Cleto Cordero came to Texas Tech University to study accounting. Reid Dillon, chemical engineering, and Adam Gallegos, general studies. Jason Albers studied occupational therapy at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.
None of them are now doing what they got their degrees in. And yet Texas Tech, for its part, is celebrating them.
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Why? Because in the years since they graduated, they have followed their passion. While bearing Texas Tech’s banners broadly, and embodying its spirit of resilience, they have achieved excellence.
Together, they are better known as Flatland Cavalry. These four, along with Jonathan Saenz and Wesley Hall, comprise the band that formed in a garage in Lubbock, Texas, in 2014 and was nominated for the Academy of Country Music’s Group of the Year Award in 2024 and 2025.
Flatland Cavalry formed in Lubbock in 2012 when Cleto Cordero and Jason Albers took their high school jamming sessions to the next level while studying at Texas Tech.
Their accomplishments are now being heralded in a first-of-its-kind, university-produced documentary, “Flatland Forever: A Texas Tech Story.”
Filmed in 2024, the documentary chronicles the band’s early days as well as key moments in its recent history. Among the latter are the musicians’ February appearance at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, where they learned a song from their first album had been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America; their debut performance at Colorado’s legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in October; and their triumphant return to Lubbock, where it all began.
“Flatland Cavalry have long been unofficial ambassadors for Lubbock and Texas Tech,” said the film’s director Thomas Boyd, assistant director of audio engineering for Texas Tech’s Marketing & Communications team. “When we approached them about this idea to produce a documentary about them, their roots here in Lubbock and at Texas Tech, it was met with a resounding ‘Yes, we’ve been waiting for this call for a long time.’”
Flatland Cavalry performs during the Opry Nextstage concert at the Grand Ole Opry Monday, Dec. 9, 2024 in Nashville, Tenn.
The idea of six people crossing paths at the right time and in the right place to make such a thing happen is wildly unlikely. It’s also the perfectly serendipitous sort of thing that happens regularly at Texas Tech – and that’s why Texas Tech wants to share Flatland Cavalry’s story.
It’s the very sentiment at the heart of Texas Tech’s tagline: From Here, It’s Possible – and Flatland Cavalry has proven it true.
“I love the idea of this place where all these different souls from all different backgrounds are just coming together and mingling, and you’re going to meet someone you probably never would’ve had a chance to,” Cordero said. “I love that it brings all these different people together.”
Flatland Cavalry arrives on the red carpet before the 60th Academy of Country Music Awards at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
“Flatland Forever: A Texas Tech Story” will debut at noon Thursday (Oct. 9) on the university’s official YouTube account. Follow the account and turn on notifications to receive updates on the premiere and other special content.
About Flatland Cavalry
Since playing their first show as a group in Lubbock, Texas, in 2014, Flatland Cavalry has received widespread attention from fans, fellow artists and critics alike, with Rolling Stone declaring, “Flatland Cavalry Are at the Fore of the Red Dirt Renaissance…one of the most dynamic presences in country music,” while The Wall Street Journal praises, “This is a straightforward, upbeat electrified country-rock band,” and American Songwriter proclaims, “a dynamic representation of country music…Kris Kristofferson and John Prine’s enduring influence of folk storytelling traces through.”
The band also wrote and recorded songs for two major film soundtracks (“Twisters” and “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”), received their first and second ACM Awards nominations (Group of the Year), and had music featured on Paramount’s “Yellowstone” and “Landman” as well as Netflix’s “The Ranch.” Additionally, they’ve garnered more than 500 million streams across platforms to date, earned seven No. 1 singles on Texas Country Radio, and toured relentlessly – including countless sold-out headline dates and shows with Willie Nelson, Luke Combs, Lainey Wilson, Jordan Davis, Midland and more. Most recently, the band achieved a major career milestone, selling out their first headline arena show at Fort Worth’s Dickies Arena on New Year’s Eve.
Based in both Texas and Nashville, Flatland Cavalry is Cleto Cordero (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jason Albers (drums, percussion), Jonathan Saenz (bass, background vocals), Reid Dillon (electric guitar), Wesley Hall (fiddle), and Adam Gallegos (piano, organ, keys, mandolin, banjo, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, Mellotron).
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Texas Tech produces ‘Flatland Forever,’ a documentary about local band
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