Flatland Cavalry says Wichita show will be ‘a ride from beginning to end’

Authentic is the word that comes to mind when speaking with Cleto Cordero, lead singer and guitarist for Texas band Flatland Cavalry. He seems to live and breathe country music. With three albums and two EPs under their belt (and a new album coming this fall), Flatland Cavalry is a band on the rise.

Currently in the middle of a headlining tour along with being a supporting act for country mega-star Luke Combs, there’s no rest for the band in sight. And Cordero seems perfectly happy about that.

The Eagle spoke with Cordero about the tour, the new album, and what it’s like opening for Combs a few days before their tour makes a stop in Wichita at Wave on June 9.

Flatland Cavalry’s tour schedule looks pretty grueling. The tour started in late February and doesn’t end until July. What’s the balance of wanting to be on the road and taking a break?

It has been absolutely (intense), going after it and getting it on the highway. We have a few weeks off at the end of that tour and then we start touring again after that.

And we have a new album coming out, so we’ll be pushing that and playing these songs. I think it’ll kind of be like a second wind. It won’t feel like it’s a long tour or whatever, but that’s one of my favorite parts about doing all this. It’s getting to release new music and have fans hear and fall in love with new songs and stories.

There’s a song by The Amazing Rhythm Aces that I think about often called “The End is Not in Sight.” You heard that one?

I haven’t.

Check it out. The first lines are [Cleto precedes to sing]: “Guess I knew it all along, I’d have to come back home. All this living on the road, only makes me tired and slow. Like a bird without a nest, like a stranger in the night. My soul cries out for rest and the end is not in sight.” Yeah, that’s a good tune, man.

But we’re excited to be passing through Wichita one more time.

Since you mentioned it, what’s the new album called and when is it coming out?

We recorded it in March and have plans to start putting out a single next month. We haven’t announced (the title) or anything, but I’ve had the working title of “Wandering Star.” That’s what I feel like it’s going to be.

That’s a great title.

Thank you. It just came to me. There’s a lyric in one of the songs called “Spinning.” It just seemed to be appropriate. And like I said, as much as we’re out there running on the highways, we’re like a bunch of wandering stars out there.

October is the date. It’s a batch of 13 songs. Each one’s got a little different flavor.

Like it’s been in the past, we just put out music and go back out on the road and play the shows and historically, it’s been one or two more people showing up and singing the words.

I’m eager and excited to take the songs on the road and meet more fans and hear their stories. That’s what I feel like my work really is. We can complain about being away from home, missing family, or not going to church anymore because I’m almost traveling on Sundays. But I feel like our church is Friday, Saturday night. People coming out, living their best life, whatever that is. I’m grateful and excited and proud to be a part of that.

What’s that like to go back and forth between supporting Luke Combs’ massive shows like the upcoming one at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on June 10 while also doing your own headlining tour. It’s fascinating thinking about the differences of the size and expectations.

It’s been entertaining the entire time because, I think this is like week nine, if I’m shooting from the hip, that we’re doing this. Usually on Thursday, Friday, and sometimes even Tuesday and Wednesday we’re touring on our own tour and our own ticket for Flatland fans.

Transition to Saturday nights with the Luke Combs show, we get 20 minutes and we’re the second band on the bill. But I’m grateful for the time slot. It’s definitely put us in front of a lot of ears and eyes. And Luke’s been kind enough to bring us out at the end of every show and do the encore, which we sing, “Brand New Man” by Brooks & Dunn.

It’s taken some getting used to transitioning from our show: 90 minutes, tell your stories, this is who we are. And then we have this other little thing that’s just like, “Hey, this is us, guys,” like a firecracker that burns out real quick and it’s gone, you know? But it’s still a grand opportunity.

I’m very grateful for the way this whole year has turned out. It’s busy. It’s a lot. I try to stay grounded and call back home and reach out to my mom and dad. And they always remind me, “You’re doing what you want to do and you’re living your dream.”

Whenever you put it all in perspective, I couldn’t ask for anything else to be honest with you.

Flatland Cavalry recently debuted at the Grand Ole Opry. Can you explain what that experience was like? Did it live up to the hype?

Very much, yeah. We moved to Nashville in February of 21 and on October 22 of 21 we made our debut. All of our parents and family made the pilgrimage out to Nashville, Tennessee. My parents drove, and Wesley Hall, our fiddler, his parents drove all the way from Comanche [Texas] just like old school. Everyone, all seven of my brothers and sisters, showed up.

We got two songs to tell our story, and I don’t know, it just felt amazing. It’s everything that everyone says it is. It’s the Mecca for country music. It’s for those people that really listen to music, who grew up on country, it’s like Ground Zero for telling your story and your spin on what country music means to you.

It was a great honor and a wonderful memory that I’ll remember forever, especially knowing that all my family was there. It’s one of those things you can talk about and it seems cheesy, but when you’re there and you feel it, whatever the feeling is, you know that feeling is there. And that’s the good stuff.

The title of your recent EP, “Songs to Keep You Warm,” seems like a reflection of its mood. Were you trying to create something a bit different, a little softer?

It was a collection of melancholy / sad somber tunes that have been stacked up in my little portfolio for a while and I just didn’t want to wait a whole other album cycle to release another full length, but I had this hunch to record this little batch of sad tunes, and release it in the fall.

We already had recorded a song called “Mountain Song” with Bruce Robinson out in Lockhart (Texas) at a studio called The Bunker. That super intelligence that speaks there sometimes was like, “Hey, go to Bruce’s, record five more songs, put that sucker out in the fall, call it ‘Songs to Keep You Warm’ because tape is really warm sounding, and those songs will pair with that.” That’s really how it came to be.

The studio has its limitations where it’s all analog, all on tape, no click tracks. You’re really just performing the song. I think that the nature of the songs, it just only doubled down on the emotion. As far as when you’re making a record and piece everything together, there’s no right or wrong way to do it, but for his studio it’s more like performance based. Play the song, emote the song.

He captured it on tape like they did back in the 40s. I’m grateful that they went from idea to fruition and that people seem to respond to it really kindly. It ended up being more than just a little EP. For me, at least, and seems to many people.

Last question. What can fans expect when they see Flatland Cavalry in Wichita on June 9?

We’ve overhauled the set list and added some different songs in there and moved moments around, so it’s a ride from beginning to end. It’s going to be a fun, enthusiastic, heartfelt, emotional roller coaster.

Flatland Cavalry (with The Steel Woods and Pony Bradshaw)

When: Friday, June 9

Where: Wave

Tickets: Starting at $20 at waveict.com