When the time is right and the pond is full / And the rainfall brings the flowers towards the sky / When the grass turns green, and the cows get fat / Take it in cause it won’t last / It‘d bring a tear to my grandpa’s eye / Knowing every good thing dies," the second verse explains.

The song takes its title from the chorus:

"For a little slice of heaven holding up against hell / Hardened by the summers it won’t take no coffin nails / Just like the old mesquite that's been sprayed a hundred times with Remedy / This land is what I am, tough country."

The Panhandlers are a Texas-based Americana supergroup comprising Josh Abbott, John Baumann, William Clark Green and Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero. Cordero and Green co-wrote "Tough Country," which the group co-produced with Bruce Robison.

“William Clark Green and I got started on 'Tough Country’ sitting on the back porch of a casita on the Champion Ranch in Centerville, Texas," Cordero tells us. "I remember Will strumming this jangling, ringing E chord and humming some kinda melody that made me feel like something special was there and trying to bubble to the surface."

It's a song that buoyed his faith in the process of making music.

"Something about the way it all came together and the actual magic of the recording that we captured is the reason I wake up each day and pursue the craft of songwriting and musical expression," he adds. "I believe that in our humble pursuit of chasing a song, we captured the essence of many folks’ dire outlook and appreciation of the tough, yet beautiful — be it unknown to a scoffing traveler — country they call home.”

The Panhandlers are set to release their Tough Country album on March 3.

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