Who is Cody Johnson?
The Country genre today is one destined for the Dewey decimal system stretching on aisle after aisle with artists ranging from Hank Williams to Jewel. Establishing a pleasantly unique sound amid this influential mass is not an easy task for any artist, yet its one Cody Johnson has accomplished in a respectable way. Fusing country and rock is no new concept but rarely is it done to the quality by which Cody Johnson will soon be known. Cody blends County and Rock creating something new while still respecting the roots of both genres and styles. The 22 year old artist’s freshly energetic blend uniquely bridges generation gaps between fans. At his concerts you will see teenagers and parents alike singing his songs side by side. Nowhere was this more apparent than when Cody was asked to play to 6000 students at the 2007 Texas FFA Convention in Corpus Christi by several fans of his in the FFA administration. Also worth mentioning is when Cody and the boys played several songs with presidential candidate Mike Huckabee at a campaign rally in College Station with Huckabee playing Bass.
Cody is making good connections with other talented musicians and has opened for successful artists such as Zona Jones, Kevin Fowler, Roger Creager, Aaron Watson, Brandon Rhyder, Stoney LaRue, Band of Heathens, Jason Allen, Bleu Edmonson, and others. Guest appearances at his concerts often include Jeff Smith from Zona Jones, Chris Whitten, and John Slaughter. The regular members of Cody Johnson Band are Nathan Reedy on drums whose hard rock background continually shapes the songs Cody writes and is largely responsible for their “signature soundâ€, the prodigy Matt Rogers who’s mathematical and systematic lead guitar playing gives each song its signature lick, and Danny Salinas keeps the low ends fat and healthy.
The energy and excitement Cody displays during a concert brings to mind legendary performers such as Garth Brooks, Chris Ledoux, and even Jim Morrison. He specializes in getting the crowd involved and drawing them into the show and fans seem to all pile up at the front of the stage begging to get closer. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the intimate acoustic performances this group gives. With Cody at the center, Matt on one side picking lead and singing harmony, and Nathan on the other side playing what seems like an infinite number of sounds on an African Djembe and singing harmony, catching an acoustic show with this group rivals an MTV unplugged session. They still play their own music but also divulge into covers ranging from Hank Williams to Seether even applying that signature sound to the covers they play.
Cody has been playing guitar, singing, and writing since he was twelve years old. His entire family is talented in music but Cody is the first Johnson to try to make a living at it. Cody and Nathan met in Huntsville when Nathan moved there to finish his business degree in January 2006 and they started the band in May of 2006 with Cody’s dad Carl Johnson on Bass. They played as a 3 piece for a year and released their first album together titled Black & White Label. With this album, things started picking up and they decided to add a lead guitar player so Cody turned to his high school buddy Matt Rogers. With the addition of Matt they decided to record a new album at a live venue. So in May of 2007 they recorded the Live and Rocking at Shenanigans Album. With this album Carl realized that they had grown out of just playing for fun on the weekends and was forced to quit the band for his day job and family commitments. Placing an add on craigslist, they found Danny Salinas who finalizes the bands current form. In September 2008 the band embarked on their first professionally produced album. They hooked up with Keith Davis in Austin and recorded their debut album 6 Strings 1 Dream which is set to be released September 1st 2009 with a few singles hitting the radio this summer.
You can hear their music and see their schedule on myspace.com/codyjohnsonband and ourtracks.com where they are always in the top ten selling artists, or log on to radiofreetexas.org and request their material and sign up for the rowdy float trip that Cody was voted 5 in the listeners choice contest. Be sure to check out a show and call your local radio station to request Cody’s material.
