Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero Jokes He Could Never Be A Solo Artist Because People Always Mispronounce His Name

The making of Flatland Cavalry.

“I don’t know the end from the beginning. I don’t know where it’s going to lead to or big everything gets or anything like that. As long as there’s something to say and the music still moves me and the words and the emotion that are behind them are real, then I’ll wish to continue pursuing it.”

Flatland Cavalry’s frontman, Cleto Cordero, says in the opening scenes of their new documentary, Flatland Forever: A Texas Tech Story.

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The masterminds behind “Sleeping Alone,” “A Life Where We Work Out,” and “No Shade Of Green” continue celebrating being around for a decade and some change —and, man, have these boys come a long way from their founding days at Texas Tech University.

Last year, Flatland Cavalry released Flatland Forever to celebrate their 10th anniversary. The album featured hits from each of its studio projects —Humble Folks, Homeland Insecurity, Welcome To Countryland, and Wandering Star —as well as its two EPs, Come May and Songs To Keep You Warm. It also included four new songs, some alternate versions of previously released tracks, and commentary from the band.

Looking back on how far the group has come, Texas Tech University created a film featuring footage from their early days, interview clips, and more, sharing the story of Flatland Cavalry and the road they’ve traveled to get to where they are today. While the film is well worth watching, I was particularly drawn to the origin story of Flatland as detailed by frontman Cleto Cordero:

“When I first moved to Lubbock, I was 20 years old. And I moved here with Jason, our drummer, who we have been friends since 8th grade. I wanted to start a band when I moved here because I had heard of all these guys like William Clark Green and Josh Abbott, Wade Bowen, Pat Green, ’til you go back to Buddy Holly, you know, Waylon Jennings. I was like something’s in the water, I want to go see what it’s about.”

Once Cleto arrived in the West Texas college town, he did not take long to get the ball rolling on his music while pursuing a degree in finance. While Cleto was a founding member of the group and is the frontman today, he knew that he never wanted to go out on a solo artist mission from the start. In the film, he shared a mildly comical reason behind wanting to form a band.

“I met all the guys there shortly after. Started jumping into the whole thing… I had booked a show at The Blue Light, like three months out, and didn’t have the band together yet, essentially. I knew in my soul that it wasn’t to be a solo project thing, because my name’s always been mispronounced, and I just thought the idea of a band was cool and kind of like its own thing.” 

It didn’t take long for the members of Flatland to find each other, and while some joined later after the group’s formation, the group on stage has been rolling as a unit for quite some time and is more than a band—they are family.

On June 4, 2014, Flatland hit the stage for the first time ever at The Blue Light in Lubbock, Texas, and they played for a whopping 13 people, earning $63. While Cleto recalls that first show as being “really rough and really green,” he knew it was the building blocks of something special.

Something special indeed. Long live Flatland Cavalry.

The post Flatland Cavalry’s Cleto Cordero Jokes He Could Never Be A Solo Artist Because People Always Mispronounce His Name first appeared on Whiskey Riff.