Cody Johnson is paving the way toward a more traditional sound on country radio. With a nod to the 1990s, but fitting for the 21st century, Cody has been playing the music that’s been missing from radio today.
Cody has some impressive accolades to his name. He has an extensive following in Texas, where he’s from, and was the first unsigned artist to sell out NRG Stadium at RodeoHouston, bringing in 74,000 people for one show. He’s also had two albums on Billboard’s top 10 country albums charts and won Texas Regional Radio’s Male Vocalist several times.
One of the things that’s so admirable about Cody is that he’s extremely genuine and he’s not willing to change himself for a record deal or fame. He held off on signing a record deal until it was the right offer and the right time. He wanted to preserve his authenticity and control of his creative assets and strategy.
Cody turned down multiple record deals because they didn’t fit with who he was and what he stood for. He stated that with one deal he was offered, the label wanted him to change his style and trade in his cowboy hat for a ball cap. Cody declined, knowing he had to be true to himself.
“You can be devoured by the music business,” he says. “At the honky-tonk level with cocaine and whiskey, you can fall into horrible things from the very beginning. You can fall into the ‘screw the label, screw the big man, we’re the underdog’ mindset. I’ve had to take a stance on who I am, and I’ve learned to admit when I’m wrong. I’ve grown up a lot, because the school of hard knocks and honky tonks will teach you a lot.” – Cody Johnson.com
Cody was signed to Warner Nashville after meeting with CEO John Esposito and being offered a deal that he couldn’t refuse.
“All my heroes have taken this step, and I’ve been given the opportunity with Warner to take this step on my own terms with a huge monster behind the machine that I’ve created. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
We’re excited to see what’s next for Cody, as he embarks on this new journey.
Quote and image courtesy of https://www.codyjohnsonmusic.com/