{"id":243648,"date":"2026-04-10T13:59:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243648\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T13:59:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T13:59:07","slug":"flatland-cavalry-are-all-texas-heart-on-new-album-work-of-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/243648\/","title":{"rendered":"Flatland Cavalry Are All Texas Heart on New Album ‘Work of Heart’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tAfter spending a decade building both a catalog and a fanbase in Texas honky-tonks and dive bars, Flatland Cavalry<\/a> have an unshakeable foothold in country music. The band\u2019s frontman, Cleto Cordero, calls back to the components of a Texas friend\u2019s two-part test for determining a cowboy\u2019s credentials: 1. Did you work your fucking ass off? 2. Are you the most authentic version of yourself you can be?<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPlaying shows with Flatland feels like that,\u201d Cordero tells Rolling Stone. \u201cRiding something wild, and you\u2019re gonna get to the end of it eventually. If we get off the deck knowing that we\u2019ve been walking the tightrope and going for it, loving our audience, bringing people together, and having fun, that\u2019s when we got it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tOver the past two years, the six-piece from Texas have been doing a lot of that. The same soft-spoken, approachable nature that endeared them to Lone Star State fans has translated to crowds on major arena tours opening for Lainey Wilson. They\u2019ve landed ACM Award nominations, including one this year for Group of the Year<\/a>, and a gold-certified single. Last month, Flatland dropped the 12-track Work of Heart, the band\u2019s first true studio album since 2023.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a collection of songs that have been written while we\u2019re touring and taking our songs on the road,\u201d Cordero says. \u201cIt\u2019s things we\u2019ve experienced, emotions, and real life. That\u2019s always been our process: Write a bunch of songs, see which ones gravitate together until you have a batch of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen this batch came together, Cordero noticed the word \u201cheart\u201d appeared often. He was dismayed at first and worried that he needed to write more songs. But one titled \u201cWork of Heart\u201d suggested to him that just maybe the idea of the human heart was the centerpiece of the LP. \u201cIt was the gravity that was pulling all the other songs in,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\n\tFlatland is Cordero, drummer Jason Albers, bassist Jonathan Saenz, guitarist Reid Dillon, fiddle player Wesley Hall, and keyboardist Adam Gallegos. It has been a tight-knit group since its 2014 inception \u2014\u00a0Hall joining the group in 2018 makes him the only member not considered a founder.<\/p>\n

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\n\tIn mid-March, the band took a break from preparing for an in-store performance at Austin\u2019s Waterloo Records to reflect on their journey and the potential they see in Work of Heart. A few weeks earlier, they had been with Wilson, opening a run of sold-out arena shows in Australia. Kaitlin Butts<\/a> \u2014\u00a0Cordero\u2019s wife and one of the fastest-rising stars in country music \u2014 also played on the tour. It was a hectic period, to say the least.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI struggle with living in the moment a lot,\u201d says Flatland\u2019s guitarist Dillon. \u201cI tend to be anxious, looking at the future and looking at the past too much. I was telling Cleto that I\u2019m really enjoying the ride a little bit, and not putting too much pressure on myself. I\u2019m always worried about where we are going. But I look back at all the cool stuff we\u2019ve done and realize that\u2019s happening right now, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFlatland recorded Work of Heart at Matchbox Studios in Austin, not far from where this conversation took place. They worked with Dwight Baker \u2014 the same producer who collaborated with the band on 2023\u2019s Wandering Star \u2014\u00a0to craft an album that at once feels like vintage Flatland<\/a> and brand-new territory. The band\u2019s motto of \u201ceasy on the ears, heavy on the heart\u201d is evident, but there\u2019s also a commitment to elevate the music. The two-four backbeat that first caught the attention of Texas dance halls pushes it all along, as does the twang in Cordero\u2019s voice, but the band is challenging itself. The guitars now have a rock edge; there\u2019s more force to the drums.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe would all get in a room, a lot of chefs, and a lot of great ideas,\u201d Albers says. \u201cBut we were just having a hard time figuring out exactly where to start them. Everyone has grown musically and talent wise. It feels like we celebrated ten years of Flatland Forever and the page has turned. We\u2019re a pro band, straight-up.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\tWhether that translates to a string of country hits is, for the most part, irrelevant. Enough Flatland Cavalry fans are convinced this is the best country band in America to keep the group in that conversation indefinitely. During a recent showcase in Nashville, far from their native Lubbock, for Country Radio Seminar week, Flatland drew a rabid crowd at a downtown distillery eager to hear old faithfuls and new songs.<\/p>\n

\n\tWork of Heart\u2019s first track, \u201cGone,\u201d is a highlight. It features Cordero reflecting on the places Flatland has taken him \u2014\u00a0complete with a reference to Butts and getting drunk in Dublin, Ireland \u2014\u00a0before he reconciles his travels with, \u201cBy the time I make sense of it, I\u2019ll be moving on like you ain\u2019t never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhether it\u2019s recording a song in the studio, what song we\u2019re gonna play that day, what town we\u2019re in, what market \u2014 am I gonna wear a Texas shirt? \u2014\u00a0whatever my intuition is telling me, I\u2019m doing,\u201d Cordero says. \u201cWe get to live one day at a time, and this is about however we go about living this day. That song is about being gone. We started there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat feeling extends to Cordero\u2019s home life. He and Butts have been something of a country music power couple since they moved to Nashville in the wake of the pandemic. Even their dog, Hank Butts<\/a>, has a solid social media following.<\/p>\n

\n\tIt\u2019s not lost on Cordero that Butts\u2019 star has never shined as brightly as it is right now. Not long after Work of Heart dropped, Butts was featured in a major role in Ella Langley\u2019s video for \u201cChoosin\u2019 Texas.\u201d <\/a>According to Cordero, their household is a microcosm of what he wrote and sang about in \u201cGone.\u201d Home has become less of a place to wrap their minds around their mutual success as it is a retreat from the chaos surrounding their careers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe have these things in our pockets that open up the world to our domain,\u201d Cordero says, gesturing to his phone. \u201cWe just have to figure out the balance. Out of respect for business and artistry and her sovereignty, I kind of stay out of it. But she\u2019s having a moment. I\u2019m just trying to be patient and help however I may.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFlatland have a whirlwind of a spring on tap in the wake of Work of Heart. Their schedule is full through August, largely headlining but with occasional slots opening for Morgan Wallen and Dwight Yoakam sprinkled in for good measure.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe band says that despite their rush of confidence, they\u2019re not hitting the road with elevated expectations. Cordero asserts that he and Flatland are still in the game for the sake of the song.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\u201cWhen a strong emotion passes through me, it\u2019s translating that emotion to this thing that someone else can hear and go, \u2018Oh, I felt that too,’\u201d he says. \u201cIt connects us, and that\u2019s what has kept me doing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tJosh Crutchmer is a journalist and author whose book (Almost) Almost Famous<\/a> is available now via Back Lounge Publishing.<\/p>\n