Flatland Cavalry's latest album, Wandering Star, stands as the latest milestone in its musical odyssey. The band has spent the last few years wandering through uncharted territories with its unique blend of country and Americana, establishing its name in Nashville and continuing to build its grassroots fan base. In an exclusive interview with Wide Open Country, the band's frontman, Cleto Cordero, delved into the evolution of Flatland Cavalry's sound, the influence that personal experiences have on his songwriting, the visual poetry behind the new album's artwork, and the universal themes that connect listeners from Lubbock, Texas, to Music City and beyond.
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From the country charm of their prior album Welcome to Countryland to the rootsy, rockin' vibes of Wandering Star, the band's journey mirrors the diverse landscapes they've spent touring the last few years.
"Every time we go to write a song or go into the studio, it's to serve the song and whatever little mini universe the song is," Cordero tells Wide Open Country. "Whether it's a vibe, like [in] 'Let It Roll,' which is kind of loose and janky, or something like 'Spinnin',' which is a sound that we haven't really expressed before ... I just want to bring the song to life and give it what it's requiring."
Cordero's songwriting abilities pull from distinctive moments in his life, regardless of when the inspiration strikes. "One morning, [my wife] was being really ... just not kind to herself. And sometimes my brain has a really challenging time making sense of pessimism or anything, because I feel like with our line of work ... to be out there on the road, there's not really any manual of how to get things done. [You] just gotta be eternally optimistic and see the good, or else it will defeat you," Cordero says. "So, she's being hard on herself, and I'm thinking ... I just really wish you could see yourself how I see you, and, and how your Creator sees you."
That moment turned into the 10th track on the album, "Oughta See You [The Way I Do]." "I hope people hear it [and] it makes them less self-conscious or helps them to love themselves more — that's the hope at least."
Cordero's wife and fellow singer-songwriter, Kaitlin Butts, is not only a muse for Cleto but also often lends her talent to the band with her vocals, harmonies and arrangements on both past projects and throughout the new album.
"I really love 'Mornings with You,'" Cordero says. "She added the angelic choir at the end of it, and it's really beautiful ... gravity starts to build as the song kind of floats off into the stratosphere. Somehow it gets heavier as it's getting further away."
These glimpses into their personal lives help in adding layers of authenticity and connection for the listener.
"I love how life, no matter which way you're looking at it, provides for you when you don't know what you're going to say [or] what you're going to write. And it's like, 'Hey, man, it's happening all around us.' [Life] gives it to us all the time if our eyes are open to it," he says.
Wandering Star is a perfect blend of energetic anthems and carefully woven country ballads. Although the musical influences of artists such as Leon Bridges and the Eagles can be heard on some of the tracks, the band's authentic stamp of folk and a sense of place still honor the sound Flatland has spent a decade curating. The album emerges as a collective expression, resonating with the experiences of each band member.
"Everyone's really loved 'Spinnin',' " Cordero says."I think we've all kind of lived that narrative before, especially starting out in Lubbock, at The Blue Light Live. There's a saying about that bar — that it always wins. That song has a lot of meaning to us lyrically as well as spiritually. Reed's guitar solo absolutely blew everybody away when we heard it. I'm pretty sure that it moved him to tears, moved me to tears — hearing how expressive it was. And I think stuff like that has to come from a real place."
For Flatland Cavalry, the artwork for the album is just as intentional and spiritual as the songs they create. From the windmill symbolizing their West Texas roots to the digital painting technique used by their go-to designer and owner of Lubbock's FarisWheel Productions, Scott Faris, the album's visual identity unfolds to reflect the band's core.
"We speak the same language," Cordero says. "We feel like every record is going to be the last record and you've got to pour every ounce of heart, soul, spirit into it. [Scott] had the idea for the windmill, [he said] 'I think it's the most mature piece of work yet, lyrically and musically.' We wanted that to be expressed in the artwork as well."
They started with the photo of the windmill, taken by renowned West Texas photographer Charlie Stout. Faris, who helped design most of the band's artwork for previous projects such as Homeland Insecurity and Humble Folks, used a digital painting technique to add a whimsical touch to the photograph; his additions played a vital role in determining the album's name.
"He had just brought [the artwork] to me with a star kind of wandering across the sky. I just thought it was so beautiful, it has this dreamy effect, like an image that you'd see in your mind," Cordero says. "He wanted something that would be standalone, like when you look at it, [you think] 'That's Flatland's new record.' We tortured ourselves mentally for a few weeks and [then] we both just realized it'd be pretty baller [if] we just didn't put our name on there, just put the FC and understate ourselves. The songs speak for themselves ... all that was very intentional."
Viewing the artwork alone, it's evident that the band emphasizes its commitment to showcasing small towns and landscapes that hold sentimental value. With a nod to places like the Blue Light in Lubbock or the location for their music video "Last American Summer," which was filmed in the small town of Spur, Texas, the visuals become an extension of their roots.
"We can tip our hats to the places that we come from, that's all I want to do moving forward ... is to honor the people that helped get us there," he says. "Speaking for everyone in the band, we all come from working-class humble folks, as we call ourselves, and so being able to showcase [humble folks] in the music videos is an honor."
Wandering Star invites people from all walks of life to connect with the shared human experiences embedded in each track.
"All that all songs are, to me at least, are a distillation of a spirit or soul. A feeling, an emotion that you're harnessing from real experience that you're just putting into rhyme and melody," Cordero says. "'The Provider' I imagine would really resonate with the working-class folks, which is where we come from; and 'The Best Days,' written with Billy Montana and Ashley Monroe, is like, 'Wake up to the moment, let your big heart shine.' It's about being present and enjoying the life that you have, not the life that you want or that you wish you had or that you used to have. Then you have fun moments like 'Let It Roll,' which I wrote with Randy Rogers — a huge, full circle, dream come true for me because he was my first concert that I ever attended. Sometimes, you gotta let it roll ... we're human beings, we experience real emotions. Each song is a different emotion."
This year was a pivotal one for Flatland. Along with touring alongside seasoned artists including Luke Combs and Willie Nelson, the band's song "Wool" is featured on a new major motion picture soundtrack, "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes."
"[That] situation came out of the blue," Cleto says. "Getting a song in a major film, one that I actually truly love, and where [it's] gonna be listened to by many, and not for the sake of selling a bunch of records but for influencing real human hearts ... it's my aspiration for us that as we continue to grow and evolve as musicians and artists and songwriters, as my father told me, [we] let the fame go to our heart and not to our head. So that's what I want to keep working on."
In a reflective moment, Cleto shared wisdom he's learned on the way. "See the optimism so your glass of water is half full even if it's dirty glass water," he says. And in the wise words his mother shared with him in a letter, "Enjoy the ride, Honey. Honey, enjoy the ride."
'Wandering Star' Tracklist:
"The Provider"
"The Best Days"
"Only Thing at All"
"Last American Summer"
"Mornings With You" with Kaitlin Butts
"Let It Roll"
"Spinnin'"
"Don't Have to Do This Like That"
"New American Dream"
"Oughta See You (The Way I Do)"
"A Thousand Miles an Hour"
"Burned Out Flame"
