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Cody Johnson: ‘Not Just A Guy From Texas’

Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group

Cody Johnson is proud of his Texas heritage, but when it came to making it in Nashville, being from Texas made it harder for many to see him as commercially viable artist.  

Cody is celebrating his 37th birthday today (5/21) as a bonafide Nashville country star as he is often nominated among the best in country music for CMA and ACM Male Vocalist categories and got a recent Album of the Year nomination for his Leather project from the ACM. 

Cody performs at the ACM Awards in 2023 in Texas.
Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Cody performs at the ACM Awards in 2023 in Texas. (Theo Wargo/Getty Images)

Johnson told us that getting from Texas to Nashville stardom had some bumps in the road. He said, “I’ve spent so many years as an artist trying to prove to people that you could go from a Texas country artist and get a label in Nashville and not have to change your style, not have to change your producer.” 

The Hat Stays On

He said they even tried to change his look, “One of the first times I ever came to Nashville, they asked me to take my hat off, and I’m like, ‘That’s not me.'” 

Johnson concluded, “I think the independent spirit from that, I will always carry for the rest of my career where nobody’s saying, ‘You’re just a guy from Texas.'”  

RELATED: Cody Johnson Takes Pride In Being An Entertainer

Cody recently revealed a tattoo in an odd place, in a recent conversation with CMT. 

He recently answered some questions for CMT and revealed the location of his favorite tattoo on his body. Johnson explained, “It is on the bottom of my foot. I had my tattoo artist come out with me on the road. All these (his many tattoos) have been done either at a venue or on my bus. I have done my entire right arm. I said (to my artist), ‘Have you ever done the bottom of a foot?’ and he’s like, ‘No, I never have.’ And I was like, ‘Tonight after the show, we’re doing that.'”

The Tattoo

Cody described what the tattoo on the bottom of his foot is, saying, “It’s a line, you know if you’re a carpenter, you’d say ‘One foot over a line’ and then the Waylon forever logo because my favorite Waylon Jennings song is ‘I’ve always been crazy with one foot over the line.'”

Johnson added of the moment, “I literally just propped my foot up there on the table and took a big ole pull off a bottle, and he (started), and I’m like, ‘It doesn’t hurt, It kind of tickled honestly, but I was about half drunk.”

Nancy Brooks has been working in the country music industry for almost 30 years. She has interviewed pretty much any country star you can think of. In the late 1990s, she started working with Dolly Parton. And yes, Nancy reports that Parton is as sweet as you would think. She loves her life in country music and has been backstage at every CMA Awards show since the late 1990s. Many of her stories are from her one-on-one interviews. She was there at the beginning of the incredible careers of many music superstars today, including Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, and Blake Shelton, and has interviewed them multiple times throughout the years.

5 Cody Johnson Songs That Made Him A Star

  • "On My Way to You" (2018)

    This was Johnson’s first song released by his then-new label home, Warner Nashville. The song cracked the top 15, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot Country Song chart. The lyrics include, “All the stars I’ve seen/ All the songs I’ve sung / All the beers I’ve drank / All the damage done / I was just passin’ time / Kinda just passin’ through / On my way to you.”

  • "'Til You Can't" (2021)

    This amazing song won the Country Music Association Award for Single of the Year and Video of the Year at the 56th Annual Country Music Association Awards in 2022 and the Grammy Award for Best Country Song at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in 2023. Johnson did not write the song but told the message in it, “In our world today, we could use more positivity.”

  • "Human" (2022)

    While Johnson did not write this song either, he said that it is his most autobiographical song. It was released in 2011 and made the Billboard Country Airplay chart’s top ten, peaking at eight. It is also the title track to his double Human album, which was also released in 2021.

  • "Dear Rodeo" featuring Reba McEntire (2020)

    Cody teamed up with Reba McEntire for a duet version of his song “Dear Rodeo.” Johnson wrote the song as a very personal tribute to his previous career in bull riding, which struck a chord with Reba, who grew up on a family ranch competing in barrel racing.

    Reba said then, “It was a thrill to sing ‘Dear Rodeo’ with Cody because we’re both from the rodeo world. I grew up in a rodeo family; I’m a third-generation rodeo brat. So, the song means a lot to me because I did leave rodeo to be in the country music business. I sure miss it.”

  • "The Painter" (2023)

    This song is bound to be a big hit. Even though Johnson did not write the song himself, it’s about his marriage. He said, “My favorite lyric in ‘The Painter’ is ‘For every wall I built, she saw a canvas.’ If there’s anything that describes my marriage with my wife, Brandi, it’s that line. And that’s why we’ve been together for 15 years.”

    Johnson added, “I hope my fans are encouraged to take the time to appreciate the people they have around them. The ones who make their life beautiful and bring all the beautiful colors to their world when it could just be black and white and dark. Remember them and tell them you love them.”

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Author Nancy Brooks // Country Writer, Beasley Media Group
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