I sat in front of the computer just staring at it for about two hours before I knew exactly how I wanted to start this article, what I wanted to say, and how I would structure it and lay it all out. I wanted to make sure that what I wrote was not only doing Cody justice, but I also wanted to get the point across as to just how much this guy matters to country music, especially in these times. Cody Johnson Is making a difference. Not only to people’s personal lives and how they feel, react and look ahead instead of feeling lost or down, but also giving them hope, daring them to dream and appreciate and never forget what matters. He’s also bringing back what country music is, really sounds like and should always be about. Breaking the mold of the last ten or fifteen years of pop country, boy band country and generic offerings. I started out wanting this article to be one hundred percent about Cody Johnson and everything I just mentioned. However, you’re going to have to deal with about ninety percent of it being about Cody and just a little about how and why he’s mattered so much to me. Apologies in advance for that, but it is what’s coming up here and it’s exactly what I felt I had to do and what I wanted to do with this story. With that said, here we go.
It was fall of 2018, Maybe late September, when I first heard a song from Cody Johnson. I was driving back from an event that I promoted and as I usually do, I was checking out all the rock, metal and country stations I have set on my SiriusXM on the way home. Out of nowhere came this song called ‘On My Way to You’. I had been hearing about Cody for the past four to six months, but this was the first time I actually got to hear and experience some of his music. The first thing I noticed were the lyrics, I’m all about lyrics because that’s what makes you bond with a song and gives you some kind of feeling whether happy, or sad, or confused or pissed off. A good song always makes you feel something, at least if you’re the kind of person who loves music so much that you literally get goosebumps for certain songs. The next thing that caught me was his voice. Not only the fact that it was quite different from so much of the usual, it had passion. This dude really felt and believed what he was singing about. It was a matter of just a few days before I remembered that song and how I felt about it that night and I started to do some research on this guy. Thanks to Google for making it so much easier and giving me exactly what I was hoping to find.
Just like people have been doing this last year or two with going down these creatively named ‘Rabbit Holes’ with Youtube, Tiktok and others, I looked up everything about him, checked out all his prior albums, read a few different bios and really got to know this guy. I thought to myself, how the hell have I not heard about Cody until now? He’s been doing his thing for over ten years and has been building this loyal and ever-growing fan base since then. That was me and my thoughts at the end of 2018. The rest of this article will talk about what I’ve learned about him since then, how much he and his music mean to me and how genuine and deserving it all is. You need to keep in mind that I was originally a rock and heavy metal guy, thanks mom, but I’ve teetered back and forth with favorite genre’s depending on my age, what friends and peers thought was cool at the time and what was popular. Luckily, I got to the point at an early age where I didn’t care about the genre or about what anyone else thought about the music I liked. If a song made me feel something, gave me goosebumps or made me really think, I was sold. We should all feel and be this way. Being closed minded musically can only hurt yourself. There is so much talent out there and there are so many amazing artists just trying to tell their story and share who they really are with all of us who simply just want to listen and support.
2019 is when I really fell in love with Cody Johnson, who he was and what kind of country music he wanted to get out there. I caught him live for the first time in February of that year opening the show for Justin Moore and the ‘Ain’t Nothing to It’ album was released just a few weeks prior. I can’t tell you how many times I listened to that CD after it came out. Over and over and over. If it would have been a cassette tape of this musical offering, I would have gone through quite a few of them no doubt. A CD full of songs that made me sad, happy, determined, hopeful and just plain ready to live my damn life again. I was so blown away at how much this guy spoke to me, related to so much of my life and my feelings about pretty much everything that I was feeling and going through at that time. It could have been the fact that finalizing my divorce was coming up and this album became the soundtrack for how life was going at that point. It could have been the fact that after looking more into Cody, I saw how much we had in common with our pasts and changed course of dreams and our mutual love and respect for Chris LeDoux. Or maybe it was the simple fact that once again there was someone who not only loved, but respected and gave an actual shit about country music and keeping it, or better yet, making it real again. Whatever the reason, I’m thankful and I can’t tell you much I needed this guy. Or maybe I should say, how much we all need this guy. I spent the rest of 2019 and the first few months of 2020 enjoying Cody’s music, spreading the word to fellow country music loving friends, and paying close attention to the hype that was slowly but steadily building for him. I had tickets to see him live again in March of 2020 at a venue in downtown Detroit, but as we are all aware of, Covid showed up and changed the world for the next year and a half. Not only heartbreaking for music and the artists that play, but for so many of us fans who love, appreciate and need live music in our lives. ‘Where Cowboys Are King’ and ‘Doubt Me Now’ made me want to play drums again while songs like ‘Fence Posts’, ‘Ain’t Nothing to It’ and ‘With You I Am’ made me so emotional and left me thinking about what could have been with an amazing relationship that came up and blossomed in June of 2021 but died after seven or eight months due to her having to movie nine hours away for a job, and that thing we all know as ‘life happens’. It’s always there and it will catch up with you, especially when you least expect it. Cody and his music got me through the divorce, through this most recent heartbreak and through so much more.
Late 2021 saw the latest album from Cody released, and what a masterpiece it is. ‘Human’ is the title of this new one. Another album, a double album, filled again with so much reality, emotion, passion and drive. Luckily, I got to share many of these songs with the latest heartbreak and get her even more into country music before it all ended for us. She’s now a country music fan and especially a huge Cody Johnson fan. This is another release from him that could be the story of my emotional last two or three years. I thank you again, Cody. In December of 2021 I was approved for media coverage for his show in Columbus, Ohio. I was excited not only about getting to take a friend who I wanted to see Cody with me to the show, but to do a concert review and be given a few songs to grab pictures from up front for the publication. Words can’t describe what an amazing experience that whole night was. I was able to get a few great pictures of the show that night, got brought up on stage to take a few more pictures including the now famous ‘from the drum riser out to the crowd’ shots, and most importantly, I finally got to meet Cody and some of the band and crew after the show. Cody and I got to chat for a few minutes, and then took a picture. As I was walking away, I turned around and looked at him and said, hey bro, ‘Til You Can’t’ is going to be number one by spring and 2022 is totally going to be your year. He got a big smile and chuckled a bit and said “I really appreciate that, man. I hope you’re right”. Luckily, and thankfully, but not surprisingly, I was right.
Time to wrap this all up, good luck with that as I try to do it right while still hoping to keep you all interested in reading just a little bit more. Cody has accomplished so much over this last four or five years but so far in 2022, he has had a number one hot country song and number one country airplay song on Billboard in both the US and Canada with ‘Til You Can’t’, been inducted into the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame, became of one of only three other performers to sell out Rodeo Houston on opening night, the only other two are Garth Brooks and George Strait, and took home two of the three CMT awards that he was nominated for, which is huge with all things being considered about pop country dominating so much of it. He also performed live for the award show and had Broadway on its feet and in a frenzy with his performance. Just a few weeks ago he was a major part of the IHeartCountry Festival in Austin, Texas and he totally owned it. Such an amazing performance, even doing just a few songs. Lastly, coming up in just a few short months, Cody will be headlining his largest capacity venue to date in the Nashville area. A now sold out show happening at the First Bank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee. Cody Johnson is the real deal. He lives, feels and sings about the things that matter to us all, and that so many of us need in this crazy thing we call life. I went back and forth for a few days about what I should use for a headline for this story. One of them kept sticking out and it’s because yes, Cody Johnson is absolutely someone you should be paying attention to. I can’t count the reasons on one or even two hands but trust me, I’m not wrong about this one. Thank you, Cody, for being someone that this country, and the world really needs right now. You’ve got a fan, and hopefully over time a friend, in me for life. Keep doing your thing, keep being true, and keep being you. Keep chasing that dream, bro. Many of us will be doing the same because of you. #CojoNation #TilYouCant #Human
Cody’s new single, Human, goes to country radio on Monday June 6th. This is one my favorites from the new, same-titled double album. Let’s make this one go all the way to the top as well.
-Howie
