Texas singer-songwriter Jimmie Dale Gilmore has received widespread acclaim for his beautifully crafted recordings, including three Grammy nominations and twice being named “Country Artist of the Year” in the Rolling Stone Critics Poll. He’s been hailed as “the most poetic and lovely country singer in America.”

Yet despite all the critical praise he’s earned for a lifetime of making music, Gilmore, who returns to the Houston area Saturday at the Mucky Duck with Butch Hancock, may be best known (at least in some circles) for a scene lasting less than three minutes in the cult classic movie The Big Lebowski.

Lebowski fans (and there are many) know Gilmore for his small but pivotal role as Smokey, the pacifist bowler who may have made the mistake of stepping “over the line” in a league game against John Goodman’s Walter Sobchak and narrowly avoids entering “a world of pain.”

In a previous interview, Gilmore discussed the fame that this brief acting role has brought to him. “I tell you, as far as just sheer numbers, I'm known by a lot more people for that than for being a musician. It's really true. It's just the strangest thing,” said Gilmore. “I love that movie and I loved all the people that worked on it. But it is a very strange, unexpected phenomenon.”

Still, while there may be some fans of Smokey, Walter and the Dude at the Duck on Saturday night, odds are good that most people in attendance will be there to hear Gilmore partner with his compadre Hancock for his first Houston performance as part of a duo or solo act in more than six years.

The Mucky Duck concert will be a reunion of sorts, re-creating the magic of a hard-to-get album featuring Hancock and Gilmore titled “Two Roads” that was recorded live in Australia in 1990.

Gilmore’s most recent recordings have been with Hancock and longtime friend and collaborator Joe Ely as part of the Texas supergroup the Flatlanders, including their most recent release, Hills and Valleys.

While Houston fans have had a few opportunities to see the Flatlanders in action with a full band, Saturday’s concert offers a rare chance to see Hancock and Gilmore trade songs as an acoustic duo in the intimate confines of the Mucky Duck.

If you go, you might expect to hear favorites from Hancock’s extensive catalogue such as “West Texas Waltz,” “If You Were a Bluebird,” or “Boxcars,” as well as some of Gilmore’s most popular songs (“Dallas”, “Tonight I Think I’m Gonna Go Downtown.”)

Just don’t expect to hear “Mark it 8, Dude." For that, you’ll have to pull out your Lebowski DVD.

Jimmie Dale Gilmore and Butch Hancock will appear Saturday at the Mucky Duck, 2425 Norfolk, 713-528-5999. Show times are 7 and 9:30 pm.