Cody Bradley

Josh Mattei chats with Cody Bradley!

Content warning: This episode includes discussion of suicide and may be difficult for some listeners. Please use your discretion. If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
This episode contains conversation about suicide and
self harm. If you or someone you know is
struggling with mental health, remember that help is available.
You can reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by calling
or texting 988. This week on Country on Deck.
My very first Riders round in Nashville, I sat between Cameron

(00:22):
Marlowe and John Morgan and I don't know how.
Much what that's crazy. That's that's a big first
riders. Round I rode to the riders round
with John Morgan and I left withJohn Morgan and what on the way
home I said, man, I think I'm just going to stay in the army.
And as I was get he didn't say anything.
And then as I was getting out, he said, all right brother,
holler at me tomorrow. And then he goes also shut up

(00:43):
and get better. And I said all right.
I said OK. Discover the stories of rising
country stars Country on Deck with Josh Maddie.

(01:03):
Kick off your boots and settle in country on this about to
begin. Josh Maddie's here.
Stars on the rise. Voices of hope, dreams in their
eyes, singer songwriters storieson phone.

(01:27):
Hearts are wandered, hearts thatare bone.
But does he rose, She writes. Angelines captures her journey
chairs their fights. Country on deck.
We're tuning in Well, the new star stories are coming in from

(01:52):
a small town dream. They're gonna take you away.
Country on deck was just. Mad A.
Hello and welcome to another episode of Country on Deck,
where I sit down with today's rising country stars and help

(02:13):
you discover the stories behind their music.
I'm your host, Josh Maddie, and I'm back at my desk in
Connecticut with another rising country star on the show this
week. But first, if you missed our
conversation from last week, we sat down to talk to Daniel Kim
Etheridge. We really love talking to
Daniel. Loved all the stories he told

(02:35):
us, especially the story about Brad Paisley.
Callie and I, we went to the Nashville Songwriters Hall of
Fame induction gala last night. And it's funny, I was sitting
there and Brad is so humble and so gracious.
He goes, I can't believe you letan impostor into your Hall of
Fame. He goes, I just wanted to be all

(02:56):
of you. He was like, I just wanted to
come to Nashville and be you. You know, you the songwriters.
And he's talking about everyone else in the room.
Clearly, we all know Brad Paisley is not talking about me.
Like, Brad Paisley is not sayinghe wanted to be me.
But I am at least on my taxes. I am a professional songwriter
by trade, right? Like, that's what I do.
And to hear Brad Paisley talk about and who's one of my

(03:18):
favorite country artists, to hear him say, like, yeah, I just
wanted to be one of the songwriters.
I just wanted to be 1 of you. It like, it genuinely like moved
me to tears. You can listen to our entire
conversation with Daniel Kim Etheridge.
That conversation is streaming below this episode on the
platform that you're listening on.

(03:39):
And don't forget to hit that follow button on the platform
that you're listening on right now.
We put out brand new episodes with new rising country stars
every single Friday, and we don't want you to miss one.
And if you're already subscribedto the show, first, thank you so
much for doing that. I really appreciate it.
And 2nd, consider sharing the show with a friend so that they

(04:01):
can listen every single Friday just like you do on the show
this week. I first learned about this
artist from a couple of friends who saw a show at the sub base
in Groton, CT. He put on a fantastic show for
for our Navy men and women. And after the show, they reached
out to me and they said, Josh, you got to reach out to this

(04:21):
guy. We were just blown away by by
his performance and we'd love tolearn a little bit more about
him and I'm so excited I was able to connect with him and
invite him on the show. He's from Georgia, he served in
the military, he served our country.
He's been in Nashville for for quite a while now.
He just dropped a brand new EP called Guess I'm Still

(04:44):
Heartbroke back on September 5thon the show this week.
Excited to have him on Cody Bradley.
Cody, thanks so much for coming on, man.
Yeah, I just want to say thank you so much, the Country on Bat
for having me here. I'm Cody Bradley and I
appreciate you guys for listening.
The first time I I discovered you, a couple of friends went to

(05:04):
your concert at the sub base down the street from where I
live in in Groton. I was getting kind of FOMO.
I was like, oh wow, you guys sawa concert at the sub base that
sounded sounded really great. Dude, it was crazy because we
had we had been in Rhode Island the day before beautiful day
sound check. And then literally 30 minutes
before I went on the bottom fellout and I was like, Yo, I want

(05:28):
to play. And I talked to the bass
commander and I was like, if there's no lightning, like
please let me play. I had my headphones on or I had
my, my in ears in and my intro started rolling.
And then they cut the show and it it, I don't think it stopped
raining for the rest of the year.
Oh geez. Then we came to Groton the next
day and it rained all day long. Then it finally let up and they

(05:52):
it was so wet and stuff. They're like, yeah, we're not
going to. We might not do it.
And that base commander was like, no, we're getting after
it. We're these boys are putting on
a concert. And I was like, let's go.
So both those shows were were military and Navy base, base.
Yes, both of those were. I wish I could remember what the

(06:13):
what the event was called, but Imean, it was an NWR event and it
stemmed I guess from from Washington.
And they did a bunch of stuff with, I played a few of those.
I played some out in California with Russell Dickerson also.
That's cool. Because my background, I was in
the Army for 8 1/2 years. So the booking agent that I'm,

(06:36):
that I was with at the time, they, yeah, they just hooked it
up, you know, which is awesome. I mean, I love going out there.
I get treated really well. Obviously it's military, so it's
professional. Are these type of shows, do you
do them often as a way of kind of giving back or or were those
just two shows that kind of popped up on the schedule or is
this like a routine thing that you do?
Man, I would love to do it over and over again.

(06:59):
The problem with the government is they don't know where the
where they want to spend their money and then when they do it,
they move it back and forth. So I don't even know if they did
that this year. I didn't get any calls about it.
Usually I would. I did 4/4 MWR or MWR shows that
year a year ago. I didn't do any this year.

(07:21):
Well, I, I do want to thank you for, for your service.
That's awesome that you that youserved and that, that's, that's
some important work. Thank you.
I appreciate that. Your your road to the military
that was kind of paved through some tragedy.
It absolutely was. I I grew up in a small town and
my my sister died. She died before I was born, but

(07:43):
she was born premature. And then my mother and father
both committed suicide at different times.
And then right before I was going to go into the military, I
had maybe kind of talk myself out of it, was going to stay in
my hometown, you know? And then one of my best friends
growing up ended up committing suicide.
And I was like, I have to get out of here.

(08:03):
And I just started running, running towards anything that
could keep my mind off of that stuff.
And the military is a good way to do that as long as you keep
yourself busy and you, you do what they're they expect of you.
And then you go above and beyond.
And that you get, you get betteras a person.
And then you learn a lot of things about yourself.
And also you get to to heal by by working towards a greater

(08:26):
'cause I think. That sounds like some really, I
can't even imagine. That sounds like some really,
really rough times. Like how did you persevere
through that? To be honest, the, so I was, I
was young when my, my mother or when my father committed suicide
and I was like 2 years old. So I grew up without a father,

(08:47):
you know, and my, my family was really good about making sure
that I didn't need anything froma like a, my mom was a great dad
and my grandmother's were great dads and my grandfather's were
great dads, you know what I mean?
But then when she took her life in in 2009, I don't think it hit
me for a couple years. I was just telling someone about

(09:07):
this the other day. I don't think it hit me for a
couple years. I was, I was still in high
school. I was just, I was 15, about to
turn 16. So then I got my truck and I was
with my friends and we're doing,we're playing ball and always
running and like having a good time.
And then I think once I graduated, life started hitting
me like, what am I going to do? I had applied to the University

(09:29):
of Georgia, good there. And then I just decided I, I
really needed to find a way out of a small town and go into a
college town. Was it probably going to be the
structure that I needed, you know?
Do you feel like the the military kind of saved your life
at at a perfect time when you kind of needed it?
1,000,000% and I tell people that all the time.

(09:49):
I'm not sure that I would do it again because it just had some
of the things that I had to go through, you know, but I
definitely wouldn't change it where I'm at now, if that makes
sense. It definitely made me a, a, a
way better man. It, it grew me up where I might
not have had that structure growing up.
It, it definitely helped me growup and, and become someone who

(10:10):
who could be dependable and, andthink critically and.
Were you dabbling in music alongside of the military or did
the music come after? I got my first guitar when I was
like 12 and then I learned the four chords in the G shape like
everybody does. Played those, you know, didn't
understand it. And then when my brother died, I

(10:31):
kind of just started writing songs to to help me kind of get
through that and I'll posted a few online and then I remember
when he actually died, we were all down in my hometown and I
wasn't good at guitar, but I could pick a few things some
some old Hank Williams junior songs, stuff like that.
And we would all just sit there and for for a little bit nobody

(10:53):
thought about how sad we were. We were all just singing country
music and we're all happy and smiling and laughing.
And for those 3 1/2 minutes, nothing mattered but that.
We were all together having a great time.
And I remember looking at one ofmy buddies right before the
funeral, me, like you think of aguy of the Army, I could do this
for a living. And he said, well, you're not

(11:15):
good enough, he said. But you got the personality.
And I said, well, I can get goodenough.
So that's kind of what was the driving force behind like taking
that kind of leap of faith. I really would say that the
driving force this sound, I don't.
I don't know how this is going to sound on the podcast, but my
whole family dying has made me alittle fearless if that makes
sense. Losing everything, all it, you

(11:37):
know, 1 by 1. I I can only imagine there's not
much more to lose. I think as long as you, you stay
a good person and you and you, you, you're chasing things for
the right reasons and you're nothurting people on the way up or
you're not going to hurt anyone on the way down.
You know, I think that being fearless is a, is a great trait
to have because it is scary. I remember getting out of the
military and coming down to Nashville and playing and man, I

(12:00):
wasn't, I wasn't very good. I was still in the military at
this time actually. And I say not very good.
I was probably good in my hometown, but to be in Nashville
in the big leagues, I mean, my very first Riders round in
Nashville, I sat between CameronMarlow and John Morgan and I
don't know how. Much what?
That's crazy. That's that's a big first riders

(12:22):
round. I rode to the riders round with
John Morgan and I left with JohnMorgan and what on the way home
I said, man, I think I'm just going to stay in the army.
And as I was get he didn't say anything.
And then as I was getting out, he said, all right brother,
holler at me tomorrow. And then he goes also shut up
and get better. And I said, all right.
I said OK. That's Nashville right there.

(12:43):
Those are some big names to be out of first writer sound with.
Oh, yeah, And not knowing who Dylan Marlowe or Cameron Marlowe
was and hearing him sing right beside me, I was like, can I
even do this? And then you, and then you get
better and you realize that it's, it's all, it's all
different. It's, it's not all a huge voice.

(13:04):
It's not all the best guitar player.
It's, it's all of those things put into one, you know?
Your your first single release LA that was written with John
Morgan. I wrote that with John Morgan.
I actually wrote the second songever released, too.
Kind of, If we don't with John Morgan and my buddy Tommy
O'Keefe. That's cool.
That's awesome. How's it feel to to see him kind

(13:27):
of start to take off, like, especially after that song with
Jason Aldean, like see a good buddy take off the way he has?
Well, what, what's awesome is I have probably 100 demos that
nobody will ever hear of songs that he's written that are
literally some of the best songsyou've ever heard in your life.
And since I've met him, he's been, I mean, he's a great
guitar picker. He can sing, he can sing with

(13:49):
anyone. He can do anything he produces,
he can do anything musically, plays every instrument.
And to see him finally start to get the recognition that he
deserves that, I mean, that fills my heart with joy.
I've, I've been saying, I've been saying his name since
before people knew who he was. And I'm so glad that he's gotten
the opportunity with Jason and Jason's team to, to ride all

(14:11):
these hits and have these numberones, have Grammys and, and now
have his own #1 as an artist andbe on these big tours.
And because, I mean, he's amazing.
You're next, right? I don't know if if that's what
it is, but we ain't. We're not going to slow down
until it happens. Listening to some of your music,
I definitely could see you taking off out of nowhere for

(14:32):
sure. Thank you, brother.
It's I mean, it's a grind and and nothing that you nothing
that you do that's worth it comes easy.
If you if you blow up too early,you're not ready and if you blow
up too late, you might be done with it.
You know, I'm here and I'm I'm excited about I, I, I do enjoy
the ride. It's tough, but I know one day I
won't get to do all the little things that I'm doing now

(14:55):
because the job changes as you grow.
And I'm just excited where I am now.
And I'm, I, I look forward to the future, but I, I try to stay
grounded a little bit. See.
As they say, it's all in God's time.
You you played baseball in the military like an adult league in
the military, I. Played.
Yeah, I played. I actually the Nashville

(15:15):
Dollies, I'm going to play with them next year.
They played their World Series game last night.
Oh wow their their uniforms lookreally cool.
They're awesome and they're all great artists and writers and
stuff. So they're they're awesome guys,
but the and I think they won like 11 to 2, so they're really
good too. But yeah, I played in North

(15:37):
Carolina, I played adult league and then in Tennessee I played
for two years. But those are two completely
different levels of ball. In North Carolina, I was an All
Star shortstop every year and then I come here and they put me
on 3rd. I made the All Star team one
time. I mean, they're just so good

(15:59):
here. Everybody in Middle Tennessee
who plays adult league stuff, Everybody on my team was either
in the minor leagues or played high level college baseball.
I was the only one who went to the Army.
A lot of talent out there. You know, she's full of it.
What? What was it like being stationed
in Germany for a little bit of time?

(16:19):
I actually wasn't stationary. Those were technically
operational deployments because we would go there and then run
missions throughout Europe from Germany.
But I was there for over a year cumulatively, and it was
awesome. I love Germany.
The beer is great. Where we were they were, I mean
everybody was friendly, the nightlife was awesome.
I definitely remember being homesick a lot.

(16:41):
Because one thing you don't theydon't do over there is like get
in their truck and go ride around, listen to music and let
your brain kind of run free thatway.
And that's how I do it. I'm a big go out on a country
Rd. and crank up the radio, let the windows down, let my brain
run free a little bit. What's the country music like

(17:02):
out there? Any.
Country, they love it, man. They love it.
They have like country nights atthe bars where they just do line
dancing and and two stepping andthey love country music out
there. I remember when we would go over
to Tizer Slawden, which was a couple hour hike.
It was just a different base there.
They would have country nights and we go there and then I

(17:23):
somebody hand me a guitar. I go play on like the side stage
or something for a little bit. Not good.
And it was just Luke Combs covers, you know, But it was
fun. Yeah, that sounds really cool.
Yeah, you it's interesting. The places you would never think
are into country and then they end up being the places that are
the most passionate about country.
I mean, so, I mean, they love country music and well, Europe

(17:43):
as a whole really likes country music.
You wouldn't think so. So you wrote with John Morgan LA
and and that second release as well.
How How do you feel like your music has evolved since those
first couple songs now that you've been in Nashville?
Well, I've, I've found my sound.If you go back and listen to the
I, I'm not ashamed of a single thing I've ever put out.
I've had conversations with people.

(18:04):
Hey, do you want to read these songs?
No, I loved it when I put it out.
I still love it to this day. However, as you grow and you
find out more about yourself andwho you want to be and how you
want to be seen and portray whatyou want to portray you, you
just grow as an artist. I think I've found who I want to
be in and how I want people to, to see me.

(18:25):
And the music is reflective of that.
And I write, I mean, I'm, I'm not opposed to taking outside
cuts. If I hear a song that just puts
me into that conviction mode, you know?
But other than that I write everything and they're all semi
true. You know most the base of it is
definitely true. Some things are I mean not every

(18:46):
bar story that is in a song. I actually live with some of
them. Like this whole The Guess I'm
Still Heartbroke EP, it was going to be the guessing Still
Heartbroke album. So if you go from Guessing Still
Heartbroke back to my last 10 releases, that was actually
supposed to be the order of the album, but we just decided
against a different plan becausestrategies change and the world

(19:08):
changes and algorithms change and but all that was written,
all that was written about an ex-girlfriend, so.
That must have been a really hard decision for you and your
team to make. It is really tough to to figure
out how you're going to release stuff and you had this plan for
how it's going to go and re release the 1st 2 singles and
they didn't quite hit what we wanted it to get to do.

(19:29):
So we said, well, let's release the third, let's try different
marketing. And, and then it finally just
came down to the way that music is being consumed today.
Unless you have a huge, huge following, albums might not be
your your bread and butter at the beginning of your career.
With being in the military, I was curious your perspective on

(19:50):
the like the government shutdownright now.
Like what do you, what do you feel like the military families
are facing with possibly not getting paid and stuff like
that? Like what are your thoughts on
the struggles that they're experiencing?
It affects us all when when our government can't come to an
agreement, First of all, it's decisive or divisive between the

(20:11):
the groups of people who voted for one side or the other.
But as far as the military families, I mean, I feel for
them that they're, they still have to get up and go to PT and
deal with everything in their personal lives and then they
still have to be ready to fight a war when called upon, you
know, and I'm not sure, I don't 2, I don't really trust the news

(20:32):
because I was in the military and I would watch the news and
it'll be saying something completely different than what
was actually happening. I would like to think that
they've come to a agreement and that the families get paid
'cause when I was in, we had twogovernment shutdowns and we got
paid both times. I would like to think that
they've come to a agreement and that the families get paid

(20:53):
'cause when I was in, we had twogovernment shutdowns and we got
paid both times. So I'd like to hope that.
But I do feel for them. They're, they're working hard,
their families are working hard.It's a tough, tough job.
It's a tough life to live and for them not to get their
priorities in order and pay the people protecting us blows my

(21:14):
mind. But that's I don't, I don't have
a say in that right now. Yeah, it blows my mind to think
that somebody could be out in another country putting their
life on the line and they might not get paid.
Yeah. And the thing about that is
you're not supposed to be worried about that when you're
fighting wars, when you when youbefore you deploy, all that

(21:35):
stuff supposed to be set up or your bills are paid and you
ain't got to worry about it overthere.
And for this to be happening, you still have to get up and go
on a life threatening mission every day.
I don't know what they think up there.
Washington, man. Yeah, I don't have anybody
that's served in the in the military in my family, but my my
other half, she's a state trooper.
So I definitely know the the sacrifice that people are

(21:58):
making. Her work's probably harder than
ours. That's a, at least, at least
you, you don't have to be worried about I'm, I've never
really been worried about being home, you know, And as a, as a
police officer, a first responder, a trooper, that is I,
I have the utmost respect because you could leave your
house and it could end. Your dad could end, you know.

(22:20):
Yeah, it's an unfortunate reality.
I I'm kind of forced to think about that every single day.
It's kind of a crummy situation.Yeah, and I'm a realist and I
might say things a little too blunt, but I mean, that's the
reality of how I feel about it. Oh, no, for sure.
Yeah. Like I feel like if you're in
this in that world, you kind of have to face that reality pretty
quick. And kind of, I'm not sure if

(22:41):
saying come to terms with it is the correct way to say it, but
you kind of almost have to. Yeah, I think it's yeah.
Well, you just have to be willing to to face it if it does
happen, I think. You're a you're a big hat guy,
right? I love hats.
I heard you're a big hat guy. I'm.
A everybody tells me like since I moved to Nashville.

(23:02):
So the reason I think I'm such ahat guy is, one, I'm from the
South, from Georgia. And two, being in the military,
I always had like, this short hair and a hat was just an
accessory that made it look cooluntil I got into fifth group and
then started getting into music.I started coming out here and
get my hair done by professionalhairdressers, which I don't

(23:26):
anymore because they're way too expensive.
But they were like, you have beautiful hair, you stop wearing
hats. We can do all this stuff and
give it volume and give you a flow.
And I'm like, yeah, I like a hat.
I feel comfortable with a hat on.
Mine's more of a necessity to cover my my balding spot on the
top of my head. It's kind.
Of see, I'm not balding and I still think that I should wear a

(23:49):
hat just in case it starts happening while I'm out.
I've always doesn't apply to your situation, but I've always
heard the phrase never trust a guy that's always wearing a hat.
Every time I, I mean I was taught and I think this is an
old Texas adage, but I'm not sure, but take your hat off.

(24:10):
Every time you meet a woman, take your hat off.
Shake her hand so that she can tell you're not hiding anything
from her. Oh man, yeah.
When I, when I have a hat on, I my hair on the sides, it's like
nice and thick and then I take it off.
You could see like that bowling alley right through the center.
Hey, hey man, don't be ashamed. Let let that let the wind run

(24:33):
off your scalp. The the ironic thing is when I
was growing up I always used to bust on my dad for it and then I
ended up getting the same exact hair situation.
You're like, dude, you're old, you're balding.
You turn 25, you're like, what is this?
Yeah, karma came for me real quick.
I got lucky. My mom, my mom had thin hair.

(24:53):
She wasn't balding or anything. She had thin hair.
And then my brother was balding at 24 years old and my dad was
balding. Or no, my dad was not balding.
So I got his, his hair, got his height and his hair luckily.
I, I think your, your story is areal testament of, of Nashville
in the sense that you're, you'reworking alongside so many big

(25:18):
names and, and you could be justas big as well.
Like, there's so much talent in Nashville.
I mean, everybody, like I said, here is, is the most talented
person you've ever seen. They all have lived and breathed
music for their entire lives. And that's where I probably lost
some of it. If I, if I'd started when I was

(25:39):
10, you know, I'd be way better.But I just got some ground to,
to, to catch up. And that comes with hard work
and networking and finding, finding your group and
everything. And, and then just putting it
out there, being vulnerable and which I, which I've had a
problem with for a long time. And finally coming to terms with
the fact that if I like being anartist is being vulnerable and

(26:02):
getting out there and telling mystory because other people will
relate. And that's the same reason that
I like other artists. It can happen at any time.
Like it's, it's an uncertain industry or any video can go off
at any time and then change the course of what I think the next
six months is going to look like.
But I will not. I think that the wrong way to go
about music is to wait on a viral moment.

(26:23):
You have to be happy and be excited about what you're doing
and the music you're putting out.
And for me, social media isn't my bread and butter.
I'm, I'm 31. I grew up, the first part of my
life was without phones, you know, And so doing all that now
is one of the toughest part. Like, I like, I like to get out,
play shows, meet people, shake their hands.

(26:44):
I can't. I can't shake your hand or hug
your neck through a phone. I definitely relate to you on
the whole growing up with no phone situation.
Like I remember the only reason why I got a phone was sophomore
year of high school, I decided to walk home from wrestling
practice and not tell anybody. My mom was going to come pick me
up and I just took it upon myself to walk home.

(27:07):
We lived close enough to the school and she showed up to the
school to to get me and was like, where's Josh?
And everyone's like I don't know.
And then she panicked and saw mekind of walking onto our street
and she's like, you know what, You're going to get a cell phone
now because I'm going to need tobe able to reach you in
situations like this. But up until then, like a cell
phone wasn't even a thought. I remember having like a the the

(27:29):
Motorola like Nextel chirp. My mom thought it'd be a good
idea to get me, her and my brother all that and then we
start annoying her. So she took the phones away and
then we didn't have them again until high school.
But now these kids, they have phones when they're like 7.
Who am I? I'm not a father, but it seems

(27:54):
to me like people just all that we, we as adults kind of want
our time to breathe. And the way that the world is
now, there's not a lot of time to do that.
So you give a kid a phone and ityou get 30 minutes by yourself,
you know? Why do you feel like it's so
difficult to be be vulnerable? Is it because of your your story
and all all the experiences thatyou've had and you're kind of

(28:14):
nervous to open up about that or?
No, I think it's just the, the way my chemical imbalances are,
you know, my family didn't show emotion.
And then you go into the Army and I'm around.
I, I was lucky enough to be in some, some hard hitting units
and do some stuff around men that I really respect, women I
really respect. And, and it's just, it's never

(28:38):
been you don't, you kind of justtake everything and you, you
push it down deep and then you execute the mission.
And to me it feels like I'm complaining about it or I'm
wanting sympathy or something like that.
And that is not the case. So it's just been hard to try to
figure out how to tell that story, if that makes sense.
No, it definitely does. Yeah.

(28:58):
No, no one wants to be viewed askind of being that pessimistic
person that is looking for sympathy.
I I definitely see where you're where you're coming from.
Yeah, especially because like, you listen to my music and it's
it might be about a sad topic, but I mean, it's upbeat.
I like to have fun. I like to I like to get moving
and I like a good drum pattern. This week's episode is powered

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Just so I understand your your story.

(30:29):
And and tell your story correctly for the people that
are are listening and and tryingto learn more about you.
So you did you move to Nashvilleand then kind of go back and
forth from deployment to Nashville and like you were
still serving, serving in the military while being kind of
close to Nashville? So I had still planned on being
in the Army for 20 years. So I before I moved to Fort

(30:53):
Campbell, KY and I was an Intel analyst.
Like I knew career progression. I needed to get up platoon and
be a platoon sort and do all that.
So I wanted to go to the 101st. Well, I guess when I got to bill
it at Campbell fifth group was like, no, we need that guy.
So they pulled me over and they put me on a team immediately

(31:14):
send me to a bunch of training. We deployed and after that
deployment, I was like, do I wanted?
And I was flirting with the ideaof doing music, always have,
because just being a rider was what I was thinking about.
I really didn't know what it what it all entailed right Till
you get in it, you really, there's no way to understand it.
And I'll, I'll say this to anyone.
If you're not in it, you don't understand how it actually is

(31:37):
because I didn't before, after that last deployment, I was
like, well, you might as well gocheck it out.
So I still live in Clarksville and I would drive down and write
this was almost every day. I would, I would get up, I'd go
to PT at Lee Soldiers, do whatever I had to do and then
get off work, drive down to Nashville Player Riders round or

(31:57):
write a song or network or whatever I had to do.
And then I drive back to Clarshill, which is about an
hour away. And we would do that.
I would do that every day. And I get home at 2-3 in the
morning, I get up again and I'd be at PT at 6:30.
I did that for about 10 months until until I finally decided,
OK, I'm going to get out of the Army.
And then COVID hit. And so me, it was kind of a

(32:19):
blessing because I just, I just did SEFAL.
It was a special forces urban combat course.
And everybody got sick and we were like, what?
We just thought it was the flu, right?
This is right before COVID. So everybody gets really, really
sick. And then they come up and
finally tell us, hey, you need to go to the doctor that there's
something going on. And we don't understand it, but

(32:40):
you have to go to this tent, youknow, and everybody's in hazmat
suits. I'm like, am I going to die?
And they pull up, do my, do my swab, which the very first ones
go went up to your brain, if youremember at all.
I heard about that but I never experienced.
It oh, I'm so happy for you. The military.
I probably had to get 10 COVID tests.

(33:01):
And I mean, they didn't know what they were doing.
They were just shoving it up into your eyeball through your
nose. And so anyway, come back and I
was, I'm actually I guess the first confirmed case on Fort
Campbell. So that's crazy.
Oh wow. They, they sent me home, didn't
know what to do with me. And I was in Nashville and down
here they were like, what is what are you talking about?

(33:23):
It's the flu. You know, they're like, we're
still going to. I didn't realize how big of a
party town Nashville was at thistime.
And then COVID hit and I'm in the studio and everybody just
partying all the time. And like, I still have to do
Army stuff. So I'm not partying, but I'm
seeing all this. But I like met a bunch of people
who taught me how to just just taught me to get better and

(33:44):
taught me not to quit. Everybody's going to be good and
everybody has their time. And if you just keep working the
the big, the big thing with people and music is they, they
quit because it's really hard and you go broke.
And but if you never quit, one day it hits.
As long as you're not, you know,absolutely terrible.
Some sometimes you just can't help it.

(34:05):
Jeez, you were navigating a lot all at once.
You were navigating whether you wanted to go into music and
whether you wanted to leave the military, and then COVID
happened. You were trying to juggle a lot
of stuff all at once. Yeah, but I mean, I think that's
life. I'm still juggling a lot of
stuff. It's just different now, if that
makes sense. It's, and to be honest, like I

(34:27):
was, people will say it, but I feel like I was really good at
the, at the military, like as long as because it's so
structured, they tell you everything that needs to be
done. And either you're, you do it on
par or you do it better than or you do it less than.
And I was always and on par better than person just because
it came natural to me. And then the biggest thing too,

(34:48):
is being out of the military. That's another reason I have
problems with social media is you go do your job.
You don't tell people what you're doing.
And I had to had to get away from that.
Yeah, polar opposites, probably.Very, very opposite of what?
And the way that, like, people talk to each other and what you
can say. Can't say your attitude, you

(35:08):
know what I mean? Because in the military, it's
like, I might seem like I'm mad at you, but that's just to get
my point across. And then in 30 seconds, I'm not
mad anymore. Or even if I was mad, like in 30
seconds I'm not mad anymore. But musicians are a little more
fragile than your average guy who's been beat up by the
military, you know? Yeah, I don't know if I'd be
able to handle like police boot camp or military boot camp, all

(35:33):
that stuff. I'm not someone that likes to
get yelled at. Nobody likes to get yelled at,
but when you realize that it's just that it's all for a
purpose, that's what they call discipline.
You know, you sit there, you take it, you understand what
it's for. The whole thing is to stress you
out now. So when bullets are fly, you're
not you can you can perform whenbullets are flying and you're

(35:55):
you can't hear anything and you just have to rely on what you
know you have to do and the people around you then you can't
freeze up. So and I think, and I didn't
realize that for a long time. I too was in going through boot
camp like, why are they yelling at us?
What's the point in this? And a lot of people don't see
combat. So they don't under they might
not have this. They just think that it's

(36:16):
somebody being a butt head, you know, And I'm like, no, because
when it really starts to happen,you realize that over these last
five years of people, what you thought they were just being
mean to you. They've been through this and
they know that when the time comes when everything is crazy
and you can't think, you just need to rely on the fact that

(36:36):
you your body's just going to dowhat it has to do and your
brain's going to do what it has to do.
They're forcing you to be in that fight or flight kind of
mindset all the time. Yeah, and I've always been a
fight so luckily. All this must have made the
transition to music a little biteasier for you, though.
Man, I was scared. I was always scared for like the

(36:58):
first couple years, every time Igot on stage.
There was a time. I remember when I really got out
of the Army in 21, that DecemberI went down to Florida and I did
a month of shows and I remember every day I'd have to take a
couple shots to get on stage. I was just so nervous.
And then one day I said, what are you nervous about?
You sound good. People like it.

(37:20):
I I just remember it's, it's just putting yourself out there
in front of people. And I used to think to myself,
you can go like you can go to Syria, you can go in Iraq and
not even care, but you get on stage in front of people in
America and you're freaking out.That's.
What I was thinking, to be honest.
Hey, big time military guy. It's funny the way that the
brain works and what makes you tick and what makes you nervous

(37:44):
and stuff like that. But I don't get nervous for
obviously I don't get nervous for shows anymore.
I'm I'm excited, but if I do getany sense of nerves now, it's
for a good reason, right? It's like, oh, this is awesome.
This is a great show. I'm super excited to do this.
You mentioned you mentioned Russell Dickerson earlier.
Who have you been out on the road with?
Just got off the road with Randall King.

(38:06):
We did. We did some East Coast stuff,
like I said, Eli, Young man, Russell, and then down in the
Southeast, I do my own little headlining tour stuff, hit the
bars. I don't play cover stuff.
It's all original music. It's all original set.
That's another tough thing is you got to everybody's got
somebody in their corner and theperson that's in your corner

(38:29):
might know more people and that's how you get on your tours
and stuff like that. It ain't always Best Song wins,
you know? I wish it was but two that would
probably put me down, you know, because there are a lot of
great, great artists, great songs.
So you look for the opportunities, you take them
when they arrive. And I'll go on the road with

(38:50):
anyone who walks me. Have you ever talked to to John
Morgan about going on the road with him at all?
He's not headlining right now. He's on tour with Chase Rice and
he's doing festivals, so he doesn't have the ability to say,
hey, you can come play these shows with me.
Do you know any of the guys in his his band like Joey?

(39:11):
Are you familiar with? Me and Joey wrote I'm going to
love you together. Oh, really?
Oh well. I introduced him and John I also
introduced. I also introduced John and his
tour manager Dave. That's pretty cool.
And then I know Caleb and Rob, me and Rob wrote Make a Man
together as Drummer. Yeah, I know all those guys.
Those, I mean, they're talented.Those did you awesome.

(39:33):
I met Joey, John Morgan played the Big E last month in in
Massachusetts. And I was at the show and I, I
was looking around and all of a sudden I see Joey talking to
maybe what looked like his parents or grandparents and
nobody had a clue that it was, it was him.
So I, I went up to him. I was like, oh hey, what's going
on? And I grabbed a picture and was

(39:54):
able to talk. It was fascinating to me that
nobody, he was like undercover, like nobody realized he was just
up on stage with John Morgan. 5 minutes ago.
Yeah, it's funny because either people love the guitars more
than you, or they don't even realize they're there.
They're all, they're all super talented, so I try to give
everybody their due. Yeah, I mean, and, and they're
up there also putting on a show,you know.

(40:15):
Exactly, and I feel like they all have their their own story
of a of a grind. Oh, and my band?
These boys grind, that's for sure.
Everybody's somebody at the end of the day, right?
1,000,000% And at the end of theday, this music stuff does not
matter. What matters is are you good to
people and are the people aroundyou?

(40:35):
Do you take care of the people around you?
And that's what I think matters.We got the at the very end of
the day, this obviously matters a lot.
I put my whole life into it. A lot of people put their whole
life into it. But when it comes down to it,
the money and the fame and the hits and all that stuff, that
stuff does not matter. Completely agree.
I was actually thinking about that earlier today on On my run.

(40:56):
I was like someone like Joey, itreally showcases the importance
of relationships and building that connection and someone like
yourself as well, like you're surrounded by all these these
big names and it, it could potentially help shape your
career down the road. It absolutely could and I think
it's, I was thinking about this yesterday 01 thing.

(41:19):
How far did you run today? Just a 5K because I'm coming off
a 1/2 marathon over the weekend that really kicks.
My ass, they'll beat me. I was hoping, I was hoping I got
to there, but I was hoping they like I only ran 2 miles.
I'll get my weight up. But what I was thinking about
was, you know, all these countryartists and all these people,

(41:41):
but I mean they can't really youhave to do the work.
Nobody can put you in a place orget you to where you need to be.
You have to get you to where youneed to be.
And maybe you do make a friend and you, they put you in a
place, but they didn't put you there just because you're their
friend. They heard you play or they know
about you and they know that you're good enough to go up

(42:05):
there and put on the show that the people deserve and do the
things that are asked of you as a high level artist.
Because it's not easy. It's it seems like it's fun.
Our job is to put on it is very fun, but our job is to put on
the party. There's so much work that goes
behind it and we love doing it. But it all comes, it all stems

(42:27):
down to do you wake up. Are you playing guitar when
everybody's out partying? It's exciting that you just put
out a an EP Guess I'm still heartbroken that that sounds
like it was a you said it was going to be an album at one
point. It was going to be an album, it
was going to be 10 songs. So if you go back through, I
think it started with All About the Boots was the first one.

(42:48):
That was going to be the first single on the album.
And if you just listen up from there, that would have been the
actual album. But we ended up putting it as an
EP, which also tells the story, just in a shorter version.
But yeah, it all stems back froma, a mistake that I made where I
lost a woman that I really, really cared about.
And I needed to get that out. And I started writing songs

(43:11):
about it and then decided that Icould do a concept of and, and
tell that story. And now that we dropped that and
guess I'm still heartbrokes out,I can, I can finally probably
maybe put that to rest in my heart and this new music is
going to be super fun. I'm super excited we're back in
the studio. It's awesome, man.

(43:32):
I'm I'm super excited about that.
That E PS almost hit a million streams on Spotify.
It's I think I looked at this morning, it was like 980,000
streams, which is absolutely insane.
I can't thank everyone who listens enough.
I'll put that out less than a month ago.
What day? What day did that?
Come out the EP. I think it came out September

(43:54):
5th. Oh, so just over a month and
we're we're at almost a million streams on on just one platform.
I didn't even look at I didn't even look at Apple Music and
stuff today. So.
That's crazy. The people who helped me with my
analytics there, they're like, do not look at the analytics
because I am analytical. I was an Intel analyst.
But it'll it'll bring you down if you look at it too much as an

(44:17):
as an artist. But that was a nice thing to
wake up to and see that. Yeah, I feel like you could get
kind of down a rabbit hole with that.
Well, it's like with anything, you, you always want to, you
never want to see any regression.
And if I mean, I, you have a song that like lipstick on a
beer can is my biggest song. It's got a couple million

(44:38):
streams on it. And then you put out two and
they have 500,000, you know, andthat's, that'll hurt your heart.
You don't know where you went wrong.
And it's, it's not that you did anything wrong.
It's just the way that social media and media and music is
consumed. It's crazy the like the the
people that I have, the followers, the fans, and they'll

(45:02):
be like, I didn't even know you had all this music out.
I've been listening to these twosongs that I'm like, that's
crazy because you follow me and I post every single day.
You know what I mean? And but it's just the way that
social media has started doing it.
I don't know what the deal is, man.
If I knew, if I knew we'd be, we'd be in a different spot.
Yeah, social media has definitely gotten a bit crazy

(45:23):
these days for for many reasons.Well, I feel like it's a lot of
pay to play. I feel like the whole world has
become pay to play. That sounds a bit unfortunate.
I mean, it seems to me that everybody's just so worried
about money that they forget that their neighbors here, you
know? Yeah, I agree with that.
So you're getting back into the studio.

(45:45):
I know that things can change inin an instant, but do you have
like an ETA for some of these new songs you're you're hinting
at? Yep, we will be dropping my next
single play The Cowboy. Done a little bit of teasing on
that but I haven't in a while. I changed production studios and
have a new producer and trying to get back to.

(46:05):
I wouldn't say less. A less polished sound, but not
as still contemporary country, but with some older roots in it.
We have what's cool about like this new music is my producer is
classically trained on the violin and fiddle and how many
rips we have sounds like orchestras on this.
I mean, it is an orchestra on onsome of this music that's coming

(46:27):
off and I'm super excited for everybody to hear that and we'll
probably have it out. I was working on distribution, a
new distribution deal. So we're looking to have it out
within the next two months for sure.
And then start that roll out, give give.
I guess I'm still heartbroke a little time to to get people to

(46:48):
hear it and get familiar with it.
And then, and then after that we're, we're all with the, with
the new stuff, you know? Sounds like with being an
independent artist with a small like team around you, you have
like kind of your hands in a lotof the process.
The team is doing it out of the goodness of their heart.
So I, I feel that I have, I fearthat I have my hand and, and all

(47:09):
of it. And that is a lot, but it's,
it's OK. That's The thing is nobody's
going to work for you. And, and I would love to tell
every young artist that I'm, I'mtelling you, I've, I've been
here doing this for what year isit about about five years, maybe
with the military. So you know what, whatever
semantics, but I would love to tell young artist, it's hard.

(47:32):
It's very hard. And you're going to feel like
you're not noticed and you're going to see all these people
who have all this stuff going on.
And but you have to remember that they have a huge team
behind them doing all the stuff that they don't want to do.
And if you want it bad enough, you'll wake up every day and
you'll work out and you'll stay in shape and you'll eat right

(47:53):
and you'll keep your mind, Chris, and you'll keep working
on your craft and you'll do all of the stuff that you don't have
people to do for you yet. And then I feel like as long as
you keep doing it every day and you wake up every day and
there's no quit in your heart, it's going to work out.
And then you'll be headlining Gillette Stadium one day or?

(48:15):
Say it out loud. You say it out loud again.
Let's keep, let's keep that in the in the air, you know?
Cody, I'm glad that we were ableto, to connect.
It all started after that Grotonsub base show where a couple of
friends were like, you got to check this guy out.
He's great. So I'm glad they they came
through and told me about you and, and you got back to me and

(48:36):
we were able to have have you onthe show and help tell your
story, man. Hey, I appreciate you having me
Josh. And if you know of any places up
there that want a contraband from Nashville to come up, you
know who to holler at. Shameless plug, we do have a
writer's round that we do in in Groton once a month, so if
you're ever on tour in this areaand want to stop by, let me

(48:57):
know. Oh, that's sick, dude.
Yeah, for sure. We're definitely staying in
touch after this, Josh. We try to bring a little bit of
Nashville to to New England, so it's it's been a lot of fun.
I'm down for it. I and I enjoyed it up there
weather other than the rain. When the when the rain stopped,
it was beautiful and you don't get any better pizza.
Where did you stop for pizza? Oh my goodness.

(49:19):
Anywhere you stop, there's definitely some really good
pizza out here. Everything we ate there, I was
like, this is ridiculous how good the food is up here.
New Haven is where I was. Yeah, there's like a million
Good Place, Sally's, Peppy's Modern.
There's like a million places there.
I was surprised because I'm not a huge pizza guy.
I have acid reflux so those are.The yeah, those don't go hand in

(49:40):
hand too well. Man, I I was willing to live
with it that day. Well, they don't say
Connecticut's the pizza capital of the world for nothing.
I have some friends in New York,and I went up there and have
pizza there and I was like, you know, you guys are.
I thought I was going to get beat up, too.
I was like, you know, Connecticut's way better.

(50:01):
Well, you heard it here. Even Cody Bradley says
Connecticut has the best pizza. Cody Bradley endorses pizza from
Connecticut. That's awesome.
I love it. Well, Cody, I, I think you have
a really tremendous story of, ofperseverance.
I'm glad that you moved to Nashville and, and followed that

(50:21):
dream and, and we'll be rooting for you going forward.
I hope you have nothing but the most success man going forward.
Thank you so much. I appreciate you having me on
and and being willing to let me share a little bit about myself
and can't wait to hear the episode and please stay in
touch, man. And when I come up there, let's
let's get you on the bus, hang out a little bit and see what we

(50:42):
can do. You know that.
'D be cool. Yeah, that'd be awesome.
That's going to do it for this week's episode.
I just want to thank Cody Bradley for making the time to
come on the show and be a part of Country on Deck.
Really enjoyed sharing his story.
What a story of perseverance andand going after a dream.

(51:04):
We want to thank him again for his service in the military.
Thanks so much Cody for for serving our country.
You can learn more about Cody Bradley on his website,
codybradley.com. That brings you to all his music
and his bio and his social media.
So go check it out Cody bradley.com.

(51:25):
We will be back next week. We'll have another rising
country star on the show. So make sure you hit that follow
button on the platform that you're listening to the show on
right now so you don't miss it. A new episode every single
Friday on all the listening platforms and give us a follow
on social media, Our Instagram account at Country on Deck.

(51:46):
Follow along on on social. Until next time.
I'm Josh Maddie and this is Country on Deck.
Thanks so much for listening. Kick off your boots and settle

(52:06):
in country on this about to begin.
Josh Maddie's here. Stars on the rise.
Voices of hope, dreams in their eyes, singer songwriters,
stories on phone. Hearts of wonder, hearts out of

(52:30):
bone. But does he rose to writes
Angelines capture the journey shares their eyes.
Country on deck. We're tuning in Where the new
star stories are coming in from a small town dreams they're

(52:54):
gonna take you away. Country on deck with drunk
Maddie. Thank you so much for listening
to The Country on Deck with JoshMaddie.
Josh is back at his desk every Thursday talking with a new
country artist, so make sure youhit that follow button whenever
you're listening so you don't miss an interview.

(53:15):
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