On Flatland Cavalry Joining the Morgan Wallen Tour
On the mainstream side of the country music world, the big news on Thursday, October 30th was that Morgan Wallen released new tour dates under the ironically-titled “Still The Problem Tour.” The tour includes 23 dates, all in stadiums or large arenas, and all but one with doubled up dates in each market, speaking to the massive appeal for this tour. It will be one of the biggest live tours in all of 2026.
On the independent side of the country music world, some are curious about a few of the names listed as openers on the tour, most notably Flatland Cavalry, who will be opening for Morgan Wallen at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday, May 9th. Jason Scott & the High Heat also have opening slots on the tour in Baltimore in July.
As one might expect, alarm bells went of for some Flatland Cavalry fans when they were met with the announcement. Far and away the most liked comment on the announcement on Instagram reads, “Damn. Weird to see artists I thought were cool and have fans of their own choose to tour with Morgan Wallen.”
So should we be happy for Flatland Cavalry receiving this opportunity to open a massive show in a stadium? Or should we be disappointed they accepted it?
First off, this is not the first time Flatland Cavalry has opened a big mainstream stadium show, or even in Indianapolis. They also played Lucas Oil Stadium opening for Luke Combs in 2023. One difference is Luke Combs is very intentional in how he picks his openers, selecting artists he’s listening to like Flatland, Brent Cobb, The Wilder Blue, and others. Morgan Wallen admits he barely even listens to country.
But anyone paying attention to Flatland Cavalry knows they’ve been a favorite of mainstream country tours and festivals for years now, and it seems part of their strategy to not allow themselves to be typecast as a “Texas” or “Red Dirt” band, and instead have embraced these opportunities, not passing judgement on their fellow performers, but looking to make fans out of anyone willing to listen to their music.
In fact, you can go all the way back to 2020 and see this won’t be the first time Flatland Cavalry will share a bill with Morgan Wallen.
And this is not just about “exposure” for Flatland Cavalry. It’s an opportunity to expose mainstream/Morgan Wallen fans to better music, and who knows, might make them converts. For Jason Scott and the High Heat, this is arguably an even bigger opportunity for them since they’ve never received one of these opportunities before. Neither Jason Scott nor Flatland are hardcore traditional country. They have a sound that can appeal to the mainstream, making them important bridge bands over the country music cultural divide.
Is Flatland Cavalry somehow condoning or endorsing Morgan Wallen’s worst offenses by lending their name to this tour? Of course not. All that said, if I were Flatland Cavalry, would I have accepted the Morgan Wallen opportunity, and taken whatever heat that came with it? Probably not. As one commenter said, “Yeah the exposure is nice and they deserve to get that bag, but Flatland and all the other West Texas/Red Dirt acts came up as a result of people looking for real music back when all Nashville was pushing was Tractor Rap and Bro Country.”
It’s time for Flatland Cavalry to rise out of the shadows of others, especially someone like Morgan Wallen. But from the beginning, Cleto Cordero and Flatland Cavalry have wanted to create an open-minded and welcoming environment for everyone through their music. And when they say “open-minded” and “everyone,” this isn’t just lip service. They mean it. Morgan Wallen fans deserve to be exposed to good music too.
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October 30, 2025 @ 12:04 pm
Jason Scott has got some good stuff… Definitely approaches mainstream sometimes but other times goes a whole different direction. I recoomend his American Grin album and I’m a picky mf.
October 30, 2025 @ 12:58 pm
I saw Jason Scott & the High Heat at BBR in 2023. They have a lot of energy and put on a great performance.
October 31, 2025 @ 8:39 pm
Typically the articles here are great but this just seems like a shallow plug at wallen veiled behind an excuse for tbe article. While wallen musically country wise has kind of left the building of late he still has a good library of country hits. Also hes the one of the biggest acts on the planet. So yea this mostly unheardof band nationally should be very excited and honored to be opening for wallen.
October 31, 2025 @ 8:50 pm
Sorry i wasnt responding to you, it was an accident
October 30, 2025 @ 12:20 pm
That instagram comment “Damn. Weird to see artists I thought were cool and have fans of their own choose to tour with Morgan Wallen” has 49 likes as opposed to the 6,439 likes the post itself has. A reply to that comment holding the opposite position has 21 likes. I looked at some of the profiles of the 49 likes and half are high school and younger college-aged women.
The chirping of a small minority doesn’t reflect the thoughts of the majority.
October 30, 2025 @ 1:15 pm
The sentiment of Flatland Cavalry fans over the announcement was mixed, and I used the comment as an example of some of the sentiments being shared. I’m not saying it’s the vast majority of Flatland Cavalry fans, but saying it’s a “small minority” is probably not fair either.
October 30, 2025 @ 1:24 pm
49 out of the 6,436 likes on the post itself is less than 1%. If they were ratio’d with that reply (meaning the comment received more likes than the post itself) then I would buy your point.
October 30, 2025 @ 3:03 pm
That’s a ridiculous use of statistics Strait. You’re assuming that every single person who liked the post also navigated to the comments, saw that comment, and actively decided not to like it when we know very few people actually read comments as a percentage. Some of the people who liked the post did so before that comments was left. How many people passed up the post and DIDN’T like it? As someone who pours through these analytics numbers on a daily basis, you’re way off assuming one number has anything to do with the other.
There is a percentage of Flatland Cavalry fans who saw they were performing with Morgan Wallen, and were disappointed. None of us know what that percentage is, though I’m very strongly confident it’s north of 1%.
October 30, 2025 @ 6:43 pm
What the hell is your problem? You made that bold of an assertion off of 49 likes on one comment. That’s ridiculous.
October 30, 2025 @ 7:23 pm
Strait,
You seem to be under the impression that the entire premise of this article is based around one comment on Instagram, and the amount of likes that it received, when in truth that was simply used as an example of some of the negative sentiment surrounding this announcement within Flatland Cavalry fans. There are another dozen or so comments in that same Instagram thread taking a negative stance on it. One of them, I also quoted in this story. There are negative sentiments about it on the SCM Facebook page under this post. The whole way I found out about this story is by people reaching out with emails to me saying “WTF,” and posts on X. You can try to undermine the validity of that one comment all you want and call me crazy. But the simple fact is some people have a problem with Flatland Cavalry playing with Morgan Wallen. I also don’t find this at all surprising. It’s to be expected due to how polarizing Morgan Wallen is.
Furthermore, the premise of this article is not, “Random Instagram User Leaves Comment, Gets Most Likes.” It’s actually to talk fans through the process of how we should regard these situations when independent artists get mainstream opportunities. I think I was very judicious and nuanced in presenting the pros and cons, including why people should not really be alarmed over this. Forget the stupid Instagram comment. It was simply a real-world example.
October 31, 2025 @ 6:09 am
The premise of the article is how you quoted a comment with 49 likes to match your confirmation bias.
October 31, 2025 @ 7:46 am
Strait,
I appreciate your readership and your insight in comments. But sometimes man, you just won’t let go. I know you think this article is about that one comment. It’s not.
October 31, 2025 @ 6:13 am
I’m beggining to think your email inbox is basically spam from human tampons.
October 31, 2025 @ 1:19 pm
Amazing you can explain something rationally and calmly and the response you get it “GAAAAHHHH.”
November 4, 2025 @ 3:25 pm
Yeah, and a lot of them were woman!
October 30, 2025 @ 12:22 pm
Nah, you never turn down any opportunity like that.
Unless Morgan’s people require them to cover HARDY tracks as part of the gig, take the money and hope you impress 10% of the audience not on their phones.
October 31, 2025 @ 8:50 am
I’m playing a gig tonight with a guy who has a Flatland Calvary song in his list…and also Morgan Wallen songs. This dude is in no way some Country purist – a third of his setlist includes Zach Bryan songs. I can’t stand Morgan Wallen’s voice and songs but I believe people who like Morgan Wallen are all put into the same box when they like other better music too.
October 31, 2025 @ 12:18 pm
I believe it.
Wallen gets the Creed/Nickelback treatment because he’s an easy target for it. Twenty years from now, country music fans are going to look at you like an idiot if you refuse to admit that tracks like “Thought You Should Know” and “Sand in my Boots” have always been great songs.
October 30, 2025 @ 1:01 pm
Great news for Flatland Cavalry. Great exposure and they will win many new fans with their music.
October 30, 2025 @ 1:44 pm
I agree, as long as they stay true to their roots and sound I generally support artists getting needed exposure. Even if it is for a mainstream artist, we want to see the struggling artist have more avenues for revenue. It’s a business after all, and if they don’t turn a profit eventually they’ll disappear.
October 30, 2025 @ 3:49 pm
I agree Blackwater, they are great guys and aren’t selling out, why would you not take the opportunity as long as they are not told what to play. It’s great exposure for them and need to take advantage of every offer to expand their base. They are all educated guys and are savvy as to what they are doing!
October 30, 2025 @ 2:10 pm
It’s fine. They could open for Luke Bryan or Kane Brown or Jelly Roll or any other mainstream act that can fill a football stadium and it would still be fine. You don’t pass up an opportunity to have your music heard by 60,000 people who might have never sought it out on their own, ever.
October 31, 2025 @ 3:40 pm
This!
October 30, 2025 @ 3:13 pm
No fan of Morgan Wallen. Less about his misdeeds and more the music i dislike. Most of my musical heroes were reprobates. Thus I learned to separate the art from the character. ( I know that’s unheard of in this day, when the most important thing to judge a person on is their views.)
Nonetheless, the masses have moved on from the Wallen hate. Clearly the guy resonates with a large group of folks and I respect that. All that said, Flatland Cavalry has a decent opportunity to play on the big stages. Go for it. Clearly a majority of their fans doesn’t care. Historically there have been some odd and disparate pairings on tours and people survive. I recall when Haggards tour opener was Neko Case. Nothing wrong with Neko, she’s pretty talented. But it was two very different fan bases. Nonetheless it worked out. Im sure Neko picked up a few more fans along the way. Probably the weirdest one I ever heard of was Jimi Hendrix opening for The Monkees! Now that was no doubt a trainwreck! Hahaha
October 30, 2025 @ 3:31 pm
No doubt a good portion of the audience will say “Like OMG, what is this??!!” “Bobby Bones doesn’t play this on his show!!!!”
October 30, 2025 @ 3:36 pm
It’s an easy business decision. I’m going to go out on a limb and say they’re being well compensated, and getting to play in front of many new fans that, if even a few start following, buying merch, headline tix etc….it’s a no brainer. Not sure how many of you know they put up a documentary on YouTube a few weeks ago. Flatland Forever: A Texas Tech Story. It’s great, go give it a watch. Looking forward to a new record too!
October 31, 2025 @ 4:45 am
As an alum of Tech a long with my two daughters, I’m proud of their success, watched the video the day it came out, it’s really well done.
They played a show on campus for home coming and had Randall King open up, my daughter sent me a bunch of clips, looked like a mighty fine time.
The Cavalry was also just inducted into the West Texas Walk of Fame in Lubbock, you won’t believe how many legends are on the walls, check it out sometime.
October 31, 2025 @ 7:44 am
I watched that documentary, and was frankly a little disappointed. It wasn’t bad, but the way they completely erased the original fiddle player Laura Jane Houle from the entire thing I felt was unfair. Laura was a significant part of the band early on, went to Texas Tech, graduated with a Master’s in music and a PhD, and they wouldn’t even show her in band photos, let alone mention her. She was part of the band, and part of their story, and part of Texas Tech. It felt more like an infomercial than a true documentary.
October 31, 2025 @ 8:10 am
That was fs embarrassingly petty considering so much of the footage was raw, like someone prolly worked hours to crop her out.
Lotsa ppl scratching their heads abt that one.
Humble folks, mmmhmm.
October 31, 2025 @ 3:01 pm
don’t know the details but I’m sure there is a reason, as a friend of mind says, everything affects everything.
October 30, 2025 @ 3:39 pm
I think it’s great.
October 30, 2025 @ 3:50 pm
So, Cleto & Co. are opening for MW.
Who cares?
It is awesome to see that they will have more opportunity to gain new fans. Love Cleto, and Kaitlyn.
And, I’m sorry, what’s that? The Turnpike Troubadours are doing what?
That’s what i thought …
October 30, 2025 @ 5:39 pm
Is this a dig on Turnpike ? Cmon now. Cleto is great but is a surface level songwriter compared to Felker. It’s like comparing Wally Sczerciak to Larry Bird.
The country was cold with the sun westward sinking..
It’s good to be back in this place .
October 30, 2025 @ 7:03 pm
Am hearing you, but right now, interested in the article Trig just posted about Kaitlin.
Getting ready to read it …
October 30, 2025 @ 6:48 pm
Pay no mind to the folks on the sidelines!
Flatland Forever
October 30, 2025 @ 11:48 pm
The artists with a red dirt sound or generally more traditional, rootsy sound that are under contract with MakeWake Artists generally seem more fearless in playing concerts and touring with mainstream artists. Perhaps these artists share a generally more open, welcoming attitude towards music? But I don’t know if the mainstream audience can really relate to this music.
October 31, 2025 @ 7:35 am
Yeah, a lot of these independent/mainstream collaborations are being facilitated by the mainstream failing to develop talent, and large booking/management companies plugging in independent/traditional artists where mainstream up-and-comers would normally go. This has created some very curious curation at times, and one of the reasons we’re seeing certain festivals fail.
October 31, 2025 @ 6:10 am
Had this article been titled “On Turnpike Joining the Morgan Walnut Tour” I believe heads across SCM nation would be exploding in collective fashion. That’s not happening here and I’m neutral on it really because Flatland crossed the threshold from talented little Texas band to more mainstream crossover probably 4 years ago now. When my daughter found Zach Bryan in college Flatland was right behind. They currently have more monthly Spotify listeners (3M) than Turnpike (2.2M) and Jinks (2.8M) and this will only make that gap wider. But this is a way bigger deal for Jason and the High Heat as the potential bump is exponentially greater assuming some portion of MW’s audience actually has the courtesy to show up and shut up for the opener. Now whether or not Cleto or Jason can get themselves to yell the words “Who’s ready for Morgan?!!!” Without vomiting in their mouths a bit remains to be seen.
October 31, 2025 @ 6:38 am
Easy on the ears, heavy on the heart… that motto can touch just about anybody.
October 31, 2025 @ 7:30 am
Not a Morgan Wallen fan, but I get why he’s popular. Flatland Cavalry is fine but I don’t think they’re great…certainly better than Morgan Wallen’s sound and more authentic than him, though.
My conspiracy theory here is that this is going to be used as a pivot for Morgan Wallen. While what Morgan Wallen has done so far has worked for him, it’s only going to work to a certain point. There are diminishing returns at some point if you keep doing the same thing over and over…it’s like AC/DC putting out the same album for 30+ years, which has been the criticism against them.
I would bet that Morgan Wallen’s next record isn’t a sprawling, bloated double record that is super polished, has some trap beats. He’s 32 years old, he’s not 25 anymore…and anyone who has some semblance of introspection knows that you’re a vastly different person at 32 than you were at 25.
My conspiracy theory/prediction is that Morgan Wallen is going to make a shift towards a more Americana/Country/Red Dirt/Outlaw, whatever the hell you want to call it sound and move away from what’s worked for him so far. He’s going to be wanted to be viewed as genuine, real deal artist and have the same sort of cache that Zach Bryan has. It’s like when Guns n Roses tried to get Nirvana to open up for them…at that point, Guns N Roses was older, bloated and Axl knew Cobain was the real deal and wanted to align himself with exactly that. Cobain wasn’t having it, though. No analogy is completely perfect, but that’s how I see it.
Morgan Wallen is going to attempt to shift the perception of who he is as a person and an artist and aligning himself with a band that’s well regarded by true country enthusiasts is going to be the start.
November 1, 2025 @ 6:53 am
This is great for Flatland! Awesome even!
November 1, 2025 @ 10:43 am
Have no problem with it. I think Morgan Wallen is a tool and a racist (almost like hes the problem) but in the end its a business, an artist can only spend so much of their energy on taking stands, at a certain point Flatlands got to put food on their table so I hope they make the most od the opportunity.
I dont really think Flatland is undiscovered at this point however, they’ve got 3Million monthly plays on Spotify and their biggest hit has more than 130 million plays. Thats puts them somewhere in between Brothers Osbourne and Brandi Carlisle for reference
November 1, 2025 @ 3:38 pm
Wallen isn’t a racist.
Stop crying wolf.
November 3, 2025 @ 6:14 am
I have no problem with it. I don’t much care for Morgan Wallen, but this is how it’s done in the music business. I read recently that Bob Seger opened for Kiss in the 70’s at some point. what kind of sense did that make? nowadays no one either brings it up, or has forgotten all about it. let Flatland go on tour with whoever they want. the money and exposure is a good thing for them. unless I’m missing something about the Flatland that makes this weirder than I realize. I saw them a few years ago at a small venue, they seem like a pretty straight forward apolitical country band looking to get as many fans as possible.