Nashville's Flatland Cavalry discusses new album 'Wandering Star' and a runaway year

Flatland Cavalry, a Nashville-based country and Americana band originally hailing from Texas, has seen a breakthrough year.

They've played shows with some of the most notable musicians on the scene, including Willie Nelson, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jordan Davis and Parker McCollum.

A year of firsts hit the band like a powerful wave. They played the Grand Ole Opry for the first time. They shared the stage with their music idols. They even had a song on the recently released new "Hunger Games" prequel soundtrack, "Wool."

And now, the band known for hits "Sleeping Alone" and "A Life Where We Work Out" topped off their soaring 2023 with new music. They released their new album "Wandering Star" on Oct. 27. The project takes listeners on a storytelling journey of reflective ballads with simple and poetic lyrics.

The 13-track album has a folksy, conversational tone—there's a warmth to the music, like a friend telling you stories across the dinner table.

The band's vocalist, Cleto Cordero, spoke to The Tennessean about the new project and the band's busy year.

"It's truly amazing. We've traveled through all this time and space...I hope someone's keeping track of the mileage," Cordero said.

He noted some highlights, like spending time with Luke Combs -- getting to "meet the man behind the music," as well as songwriting with Lainey Wilson and chatting with her backstage.

At one point, Cordero remembers turning to Wilson backstage and said, "You're fearless." To his memory, she responded with something like, "You are too, man."

Like all great musicians on the road, Coredo's fearlessness and ability to "travel through time and space" with his band has made its way into the album—but also importantly, into the album's title.

With Cordero's busy touring schedule, jaunting his way around the world, he's always felt like a wandering star.

Cordero said the album's name first came to him when he was looking at a piece of Native American folk art his wife owns, depicting a man who has eagle wings in place of hands. "I thought...what would be my name my spirit name if it were given to me from somebody? And the two words 'Wandering Star' kind of jumped into the surface."

Cordero said that from there, it only felt natural the album be named that.

A personal favorite of his on the new album is "Spinnin'," one of the project's stand-out songs. He said, "It's just it's not very fast, but it's got a lot of inertia and power and it's kind of a slow spin."

The track captures the tumbling life of a well-traveled individual, blowing wherever the wind takes him. Cordero's soulful voice sings, "Not sure why tonight I thought it'd go different / Here I go again spinnin' / Who'd of known a burned-out bar / Would be hidin' place for a wandering star?"

Another of the album's stand-outs is final song "Forgotten," a heartbreaking song about losing a sense of childhood wonder. The song's simple chord structure and acoustic sound lends itself to an emotional but universal story of growing up and inevitably leaving certain things behind.

Cordero sings, "Did you forget your dandelion wishes / When we were children and you still believed in forgiveness? / Whisper a goodbyе prayer into the aethеr / Godspeed my love, one last chance that I might reach ya."

An appropriate note to close out the album, Cordero sings, "Won't you feel lonely when the last note fades and stars start fallin'?"

For more information on Flatland Cavalry, their music and their performance scheduling, fans can visit flatlandcavalry.com.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Nashville's Flatland Cavalry discusses new album 'Wandering Star' and a runaway year