Man, is Flatland Cavalry good or what?
Even in a lineup as stacked as Greenville Country Music Fest, they were clear stand outs with the easy on the ears, heavy on the heart attitude and top tier song craftmanship.
Cleto and the band are undoubtedly some of the best and most gracious people out there, hanging with us for awhile, sharing some of their wisdom, and absolutely going beyond every definition of Humble Folks in the dictionary.
They just released an EP titled Songs To Keep You Warm last week and as a whole the project certainly has the feel of colder, fall inspired weather they were shooting for, but at least for me, there’s a clear stand out of the six new tracks.
Small clips of then unreleased “If We Said Goodbye” had been floating around the internet for a little while and I immediately was sucked in by the lyrics and how the melody fit perfectly with Cleto’s range and timbre.
The addition of symphonic strings in the studio cut and to the point verses are truly a chef’s kiss on top of a stellar song that almost reads as well as it sounds, as rare as that is.
“The beer is hot, the folks are cold
The night is young and I feel old
I tried and tried, to no avail
Gave me your heart and it went to hell
And I can’t remember now whose fault it was
Not that it matters anyway
You left me standing in that driveway dust
You cranked your car and drove away
And I saw it in your eyes
But I can’t recall if we said goodbye…”
That’s that beautiful sadness Flatland has perfected.
Those feelings that well up inside, ones that we may not be willing to share or even admit exist, but on a lonely night there’s no denying their reality. And maybe that reality is the most real thing we’ve got.
Yet another example of what makes them Flatland Cavalry.
Thanks for what you do, boys.
