April 29, 2026 • 31 mins
Cody Johnson makes a special visit with Wayne D to share all the exciting details fans have been
waiting for. From insights into his brand‑new album to what listeners can expect on the upcoming
tour, Cody opens up about the music, the momentum, and what’s next in his already incredible career.
Plus, hear firsthand about the amazing new music that has everyone talking. It’s an authentic,
down‑to‑earth conversation you won’t want to miss if you’re a CoJo fan or love country music at its
best.
waiting for. From insights into his brand‑new album to what listeners can expect on the upcoming
tour, Cody opens up about the music, the momentum, and what’s next in his already incredible career.
Plus, hear firsthand about the amazing new music that has everyone talking. It’s an authentic,
down‑to‑earth conversation you won’t want to miss if you’re a CoJo fan or love country music at its
best.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
A little bit, It'll be right, We'll figure it out.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My man. Uh, I'm gonna tell you, I'm sitting in
the room with the guy who has been nominated for
Entertainer of the Year more than once, and at some
point you're gonna have to carve his damn name in
one of these things because he deserves it. Cody Johnson,
I'm said, Kojo, my boy. Uh, the nominations still mean
a lot after all this time, because I know at
one point you're like whatever.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You know, Sometimes you say stuff and then you look
back and you're like, that was that was wrong, that
was inaccurate? Was a that was a younger version. I'm
my best. I heard Red ste Gull say one time,
out of all the lives I've lived, this one's by
far my favorite. Like I feel like I'm at that
point fixing to me thirty nine years old, like starting
to really actually figure life out, my career, my my self, discipline,
(00:45):
you know, my drive, my goals. You know that that's
like marriage, kids, you know all that stuff, not just
the career. But you know it sounds cliche, just say, like,
when you're nominated for Entertainer of the Year, you've already won,
But it's the truth because it you're putting a different
category of artists, you know, and so you're being really
you're being recognized for all your hard work even if
(01:06):
you don't win it. But I mean, I would be
lying if I didn't say, like, that's the one I
want to win the most. You know, I work for
that every night on stage, you know, I work for
that every day going out and doing what I do.
It's all for that goal of winning Entertainer. But honestly,
everybody in the category deserves it too. I personally feel
like Luke Comb should win it, So I appreciate you
saying that, but I don't think anybody in that category
(01:28):
has worked as hard as Luke Colmb's to get Entertainer
of the Year. So that's who I'm pulling for, is that?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So let me ask you, a younger version of Cody,
could you have said that?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
No? No, I'd have been already rehearsed what I was
gonna say in my head before I got here. And
I'm just I'm comfortable in my own skin now. Man.
I'm I have nothing to prove to anybody. It's one
of those deals that, like, you know, financially I could
walk away, but I just don't want to. I just
love my job, man. I love making music that influences
(01:57):
people in a positive way. You know, it's said it's
the funnest job in the world, even when it's the
hardest job in the world. But I'm telling you, man,
I think Luke deserves it. He's opened so many doors
for me. He's been I was there the night that
one of his sons was born, and we were overseas
in Australia and he's crying in the bathroom, and I'm like,
I don't really know what to say to you right now. Besides,
(02:19):
he's not gonna remember that you weren't there, and.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
What you're doing is building your wife will forever.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, well that's that's the downside of it. But I'm like, dude,
you're building a legacy not only in country music, but
for your kids. Like they're gonna benefit from the hard
work you're doing. But like I said, I just know
the man deserves it. So if I get it, I'll
probably dedicate.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It to him. That's so cool, man, that's big. When
you think of where you're at now, and every time
we talk, I remember, you know, and I bring up
back to like some of our first conversations where you're like, yeah,
they're making me come talk to radio. I never throw
that in your face until wow, but it's but you
you have come such a long way, and with that,
(03:00):
there are versions of of you that and you said
and it's funny because you're gonna be thirty nine, I'm
forty four. Yeah, there is something about this season where
you're like, things start to make sense, things shift into
place where you're like, why do I why does that
bother me? Why did that bother me? Before? Yeah, So
as you look at earlier versions of yourself, what are
(03:22):
things you're still proud of and what are things that
you're like, Man, I was glad I was able to
let leave that behind.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Man Like. So I've been doing a lot of like
self soul searching lately, and I don't want to get
like just kill the vibe in here and get too deep.
But like when I was when I was a kid,
like the church that I went to that my parents
went to, that it like the religion was like if
you do this, you're going to hell. Like if you
go here, you're gonna go to hell. Like and so
(03:49):
at a point I think there was like so much
of this like shame, like you're c're around the shame
and regret and guilt that at some point I was like, well,
if I'm going to go to hell, like, there's no
point in try, and I just I give up. I
give up. And I just went absolutely nuts, like for
a while. And when I started going and playing with
my band, you know, in a trailer and a van,
(04:11):
we were we were hell on wheels, man like it.
We were. We were pretty wild, and I think that's
what I thought music was about, was it was this
big party. And I finally got out of that lifestyle
and started really applying myself to my craft and having
goals and having a vision. Cleaned up my life and
it helped my marriage, It helped my career, and then
(04:33):
this thing blew up, and I'm like, oh my gosh,
I'm so glad that I got rid of that version
of myself because I don't think he could have handled
fame and all that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
But even like finances, like I placed, I've got mentors
that have mentored me financially of how to how to invest,
how to make money, how to let your money make
you money, and you know, It's not like I don't
measure that as success, but it is nice to know that.
Like I've got the mental fortitude now to know how
to sit in a business meeting and handle myself and
(05:02):
actually know what the hell they're talking about. And that
looks like an idiot, but man like self discipline, like
my diet, my workout regimen, the peptides and the vitamins
that I take and sleep habits and stuff like that,
Like it just bleeds over into my work ethic with music.
So now like when I get in the studio, I
feel like I am on point. Man when we get
to the show, I'm on point. And it just makes
(05:24):
it fun because it's always more fun to win.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
You something you've always done from the beginning, and somebody
who may just you know, open up the iHeartRadio app
and pop in one of your songs or here's you
on the radio, might not realize is you are such
a and you brought up business right like Businessman said
you are, so like in chart, you're in the driver's
seat of your career. And there's a lot of artists
in Nashville and in other music formats where they're just
(05:51):
there and that's not a disrespect, but like, I'm just
happy you're just having to sell tickets. I'm just happy
to why has that been? And I bring this up
because some of the first conversations we ever had as
I got to know you and you had you don't
wear anybody else's hat, you wear Cody Johnson has. Yeah, right,
So why has Why has that part of this always
(06:11):
been important to you to be a businessman and an artist.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
As a businessman, Like if you don't do business, business
does you? And so then but now you're you're a
slave to the trade, you know, And that's it's I
believed in a hat partner was resist all. Now that's
my hat, and we're the highest hat seller at the company.
Like it, and we're proud of that. I believe in
Wrangler clothing. So now we have shirts and jeans. That's
(06:37):
what I'm wearing. It's and if I'm endorsing something, it's
because it's real. Like I just did a Justin Boots deal,
and honestly, whenever Howie, my manager brought me the justin
Boots sales pitch, I just didn't believe in their product.
I was like, I feel like the company is kind
of slowly dying off. I'm not gonna let them piggyback
my success to build their own company. So if we
(06:57):
do this, I'm not First of all, I'm gonna have
to believe in the product. Second of all, we're gonna
have to sit down and go through this portfolio and say,
if you're gonna piggyback on me, I'm gonna I'm gonna
put in my part. Yeah, but we're gonna be compensated
for that, And so it's a partnership. It's not an endorsement.
But uh, he brought me two pairs of Justin boots.
I put spurs on both of them, and I never
(07:18):
walked around a rock or a mud puddle or a
pile of cowshit or anything like that. Like, I just
tortured these boots for a year. They're the most I
have really bad ankles and knees from bull riding days,
and I have like bad planners fascy fasciatis, and like
broke both the bones in my right ankle. So I
have a lot of I have a lot of foot
pain right plus I'm getting old as hell. We're like
(07:39):
I wore those boots and my pain wasn't there, like
better than on cloud tennis shoes, like it's crazy. So
I was after a year, I said, Okay, I'm a
firm believer. Let's talk designs and you know so it's
like once I once I really believe in a product
and I want to put my name on it. I
know that that's going to just be another form of
passive income. And it's easy to wear. Like I just
put on my clothes and say, hey, look, this is
(08:00):
a Cody Johnson's shirt. You know you should you should
buy one. I know a guy if you want someone.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
By the way, because I'm still waiting for the cowboy hat.
I was promised that stage coach at twenty eighteen. Are
you serious?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Hell, that's not on me, that's on management. I told
him again, here we go here, we're gonna blame Jackson
for that.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He was in the room that I need Kojo Mertz,
I need It's I'm just saying that's fine.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I'll keep text me your address. Oh he said, they
don't have eight What hat size are you, watermelon?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm seven and five eights. I'll hat swap you right
now like an NFL gamer.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
No it, text me your address, look, get it, taking
care of it. But on the business thing, I do
have to give credit to how he takes care of
a lot of that stuff where I make the deal
and then I turn it over to him and go
handle that. That's a nice siren in the background. But
when you say handle that, it's like I see emails,
I see text messages, I get updates, but I'm not
the one that has to do it. And that's the
(08:58):
benefit of having a great manager that you trust.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
You brought up your love and respect for Luke Combs.
Obviously you just share details about a new album coming out.
Collabs are such a massive deal to country. You are
a guy.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
They're bigger now than they used to be, which is.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Weird because it was a massive thing and then it
kind of went away.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And then it resurgence.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, but you're You're a guy who I don't want
to say you didn't care, But it's like I just
do Cody Johnson does Cody Johnson's things right, and Collabs
never felt like a priority, never felt forced. You're to
a point where we're hearing you work with people. What
(09:41):
brought that in? What opened the door and why did
why did now feel right? Versus the last album of
the album before all right, tell.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Him out real quick? Can I talk about this?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Playback is for next Saturday. We'll clip out whatever you
need us too.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I won't say anything about the stagecoach thing, but can
I talk about Okay you can cool?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That'll that's how okay? Sorry, and just hey whatever, if
you hear something, just tell me or tell tell you
and well we'll chop it off. Okay, cool? Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So I think Riba is what really changed it for me,
because I mean I've done collabs with a lot of
my Texas heroes, you know, Roger Craig or Kevin Fowler,
Gary penaon even, Like I've done a lot of those things,
but like Riba changed it for me when she when
she wanted to do Deer Rodeo, Like they're like, hey,
Reba called, she really wants to sing on the song.
(10:34):
I'm like, what is this life? You know, Like what
do you mean? Reba called? Like it was her idea.
And then like whenever Ronnie and Kicks decided to do
a song with me, like it just kind of started
opening my eyes of like I have an opportunity to
sing with some of my heroes, and I think that's
where I started and then I started to really realize
like some of my comrades, like some of my friends
(10:55):
are my heroes too. Like I always wanted to do
something with Luke because of all the doors he opened
for me. You know, Jelly Roll was on the last album.
So this time around, like I had this song called
Rabbit Gets the Gun and it was it was a
Travis Meadows co right, but it was so rock man like.
It was just screaming to be a rock song. And
(11:16):
I'm not gonna do what uh some artists do and
throw a fiddle on it and call it a country song.
Like I'm one of those. Like my grandpa always said,
don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So, by the way, I could get the most clickable
headlines ever if I if I push what he's saying,
I love you and respect you, and I'm not that guy,
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I no, you can put that out of there. I
don't care. That's what that was My grandpa's the words,
not man, Okay, okay, I was just I was just
making a quote. You say whatever you want if you're
quoting somebody else, right exactly, But like, uh, so I
wanted to make it a rock song, so it didn't
go on my album Banks of the Trinity. But my
favorite rock band is Rival Sons. They're an indie rock
band out of California. That's what I listened to when
(11:55):
I work out, Like it's my I love every song.
J Buchanan is the lead singer, and imire him so
much as a vocalist. So just we just kind of
reached out like would J. B Cannan be on the song?
And he immediately said yes. So I called Trent Willman,
who calls Dave Cobb, which is Jay's producer. So not
only was it a collaboration between me and Jay, it
(12:17):
was a collaboration between Trent and Dave, and I just
know pride in the game. I was like, dude, I
don't know the rock world. Like you picked the musicians,
you picked the vibe however you want it to be.
And it turned into one of the coolest things I've
ever recorded because I got to show a side of
myself that nobody's really seen yet and I got to
be the rock star. And so like then, like Brothers Osborne,
(12:39):
I hear this song on my record called Foolproof, I
just hear Brothers Osbourne. I'm such a big fan of
TJ's voice and such a big fan of John's his
right hand really like he can everybody. They say in guitar,
like the left hand is what you know, the right
hand is who you are. John's right hand on a
guitar is just monstrous, And so I knew that I
(12:59):
wanted them to be on the record. And then freaking
Drew Parker and Josh Phillips write this song called Shoot
the Bull that is so specific, really bold, by the way,
yeah buld move like they wrote it so specific to
me and Luke Colms that if we didn't like the song,
that song never gets heard. Like it's not like if
if you write a song that two artists could do
and they didn't want to do it. We go to
(13:20):
these two artists like, you know, it's it's about Cody
Johnson and Luke Colmbs. And so I sent it to
Luke in like two months go by, Luke is the
worst about answering his freaking phone man.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I swear to Bailey Zimmerman sent the collab that they did,
and Bailey said he got his number at Stage Coach
and a couple of weeks later it's like I was
sitting on this song, send it to Luke. He got
back to them like six weeks later.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He was like, but see I talked. I talked trash
about Luke not answering his phone, and he's like, that's
the pot calling the kettle black. You're just as bad,
And like how many interviews knowing if I said when
I go home, this phone goes face down and it's
the truth. Like, so we're we're both the worst at it.
But he finally did get back to me and agreed
to do the song, and it was really cool because
we got to do it in the studio together. I've
(14:02):
played hundreds of shows with Luke and been around him
on the road, you know, a good friend, but we've
never been in the studio together. So that was really
that was a cool experience.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Something else that is super unique about your approach to
how Cody Johnson does country music the way he wants.
A lot of artists make massive like life sacrifices and
move to town, right they set up shop in Nashville
surrounding areas. You started in Texas, Texas. You know, all
(14:31):
respect to your work, all respect to your work and
effort Texas made you the artist that you are, and
then you took off after that? Why was it important
for you never to come here and chase what a
lot of artists do.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I swear like me and Lou were just talking about
this in the car on the wheel where you're watching
like all these party buses go down Broadway and like
the Wu girl woo. You know, everybody's hammered by eleven
o'clock and just people just walking around this town just
enjoy a Nashville. And now I love Nashville, like I
really love this town, but I don't want to live
here because if I lived here, everything's an opportunity. There's
(15:12):
in the music business, there's what I call the dangling carrot,
and they dangle it out there and go, look, this
could make you rich, this could make you famous. This
is a big opportunity. It's like to a manager or
to a record label head, every opportunity is a big opportunity, right.
But I see a lot of people in the industry
who don't know how to say the word no. It's
just yes, I'll do it, Yes, I'll do it, Yes,
(15:33):
I'll do it. And it's like you can only milk
the cow so much. Man, like I need a counterbalance
in my life. And so it's not just because of
my love for Texas, but like when I get on
the jet or I get on the bus and I
know that we're coming to Nashville, I know that it's
going to be work. When I show up, my schedule
is stacked every day. Again. I enjoy what I do,
(15:56):
just like sitting here talking to you. This is fun, man,
but I know that it's going to be all all
day long, and and and put on. I told my
kids time to put the Superman cape on. So when
I walk out of the door, I put my Superman
cape on and I go do the thing right that
I'm good at, and I'm thankful that I'm good at it.
But when I go home to Texas, I'm separated from
(16:16):
the town, from the buzz. So half the time when
a when a when a song comes out and it
goes viral, or if the merch sales spiked over something
or whatever the thing is, I literally don't know about it.
Like my wife tells me, did you see this? And
I'm like, no, I didn't see what happened. He's like, oh,
kid rock did your song? I'm like, oh cool, And
(16:37):
then the next day, a six one five number calls
my phone and it's Bob Ritchie and You're like, oh,
what's up talking kid Rock at a Mexican restaurant in
Texas right now, you know, like as you.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Go, did you go who is this? And he goes,
my name is Works. I just keep it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I need that balance because when I go home, we
have a right under right short of eight hundred acres
and by the end of the year we'll be running
about two hundred head of cows. And so I do
have a ranch manager that I have to keep up
with in a ranch hand that I have to keep
up with, and you know, what are the daily activities.
And but then also like being an assistant softball coach
(17:19):
and you know, a dad of a six month old
right now, like there's a lot going on at home
that the Superman cape has to be hung up at
the door. And I think if I lived here, I
would always try to keep the cape on. And I
got to go home and be me too, you know.
And I also like it kind of adds a little
bit of a mistique, like you can't get to him,
you know, And I'm like, less is more a lot
(17:40):
of times.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That's important for your sanity too.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Dude. My mental health is so good because I don't
live here.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
And I ask you this as a challenging question, is
Cody Johnson's music is good as good as it is
if you don't go back to home no versus.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Living easy answer?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
No, Why do you think that is?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Because a lot of times? Man like, So I'll get
my drop box on my phone. Yeah, and I've got
all these new songs right and say there's forty of them.
A lot of the times going back and forth to
the horse vet or taking cows of the sale, or
just driving around the ranch checking cows or whatever. I
plug it in and I just just listen to stuff,
you know, and I think that my sense of what
(18:25):
is a great song is getting better, like just because
I have that time. It's just like you go out
to my place and we just stopped talking. It's quiet,
like you can't hear it. There's birds, you'll hear the wind.
You may hear a cow on a background, but that's it,
man Like, that's it.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Are one of the ranch hands because you don't feed
nobody that works for you. Those guys are.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
But like and plus like having like one of my
best friends back home, Kolbe Lovell. He don't. He's got
an eclectic music taste, but he doesn't play so like
I'll play stuff for him, or like my brother in
law is my ranch manager, Carson will be out team.
We're opening up bluetooth to the speakers in the arena.
It's like, hey, check the song out, man, what do
you think? And look at their reaction. You know, if
he's like it's okay, I'm like that song's out even
(19:11):
if I loved it. If he's like all right or yeah,
it's a good song, I can tell like he's he's
like lying to me. But then I play the one
where he's like, dude, that's a freaking smash. I'm like, yeah,
that's going We're gonna push save on that one. And
it's just it's clarity time, like I'm building. Obviously, we're
about three or four months from being in this house
that my wife has spent way more money than I
(19:33):
want to say on your it's insane.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I was wondering why you're still working so hard.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
By the time she gets through with this chip and
Joeyanna Gains will be at my house taking pictures. Yeah,
once we got in some of the final stages, I
was like, oh, like now okay, now, now I get it.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, your wife's about to have Kojo Home and Ashley
Furnishers type stores going on here.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You're gonna be She's done such a freaking great job.
For like a year, I was like, what the hell
is the hold up here? Yeah, like, let's just get
it done.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You're buying it, you're building it on the property you
already have.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It was a house that we bought. It was an
old house. We found mold in the house, so there
was a year of mold remediation. Then I screwed up
and said, you know what, babe, making more money than
I ever thought i'd make in my life. We've got
all these investments paying off. Build it how you want
to build it. And I immediately I was like, shit,
I shouldn't have said that, because we had to have
(20:27):
a tile roof shipped over from Spain, and uh, like
that's not a joke. Like everything is immaculate. But she's
done such a great job of designing this house. And
my sister in law, her half sister, has been so
great about being like her personal assistant on this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So then she says when we get in this house,
like I don't want a lot of mounts. Do you
know many trophy mounts I have, and like ACMs and
cmas and Platinum records and all this stuff that. Like
She's like, I just really don't want it in the house.
And I'm like, well, where am I supposed to put
all this? You get a room anything, So I built
at the end of my rodeo arena. I built this
(21:04):
like fifty five hundred square foot quote unquote trophy room.
So then it escalates really quickly, like now there's a
golf simulator room, there's a there's a gun room that
has the padlock you know, and everything, and a bar,
a full kitchen, and it just gets worse and worse,
Like the further we go, I'm like, what is this life? Man?
(21:25):
Like I've got I've got stuff all in this thing.
Like it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
But I can tell like over the years, the more
you it's funny because the more you're in control of
your career, you're doing this right, yeah, but it feels
like at the same time you're doing this and when
you get the happy medium between the two, you're smiling
talking about everything you're doing in life like you are.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Now you got to learn to let go, Like you've
got to learn to let go, Like if you hold
the reins too much, too tight, it doesn't leave room
for God to be God Like, it doesn't leave room
for him to work his magic in your life. And
I think that that. And here's the thing, like, like
even in the studio, like why do you have the
producer you trust so much and the engineer you trust
(22:06):
so much if you're not going to listen to them,
Like at some point you have to take your pride
out of the picture, out of the equation and say,
maybe I'm not right, Like what do you think? What
do you want to do? And then let it go,
you know, like with my life, you know, just let
go of the reins and still be me and still
be very much in control of who I am and
everything that I do, but with every step along the way,
(22:27):
Like this is a cool piece of life advice, and
I hope this helps you. Like I pray for roadblocks
so like I really want to buy this piece of property,
but I take my hat off and I say, all right, God,
if you don't want me to buy that piece of property,
I want you to put up a roadblock that I
can't get around. Like, if there's bumps in the way,
(22:48):
that's cool, But like put up a roadblock, and when
you see that roadblock, go, man, even though I wanted that,
if you said no, I'm not going to do it,
and I feel like you get rewarded in your faith
for that. Like sometimes it's just personal. Sometimes it's financially,
but like being able to let go, you're in more
control than you think. Does that make sense.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, that's a wild way to look at it. I mean,
because a lot of people would be like, I'm just
I'll just keep chipping away at the roadblock until it
falls over.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Sometimes, man, like bumps in the road or bumps in
the road, you're gonna have that no matter what in
your career your personal life, you're gonna have bumps in
the road. But when there's obviously a roadblock, that's like,
I don't know how I'm gonna get around this. If
you're actually praying for roadblocks and saying, hey, God, if
there's something I don't need to do, just put up
the wall, it's like, well, if you see the wall,
then you have to have the no pride self respect
(23:37):
of like, all right, you said no, I'm not gonna
do it, and then like all of a sudden, this
other thing happens and you're like, Oh, that's where I
was supposed to go. That's what I was supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
That has a trophy room in the house. Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
To be honest, when she said I had to build
a trophy room, I was like, God, this is gonna suck. Dude,
I love it. I'm having so much fun with my
designer going through all this stuff. It's gonna be freaking cool.
You'll have to come to check it out out. We'll
play around the golf inside. I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I'm all in.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
We just got details on the album a couple of
days ago. It's Banks of the Trinity. As much as
you're going to answer a million questions about what was
the inspiration and why were these songs right for this album,
I want to ask out of these group of saying
and not not all the songs you recorded and then
whittled it down. Out of the songs we're getting, what's
the best story in writing, recording anything, The best story
(24:29):
that's coming out of one of these songs on the album.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I mean not to disrespect any of the rest of
the songwriters on the album. The very last track is
called Yippy Tao Hey Hey, and it's a don't put.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That on the radio because we will screw that up.
Yippie ta hey Hey, We'll mess it up somehow.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
The hook line is it's it's like the hook line
is like Yippie Tao whoa hey hey, and it it's
this cowboy song man like I started writing this thing.
It's one hundred percent right for me, which I rarely do.
We were working, we were gonna work cows one day
and it rained us out. And so I'm sitting in
the barn in the office and I've got my grandfather's
(25:09):
nineteen forty three J forty five sitting there like and
and so it's so old and I've never had it refurbished,
but you can't. It's like a step and a half
low from standard tuning. So it's it's this low, gravelly,
rattley thing. And when you use different guitars to write,
it makes you right different, makes you sing different. I
picked this thing up and I was picking around on it,
and I'm like, well, the wind's too high to brand today.
(25:30):
Can't even start a fire. It ain't raining three damn months.
So I'm here patching this barbed wire and Carson comes
in and we were talking about the weather and you know,
like the year, and I said, how many bells of
Hey do we have left in that barn? He said
thirty six bells. So it was like, and I'd hate
to think what did happened if I actually starved to death.
But at least my horse is and my cattle. Wont
I got thirty six bells left? You'd be told whoa hey?
(25:56):
Hey started telling this story about this cowboy and his
land that you know that his grandpa had was passed
down to his dad, and I get to the chorus
and talking about the Trinity River. You know, this land
was cut by the river, the damned old Trinity. And
when she gets to feeling mad, lord, she sure gets mean.
So I get all this stuff done and I the
next week or two weeks later, Chris Douglass comes down
(26:18):
to do the photo shoot for Leather and he's like, man,
I really love that guitar. I love that it's your
grandpa's guitar. Want me take some pictures. And you've seen
the pictures of me holding that guitar. So he's like,
instead of posing with it, why don't you play me
something that way? It's natural, And so I just started
playing the song and he goes, what the hell is that?
I was like, Man, it's just this thing I'm writing.
He goes, man, that's really good, Like where's it going
(26:39):
in the photo shoot? I wrote the next part of
the song. So then I come out on the road
and I'm sitting on the bus with NOEH and I
was like, check this thing out that I've been writing,
Like check this out. Tell me if it's crazy or not.
And he goes, man, I love it. Like when is
this song taking place? Like when is this story taking place?
Is its present day? Or so he walks out of
the bus, and I was like, it was a spring
(27:00):
of nineteen twenty five of a cold and clo cloudy day,
Like what happens here? Like in a good story, somebody's
got to die. So I'm like, twelve cowboys came in
to take this land away. Daddy grabbed a shotgun and
I grabbed it. Twenty two. I buried all twelve men
that day, and then I buried Daddy too. Yippie tae, hey, Hey,
it's just it started falling out wow, And I wrote
the rest of it. To this day, i've still never
(27:22):
written the song down. So when I got home, I
took this phone and I went in my tack room
where all my saddles and bits and stuff are. I said, man,
I really need to make a work tape of that
before I forget it. And so I set my phone
down and I recorded it. And when we went to
go do the album, I said, that's what I want
to put on the album, the very last song. So
it's the iPhone recording of me doing that in my
(27:42):
tack room. Like, if you listen close, you can hear
a couple of in the background. I was like, I
don't want to church it up like I want it
to be raw. I want it to be as raw
as the story is. So I think that's what I'm
the most proud of on the record, because you don't
have to be a cowboy to enjoy this song, just
like you don't have to be a cowboy to enjoy Yellowstone.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So I can't wait for you to hear it. I'll
send it to you please.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I'd love to hear it. And it's funny because you
brought up Yellowstone because fans are like, oh, you know,
Cody Johnson makes great music, you go see a show
and works his ass off, but like then you go
home and like you live what you sing about. Now,
there's a lot of people that have you know, farms
and ranches, but then they go home and there's other
people working it for them. Right, I mean I do
(28:26):
have good people, for sure, but you're not afraid to
like you very much are involved.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
No, So, like when I hired my brother in law, Like, so,
Brandy and Savannah are half sisters. She marries Carson. Right,
he's a cowboy. I know, he team ropes And we
were sitting at like one holiday and he was talking
about how horrible his job is and he just can't
make ends meet, and I was like, why don't y'all
just move in here? So, like for a year they
lived in the house with us, the house that we're remodeling,
before we found them old. They live with us for
(28:51):
a year before I was able to buy another piece
of property that connects to me with a house on it.
So they live in the ranch house. Savannah works for Brandy,
Carson works for me. So when he first started working
for me. If there was teaposts to be driven, I
drove all of them and I made him watch me.
And I've got the blisters and blood on my hands,
and I've got all the sweat running down my back.
(29:11):
But I did the work intentionally in front of him
and said, this is what I'm expecting out of you.
So then Scott Brown is one of my great friends,
known him forever. I lease all my buses except for
my own personal bus, from him. He started the bus
company because I needed buses. His son, Aidan graduates high
schools going to college. I hired Aiden told Carson, I said,
(29:32):
when you get that boy out there, I've known this
kid since he was eight years old. I'm like, when
you get that boy out there, you do the work.
You show him what is expected of him. So when
I say I've got good people around me, half the time,
they've already got. And if I mentioned something and that
needs to be trimmed up, that tree needs to be
trimmed up, it's gonna fall the next time I drive
past it. It's already trimmed up. But like I've instilled
(29:53):
that work ethic in them. And when it comes time
to work cattle it's my show. I do the I
run that show.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
That's so that's so crazy, and I'd imagine that's pretty
helpful when it comes to wanting to write as well, right,
because you're writing about things, but you're also like living
or living it, so there's more inspiration than a lot
of other artists would see.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, and I finally, like back to the trophy room thing,
there was this attic space that we couldn't figure out
how to get to, and so I just said, let's
build some stairs. Let's cut a hole in that in
that ceiling. Let's build some stairs that goes up like
you kind of have to like duck to get into it. Yea,
it opens up to this big area probably ah, I'd
say maybe twice the size of this. It's like a
shotgun style. I just said, let's put in a studio.
(30:36):
I've never had a studio in my life. But instead
of no, I've never had a studio. Oh wow, So
instead of recording it on the iPhone, now I've got
the capability or I will have soon, the capability of
no windows, very vibey light fixtures, you know, dim lit
carpet where you can walk in kick your shoes off,
but like have a soundboard and vocal and acoustic booth
(30:57):
and like just be able to go up there and
just write. Like I I want to be able to
wake up in the middle of the night with a
song going through my head and instead of writing it
down and then kind of the next day being I
can't really remember what that tune was, I can just
go to the trophy room, go upstairs the studio, put
it down, and I'm like, now I have like a
real raw work tape of it I can send, which
also keeps me from coming to Nashville for a lot
of stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So there's just say, yeah, dude, you're a busy guy.
I appreciate the time. Man, It's always so good anytime, anytime.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, you beat buddy,
A little bit, It'll be right, We'll figure it out.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
My man. Uh, I'm gonna tell you, I'm sitting in
the room with the guy who has been nominated for
Entertainer of the Year more than once, and at some
point you're gonna have to carve his damn name in
one of these things because he deserves it. Cody Johnson,
I'm said, Kojo, my boy. Uh, the nominations still mean
a lot after all this time, because I know at
one point you're like whatever.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
You know, Sometimes you say stuff and then you look
back and you're like, that was that was wrong, that
was inaccurate? Was a that was a younger version. I'm
my best. I heard Red ste Gull say one time,
out of all the lives I've lived, this one's by
far my favorite. Like I feel like I'm at that
point fixing to me thirty nine years old, like starting
to really actually figure life out, my career, my my self, discipline,
(00:45):
you know, my drive, my goals. You know that that's
like marriage, kids, you know all that stuff, not just
the career. But you know it sounds cliche, just say, like,
when you're nominated for Entertainer of the Year, you've already won,
But it's the truth because it you're putting a different
category of artists, you know, and so you're being really
you're being recognized for all your hard work even if
(01:06):
you don't win it. But I mean, I would be
lying if I didn't say, like, that's the one I
want to win the most. You know, I work for
that every night on stage, you know, I work for
that every day going out and doing what I do.
It's all for that goal of winning Entertainer. But honestly,
everybody in the category deserves it too. I personally feel
like Luke Comb should win it, So I appreciate you
saying that, but I don't think anybody in that category
(01:28):
has worked as hard as Luke Colmb's to get Entertainer
of the Year. So that's who I'm pulling for, is that?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
So let me ask you, a younger version of Cody,
could you have said that?
Speaker 1 (01:37):
No? No, I'd have been already rehearsed what I was
gonna say in my head before I got here. And
I'm just I'm comfortable in my own skin now. Man.
I'm I have nothing to prove to anybody. It's one
of those deals that, like, you know, financially I could
walk away, but I just don't want to. I just
love my job, man. I love making music that influences
(01:57):
people in a positive way. You know, it's said it's
the funnest job in the world, even when it's the
hardest job in the world. But I'm telling you, man,
I think Luke deserves it. He's opened so many doors
for me. He's been I was there the night that
one of his sons was born, and we were overseas
in Australia and he's crying in the bathroom, and I'm like,
I don't really know what to say to you right now. Besides,
(02:19):
he's not gonna remember that you weren't there, and.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
What you're doing is building your wife will forever.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Yeah, well that's that's the downside of it. But I'm like, dude,
you're building a legacy not only in country music, but
for your kids. Like they're gonna benefit from the hard
work you're doing. But like I said, I just know
the man deserves it. So if I get it, I'll
probably dedicate.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
It to him. That's so cool, man, that's big. When
you think of where you're at now, and every time
we talk, I remember, you know, and I bring up
back to like some of our first conversations where you're like, yeah,
they're making me come talk to radio. I never throw
that in your face until wow, but it's but you
you have come such a long way, and with that,
(03:00):
there are versions of of you that and you said
and it's funny because you're gonna be thirty nine, I'm
forty four. Yeah, there is something about this season where
you're like, things start to make sense, things shift into
place where you're like, why do I why does that
bother me? Why did that bother me? Before? Yeah, So
as you look at earlier versions of yourself, what are
(03:22):
things you're still proud of and what are things that
you're like, Man, I was glad I was able to
let leave that behind.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Man Like. So I've been doing a lot of like
self soul searching lately, and I don't want to get
like just kill the vibe in here and get too deep.
But like when I was when I was a kid,
like the church that I went to that my parents
went to, that it like the religion was like if
you do this, you're going to hell. Like if you
go here, you're gonna go to hell. Like and so
(03:49):
at a point I think there was like so much
of this like shame, like you're c're around the shame
and regret and guilt that at some point I was like, well,
if I'm going to go to hell, like, there's no
point in try, and I just I give up. I
give up. And I just went absolutely nuts, like for
a while. And when I started going and playing with
my band, you know, in a trailer and a van,
(04:11):
we were we were hell on wheels, man like it.
We were. We were pretty wild, and I think that's
what I thought music was about, was it was this
big party. And I finally got out of that lifestyle
and started really applying myself to my craft and having
goals and having a vision. Cleaned up my life and
it helped my marriage, It helped my career, and then
(04:33):
this thing blew up, and I'm like, oh my gosh,
I'm so glad that I got rid of that version
of myself because I don't think he could have handled
fame and all that.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
But even like finances, like I placed, I've got mentors
that have mentored me financially of how to how to invest,
how to make money, how to let your money make
you money, and you know, It's not like I don't
measure that as success, but it is nice to know that.
Like I've got the mental fortitude now to know how
to sit in a business meeting and handle myself and
(05:02):
actually know what the hell they're talking about. And that
looks like an idiot, but man like self discipline, like
my diet, my workout regimen, the peptides and the vitamins
that I take and sleep habits and stuff like that,
Like it just bleeds over into my work ethic with music.
So now like when I get in the studio, I
feel like I am on point. Man when we get
to the show, I'm on point. And it just makes
(05:24):
it fun because it's always more fun to win.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
You something you've always done from the beginning, and somebody
who may just you know, open up the iHeartRadio app
and pop in one of your songs or here's you
on the radio, might not realize is you are such
a and you brought up business right like Businessman said
you are, so like in chart, you're in the driver's
seat of your career. And there's a lot of artists
in Nashville and in other music formats where they're just
(05:51):
there and that's not a disrespect, but like, I'm just
happy you're just having to sell tickets. I'm just happy
to why has that been? And I bring this up
because some of the first conversations we ever had as
I got to know you and you had you don't
wear anybody else's hat, you wear Cody Johnson has. Yeah, right,
So why has Why has that part of this always
(06:11):
been important to you to be a businessman and an artist.
Speaker 1 (06:15):
As a businessman, Like if you don't do business, business
does you? And so then but now you're you're a
slave to the trade, you know, And that's it's I
believed in a hat partner was resist all. Now that's
my hat, and we're the highest hat seller at the company.
Like it, and we're proud of that. I believe in
Wrangler clothing. So now we have shirts and jeans. That's
(06:37):
what I'm wearing. It's and if I'm endorsing something, it's
because it's real. Like I just did a Justin Boots deal,
and honestly, whenever Howie, my manager brought me the justin
Boots sales pitch, I just didn't believe in their product.
I was like, I feel like the company is kind
of slowly dying off. I'm not gonna let them piggyback
my success to build their own company. So if we
(06:57):
do this, I'm not First of all, I'm gonna have
to believe in the product. Second of all, we're gonna
have to sit down and go through this portfolio and say,
if you're gonna piggyback on me, I'm gonna I'm gonna
put in my part. Yeah, but we're gonna be compensated
for that, And so it's a partnership. It's not an endorsement.
But uh, he brought me two pairs of Justin boots.
I put spurs on both of them, and I never
(07:18):
walked around a rock or a mud puddle or a
pile of cowshit or anything like that. Like, I just
tortured these boots for a year. They're the most I
have really bad ankles and knees from bull riding days,
and I have like bad planners fascy fasciatis, and like
broke both the bones in my right ankle. So I
have a lot of I have a lot of foot
pain right plus I'm getting old as hell. We're like
(07:39):
I wore those boots and my pain wasn't there, like
better than on cloud tennis shoes, like it's crazy. So
I was after a year, I said, Okay, I'm a
firm believer. Let's talk designs and you know so it's
like once I once I really believe in a product
and I want to put my name on it. I
know that that's going to just be another form of
passive income. And it's easy to wear. Like I just
put on my clothes and say, hey, look, this is
(08:00):
a Cody Johnson's shirt. You know you should you should
buy one. I know a guy if you want someone.
Speaker 2 (08:05):
By the way, because I'm still waiting for the cowboy hat.
I was promised that stage coach at twenty eighteen. Are
you serious?
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Hell, that's not on me, that's on management. I told
him again, here we go here, we're gonna blame Jackson
for that.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
He was in the room that I need Kojo Mertz,
I need It's I'm just saying that's fine.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
I'll keep text me your address. Oh he said, they
don't have eight What hat size are you, watermelon?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
I'm seven and five eights. I'll hat swap you right
now like an NFL gamer.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
No it, text me your address, look, get it, taking
care of it. But on the business thing, I do
have to give credit to how he takes care of
a lot of that stuff where I make the deal
and then I turn it over to him and go
handle that. That's a nice siren in the background. But
when you say handle that, it's like I see emails,
I see text messages, I get updates, but I'm not
the one that has to do it. And that's the
(08:58):
benefit of having a great manager that you trust.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
You brought up your love and respect for Luke Combs.
Obviously you just share details about a new album coming out.
Collabs are such a massive deal to country. You are
a guy.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
They're bigger now than they used to be, which is.
Speaker 2 (09:16):
Weird because it was a massive thing and then it
kind of went away.
Speaker 1 (09:19):
And then it resurgence.
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Yeah, but you're You're a guy who I don't want
to say you didn't care, But it's like I just
do Cody Johnson does Cody Johnson's things right, and Collabs
never felt like a priority, never felt forced. You're to
a point where we're hearing you work with people. What
(09:41):
brought that in? What opened the door and why did
why did now feel right? Versus the last album of
the album before all right, tell.
Speaker 1 (09:47):
Him out real quick? Can I talk about this?
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Playback is for next Saturday. We'll clip out whatever you
need us too.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
I won't say anything about the stagecoach thing, but can
I talk about Okay you can cool?
Speaker 2 (10:01):
That'll that's how okay? Sorry, and just hey whatever, if
you hear something, just tell me or tell tell you
and well we'll chop it off. Okay, cool? Yeah, perfect.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
So I think Riba is what really changed it for me,
because I mean I've done collabs with a lot of
my Texas heroes, you know, Roger Craig or Kevin Fowler,
Gary penaon even, Like I've done a lot of those things,
but like Riba changed it for me when she when
she wanted to do Deer Rodeo, Like they're like, hey,
Reba called, she really wants to sing on the song.
(10:34):
I'm like, what is this life? You know, Like what
do you mean? Reba called? Like it was her idea.
And then like whenever Ronnie and Kicks decided to do
a song with me, like it just kind of started
opening my eyes of like I have an opportunity to
sing with some of my heroes, and I think that's
where I started and then I started to really realize
like some of my comrades, like some of my friends
(10:55):
are my heroes too. Like I always wanted to do
something with Luke because of all the doors he opened
for me. You know, Jelly Roll was on the last album.
So this time around, like I had this song called
Rabbit Gets the Gun and it was it was a
Travis Meadows co right, but it was so rock man like.
It was just screaming to be a rock song. And
(11:16):
I'm not gonna do what uh some artists do and
throw a fiddle on it and call it a country song.
Like I'm one of those. Like my grandpa always said,
don't piss on my back and tell me it's raining.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
So, by the way, I could get the most clickable
headlines ever if I if I push what he's saying,
I love you and respect you, and I'm not that guy,
So go ahead.
Speaker 1 (11:35):
I no, you can put that out of there. I
don't care. That's what that was My grandpa's the words,
not man, Okay, okay, I was just I was just
making a quote. You say whatever you want if you're
quoting somebody else, right exactly, But like, uh, so I
wanted to make it a rock song, so it didn't
go on my album Banks of the Trinity. But my
favorite rock band is Rival Sons. They're an indie rock
band out of California. That's what I listened to when
(11:55):
I work out, Like it's my I love every song.
J Buchanan is the lead singer, and imire him so
much as a vocalist. So just we just kind of
reached out like would J. B Cannan be on the song?
And he immediately said yes. So I called Trent Willman,
who calls Dave Cobb, which is Jay's producer. So not
only was it a collaboration between me and Jay, it
(12:17):
was a collaboration between Trent and Dave, and I just
know pride in the game. I was like, dude, I
don't know the rock world. Like you picked the musicians,
you picked the vibe however you want it to be.
And it turned into one of the coolest things I've
ever recorded because I got to show a side of
myself that nobody's really seen yet and I got to
be the rock star. And so like then, like Brothers Osborne,
(12:39):
I hear this song on my record called Foolproof, I
just hear Brothers Osbourne. I'm such a big fan of
TJ's voice and such a big fan of John's his
right hand really like he can everybody. They say in guitar,
like the left hand is what you know, the right
hand is who you are. John's right hand on a
guitar is just monstrous, And so I knew that I
(12:59):
wanted them to be on the record. And then freaking
Drew Parker and Josh Phillips write this song called Shoot
the Bull that is so specific, really bold, by the way,
yeah buld move like they wrote it so specific to
me and Luke Colms that if we didn't like the song,
that song never gets heard. Like it's not like if
if you write a song that two artists could do
and they didn't want to do it. We go to
(13:20):
these two artists like, you know, it's it's about Cody
Johnson and Luke Colmbs. And so I sent it to
Luke in like two months go by, Luke is the
worst about answering his freaking phone man.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
I swear to Bailey Zimmerman sent the collab that they did,
and Bailey said he got his number at Stage Coach
and a couple of weeks later it's like I was
sitting on this song, send it to Luke. He got
back to them like six weeks later.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
He was like, but see I talked. I talked trash
about Luke not answering his phone, and he's like, that's
the pot calling the kettle black. You're just as bad,
And like how many interviews knowing if I said when
I go home, this phone goes face down and it's
the truth. Like, so we're we're both the worst at it.
But he finally did get back to me and agreed
to do the song, and it was really cool because
we got to do it in the studio together. I've
(14:02):
played hundreds of shows with Luke and been around him
on the road, you know, a good friend, but we've
never been in the studio together. So that was really
that was a cool experience.
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Something else that is super unique about your approach to
how Cody Johnson does country music the way he wants.
A lot of artists make massive like life sacrifices and
move to town, right they set up shop in Nashville
surrounding areas. You started in Texas, Texas. You know, all
(14:31):
respect to your work, all respect to your work and
effort Texas made you the artist that you are, and
then you took off after that? Why was it important
for you never to come here and chase what a
lot of artists do.
Speaker 1 (14:47):
I swear like me and Lou were just talking about
this in the car on the wheel where you're watching
like all these party buses go down Broadway and like
the Wu girl woo. You know, everybody's hammered by eleven
o'clock and just people just walking around this town just
enjoy a Nashville. And now I love Nashville, like I
really love this town, but I don't want to live
here because if I lived here, everything's an opportunity. There's
(15:12):
in the music business, there's what I call the dangling carrot,
and they dangle it out there and go, look, this
could make you rich, this could make you famous. This
is a big opportunity. It's like to a manager or
to a record label head, every opportunity is a big opportunity, right.
But I see a lot of people in the industry
who don't know how to say the word no. It's
just yes, I'll do it, Yes, I'll do it, Yes,
(15:33):
I'll do it. And it's like you can only milk
the cow so much. Man, like I need a counterbalance
in my life. And so it's not just because of
my love for Texas, but like when I get on
the jet or I get on the bus and I
know that we're coming to Nashville, I know that it's
going to be work. When I show up, my schedule
is stacked every day. Again. I enjoy what I do,
(15:56):
just like sitting here talking to you. This is fun, man,
but I know that it's going to be all all
day long, and and and put on. I told my
kids time to put the Superman cape on. So when
I walk out of the door, I put my Superman
cape on and I go do the thing right that
I'm good at, and I'm thankful that I'm good at it.
But when I go home to Texas, I'm separated from
(16:16):
the town, from the buzz. So half the time when
a when a when a song comes out and it
goes viral, or if the merch sales spiked over something
or whatever the thing is, I literally don't know about it.
Like my wife tells me, did you see this? And
I'm like, no, I didn't see what happened. He's like, oh,
kid rock did your song? I'm like, oh cool, And
(16:37):
then the next day, a six one five number calls
my phone and it's Bob Ritchie and You're like, oh,
what's up talking kid Rock at a Mexican restaurant in
Texas right now, you know, like as you.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
Go, did you go who is this? And he goes,
my name is Works. I just keep it.
Speaker 1 (16:56):
I need that balance because when I go home, we
have a right under right short of eight hundred acres
and by the end of the year we'll be running
about two hundred head of cows. And so I do
have a ranch manager that I have to keep up
with in a ranch hand that I have to keep
up with, and you know, what are the daily activities.
And but then also like being an assistant softball coach
(17:19):
and you know, a dad of a six month old
right now, like there's a lot going on at home
that the Superman cape has to be hung up at
the door. And I think if I lived here, I
would always try to keep the cape on. And I
got to go home and be me too, you know.
And I also like it kind of adds a little
bit of a mistique, like you can't get to him,
you know, And I'm like, less is more a lot
(17:40):
of times.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
That's important for your sanity too.
Speaker 1 (17:43):
Dude. My mental health is so good because I don't
live here.
Speaker 2 (17:47):
And I ask you this as a challenging question, is
Cody Johnson's music is good as good as it is
if you don't go back to home no versus.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
Living easy answer?
Speaker 2 (18:01):
No, Why do you think that is?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Because a lot of times? Man like, So I'll get
my drop box on my phone. Yeah, and I've got
all these new songs right and say there's forty of them.
A lot of the times going back and forth to
the horse vet or taking cows of the sale, or
just driving around the ranch checking cows or whatever. I
plug it in and I just just listen to stuff,
you know, and I think that my sense of what
(18:25):
is a great song is getting better, like just because
I have that time. It's just like you go out
to my place and we just stopped talking. It's quiet,
like you can't hear it. There's birds, you'll hear the wind.
You may hear a cow on a background, but that's it,
man Like, that's it.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
Are one of the ranch hands because you don't feed
nobody that works for you. Those guys are.
Speaker 1 (18:48):
But like and plus like having like one of my
best friends back home, Kolbe Lovell. He don't. He's got
an eclectic music taste, but he doesn't play so like
I'll play stuff for him, or like my brother in
law is my ranch manager, Carson will be out team.
We're opening up bluetooth to the speakers in the arena.
It's like, hey, check the song out, man, what do
you think? And look at their reaction. You know, if
he's like it's okay, I'm like that song's out even
(19:11):
if I loved it. If he's like all right or yeah,
it's a good song, I can tell like he's he's
like lying to me. But then I play the one
where he's like, dude, that's a freaking smash. I'm like, yeah,
that's going We're gonna push save on that one. And
it's just it's clarity time, like I'm building. Obviously, we're
about three or four months from being in this house
that my wife has spent way more money than I
(19:33):
want to say on your it's insane.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I was wondering why you're still working so hard.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
By the time she gets through with this chip and
Joeyanna Gains will be at my house taking pictures. Yeah,
once we got in some of the final stages, I
was like, oh, like now okay, now, now I get it.
Speaker 2 (19:50):
Yeah, your wife's about to have Kojo Home and Ashley
Furnishers type stores going on here.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
You're gonna be She's done such a freaking great job.
For like a year, I was like, what the hell
is the hold up here? Yeah, like, let's just get
it done.
Speaker 2 (20:03):
You're buying it, you're building it on the property you
already have.
Speaker 1 (20:06):
It was a house that we bought. It was an
old house. We found mold in the house, so there
was a year of mold remediation. Then I screwed up
and said, you know what, babe, making more money than
I ever thought i'd make in my life. We've got
all these investments paying off. Build it how you want
to build it. And I immediately I was like, shit,
I shouldn't have said that, because we had to have
(20:27):
a tile roof shipped over from Spain, and uh, like
that's not a joke. Like everything is immaculate. But she's
done such a great job of designing this house. And
my sister in law, her half sister, has been so
great about being like her personal assistant on this thing.
Speaker 2 (20:43):
So this is.
Speaker 1 (20:44):
So then she says when we get in this house,
like I don't want a lot of mounts. Do you
know many trophy mounts I have, and like ACMs and
cmas and Platinum records and all this stuff that. Like
She's like, I just really don't want it in the house.
And I'm like, well, where am I supposed to put
all this? You get a room anything, So I built
at the end of my rodeo arena. I built this
(21:04):
like fifty five hundred square foot quote unquote trophy room.
So then it escalates really quickly, like now there's a
golf simulator room, there's a there's a gun room that
has the padlock you know, and everything, and a bar,
a full kitchen, and it just gets worse and worse,
Like the further we go, I'm like, what is this life? Man?
(21:25):
Like I've got I've got stuff all in this thing.
Like it's crazy.
Speaker 2 (21:29):
But I can tell like over the years, the more
you it's funny because the more you're in control of
your career, you're doing this right, yeah, but it feels
like at the same time you're doing this and when
you get the happy medium between the two, you're smiling
talking about everything you're doing in life like you are.
Speaker 1 (21:45):
Now you got to learn to let go, Like you've
got to learn to let go, Like if you hold
the reins too much, too tight, it doesn't leave room
for God to be God Like, it doesn't leave room
for him to work his magic in your life. And
I think that that. And here's the thing, like, like
even in the studio, like why do you have the
producer you trust so much and the engineer you trust
(22:06):
so much if you're not going to listen to them,
Like at some point you have to take your pride
out of the picture, out of the equation and say,
maybe I'm not right, Like what do you think? What
do you want to do? And then let it go,
you know, like with my life, you know, just let
go of the reins and still be me and still
be very much in control of who I am and
everything that I do, but with every step along the way,
(22:27):
Like this is a cool piece of life advice, and
I hope this helps you. Like I pray for roadblocks
so like I really want to buy this piece of property,
but I take my hat off and I say, all right, God,
if you don't want me to buy that piece of property,
I want you to put up a roadblock that I
can't get around. Like, if there's bumps in the way,
(22:48):
that's cool, But like put up a roadblock, and when
you see that roadblock, go, man, even though I wanted that,
if you said no, I'm not going to do it,
and I feel like you get rewarded in your faith
for that. Like sometimes it's just personal. Sometimes it's financially,
but like being able to let go, you're in more
control than you think. Does that make sense.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
Yeah, that's a wild way to look at it. I mean,
because a lot of people would be like, I'm just
I'll just keep chipping away at the roadblock until it
falls over.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Sometimes, man, like bumps in the road or bumps in
the road, you're gonna have that no matter what in
your career your personal life, you're gonna have bumps in
the road. But when there's obviously a roadblock, that's like,
I don't know how I'm gonna get around this. If
you're actually praying for roadblocks and saying, hey, God, if
there's something I don't need to do, just put up
the wall, it's like, well, if you see the wall,
then you have to have the no pride self respect
(23:37):
of like, all right, you said no, I'm not gonna
do it, and then like all of a sudden, this
other thing happens and you're like, Oh, that's where I
was supposed to go. That's what I was supposed to do.
Speaker 2 (23:46):
That has a trophy room in the house. Yeah. Yes.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
To be honest, when she said I had to build
a trophy room, I was like, God, this is gonna suck. Dude,
I love it. I'm having so much fun with my
designer going through all this stuff. It's gonna be freaking cool.
You'll have to come to check it out out. We'll
play around the golf inside. I'm all in.
Speaker 2 (24:03):
I'm all in.
Speaker 1 (24:04):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (24:04):
We just got details on the album a couple of
days ago. It's Banks of the Trinity. As much as
you're going to answer a million questions about what was
the inspiration and why were these songs right for this album,
I want to ask out of these group of saying
and not not all the songs you recorded and then
whittled it down. Out of the songs we're getting, what's
the best story in writing, recording anything, The best story
(24:29):
that's coming out of one of these songs on the album.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
I mean not to disrespect any of the rest of
the songwriters on the album. The very last track is
called Yippy Tao Hey Hey, and it's a don't put.
Speaker 2 (24:41):
That on the radio because we will screw that up.
Yippie ta hey Hey, We'll mess it up somehow.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
The hook line is it's it's like the hook line
is like Yippie Tao whoa hey hey, and it it's
this cowboy song man like I started writing this thing.
It's one hundred percent right for me, which I rarely do.
We were working, we were gonna work cows one day
and it rained us out. And so I'm sitting in
the barn in the office and I've got my grandfather's
(25:09):
nineteen forty three J forty five sitting there like and
and so it's so old and I've never had it refurbished,
but you can't. It's like a step and a half
low from standard tuning. So it's it's this low, gravelly,
rattley thing. And when you use different guitars to write,
it makes you right different, makes you sing different. I
picked this thing up and I was picking around on it,
and I'm like, well, the wind's too high to brand today.
(25:30):
Can't even start a fire. It ain't raining three damn months.
So I'm here patching this barbed wire and Carson comes
in and we were talking about the weather and you know,
like the year, and I said, how many bells of
Hey do we have left in that barn? He said
thirty six bells. So it was like, and I'd hate
to think what did happened if I actually starved to death.
But at least my horse is and my cattle. Wont
I got thirty six bells left? You'd be told whoa hey?
(25:56):
Hey started telling this story about this cowboy and his
land that you know that his grandpa had was passed
down to his dad, and I get to the chorus
and talking about the Trinity River. You know, this land
was cut by the river, the damned old Trinity. And
when she gets to feeling mad, lord, she sure gets mean.
So I get all this stuff done and I the
next week or two weeks later, Chris Douglass comes down
(26:18):
to do the photo shoot for Leather and he's like, man,
I really love that guitar. I love that it's your
grandpa's guitar. Want me take some pictures. And you've seen
the pictures of me holding that guitar. So he's like,
instead of posing with it, why don't you play me
something that way? It's natural, And so I just started
playing the song and he goes, what the hell is that?
I was like, Man, it's just this thing I'm writing.
He goes, man, that's really good, Like where's it going
(26:39):
in the photo shoot? I wrote the next part of
the song. So then I come out on the road
and I'm sitting on the bus with NOEH and I
was like, check this thing out that I've been writing,
Like check this out. Tell me if it's crazy or not.
And he goes, man, I love it. Like when is
this song taking place? Like when is this story taking place?
Is its present day? Or so he walks out of
the bus, and I was like, it was a spring
(27:00):
of nineteen twenty five of a cold and clo cloudy day,
Like what happens here? Like in a good story, somebody's
got to die. So I'm like, twelve cowboys came in
to take this land away. Daddy grabbed a shotgun and
I grabbed it. Twenty two. I buried all twelve men
that day, and then I buried Daddy too. Yippie tae, hey, Hey,
it's just it started falling out wow, And I wrote
the rest of it. To this day, i've still never
(27:22):
written the song down. So when I got home, I
took this phone and I went in my tack room
where all my saddles and bits and stuff are. I said, man,
I really need to make a work tape of that
before I forget it. And so I set my phone
down and I recorded it. And when we went to
go do the album, I said, that's what I want
to put on the album, the very last song. So
it's the iPhone recording of me doing that in my
(27:42):
tack room. Like, if you listen close, you can hear
a couple of in the background. I was like, I
don't want to church it up like I want it
to be raw. I want it to be as raw
as the story is. So I think that's what I'm
the most proud of on the record, because you don't
have to be a cowboy to enjoy this song, just
like you don't have to be a cowboy to enjoy Yellowstone.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (28:03):
So I can't wait for you to hear it. I'll
send it to you please.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
I'd love to hear it. And it's funny because you
brought up Yellowstone because fans are like, oh, you know,
Cody Johnson makes great music, you go see a show
and works his ass off, but like then you go
home and like you live what you sing about. Now,
there's a lot of people that have you know, farms
and ranches, but then they go home and there's other
people working it for them. Right, I mean I do
(28:26):
have good people, for sure, but you're not afraid to
like you very much are involved.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
No, So, like when I hired my brother in law, Like, so,
Brandy and Savannah are half sisters. She marries Carson. Right,
he's a cowboy. I know, he team ropes And we
were sitting at like one holiday and he was talking
about how horrible his job is and he just can't
make ends meet, and I was like, why don't y'all
just move in here? So, like for a year they
lived in the house with us, the house that we're remodeling,
before we found them old. They live with us for
(28:51):
a year before I was able to buy another piece
of property that connects to me with a house on it.
So they live in the ranch house. Savannah works for Brandy,
Carson works for me. So when he first started working
for me. If there was teaposts to be driven, I
drove all of them and I made him watch me.
And I've got the blisters and blood on my hands,
and I've got all the sweat running down my back.
(29:11):
But I did the work intentionally in front of him
and said, this is what I'm expecting out of you.
So then Scott Brown is one of my great friends,
known him forever. I lease all my buses except for
my own personal bus, from him. He started the bus
company because I needed buses. His son, Aidan graduates high
schools going to college. I hired Aiden told Carson, I said,
(29:32):
when you get that boy out there, I've known this
kid since he was eight years old. I'm like, when
you get that boy out there, you do the work.
You show him what is expected of him. So when
I say I've got good people around me, half the time,
they've already got. And if I mentioned something and that
needs to be trimmed up, that tree needs to be
trimmed up, it's gonna fall the next time I drive
past it. It's already trimmed up. But like I've instilled
(29:53):
that work ethic in them. And when it comes time
to work cattle it's my show. I do the I
run that show.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
That's so that's so crazy, and I'd imagine that's pretty
helpful when it comes to wanting to write as well, right,
because you're writing about things, but you're also like living
or living it, so there's more inspiration than a lot
of other artists would see.
Speaker 1 (30:14):
Yeah, and I finally, like back to the trophy room thing,
there was this attic space that we couldn't figure out
how to get to, and so I just said, let's
build some stairs. Let's cut a hole in that in
that ceiling. Let's build some stairs that goes up like
you kind of have to like duck to get into it. Yea,
it opens up to this big area probably ah, I'd
say maybe twice the size of this. It's like a
shotgun style. I just said, let's put in a studio.
(30:36):
I've never had a studio in my life. But instead
of no, I've never had a studio. Oh wow, So
instead of recording it on the iPhone, now I've got
the capability or I will have soon, the capability of
no windows, very vibey light fixtures, you know, dim lit
carpet where you can walk in kick your shoes off,
but like have a soundboard and vocal and acoustic booth
(30:57):
and like just be able to go up there and
just write. Like I I want to be able to
wake up in the middle of the night with a
song going through my head and instead of writing it
down and then kind of the next day being I
can't really remember what that tune was, I can just
go to the trophy room, go upstairs the studio, put
it down, and I'm like, now I have like a
real raw work tape of it I can send, which
also keeps me from coming to Nashville for a lot
of stuff.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
So there's just say, yeah, dude, you're a busy guy.
I appreciate the time. Man, It's always so good anytime, anytime.
Speaker 1 (31:26):
Yeah, you beat buddy,
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