Cody Johnson

Cody Daniel Johnson, also known as "CoJo," was born in Sebastopol northeast of Huntsville, Texas^[4] to Sheila and Carl Johnson. He grew up there. He began playing music at the age of 12^[7] and learned to play from his father,^[8] who performed in their local church.

Cody Johnson learned to sing and play several instruments;^[8] he studied how to read music.^[8] He performed at school and bars, where he discovered that people enjoyed his music.^[8] At the same time, he rode bulls professionally at local rodeos and even worked alongside his father in the local prison system.^[8] At 19, the prison warden eventually convinced him to commit full time to his music career.^[4]

In 2006, Johnson formed the Cody Johnson Band with his father, Carl, and drummer Nathan Reedy.^[9] Together they recorded an album, Black and White Label.^[9] In 2006, the band added Matt Rogers on lead guitar and recorded a live album, Live and Rocking, at Shenanigans and Confetti's Club in Huntsville.^[10][11] After the release of the album, Johnson's father quit the band.^[10]

By 2009, Danny Salinas joined the band on bass guitar.^[11] Their first professionally produced album, Six Strings One Dream, was released in September 2009,^[10][12] and three singles from the album reached the top 10 of the Texas music charts.^[1] After the album's release, the band added Chris Whitten on fiddle and Jeff Smith on lead guitar.^[10] Jody Bartula replaced Whitten on fiddle in 2010.^[11][12] Johnson's next album, A Different Day, produced by Trent Willmon, was released in 2011.^[13] Johnson won the 2011 Texas Regional Music Award for New Male Vocalist of the Year.^[9][13] Then he left his day job with the Texas Department of Criminal Justice to focus on music full-time.^[1] He teamed with Kyle Park in 2012 for the Dancin' and Drinkin' at Johnson Park Tour.^[14] Also in 2012, Johnson's band, now composed of Reedy, Smith, Bartula, and bassist Joey Pruski changed their name to the Rockin' CJB.^[9]

Johnson's fifth album, Cowboy Like Me, was released on January 14, 2014.^[15] It was his second album to be produced by Trent Willmon.^[15] Selling 8,000 copies in its first week of release, it debuted at number 25 on the Billboard Top Country Albums chart and number 33 on the Billboard 200.^[16] As of 2014, Johnson's band comprised Smith, Bartula, Pruski, and drummer Miles Stone.^[17] His sixth album, Gotta Be Me, was released on August 5, 2016.^[18] The album debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard 200,^[19] and at No. 2 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 23,000 copies in the US in its first week.^[20] It was Johnson's most successful release to date, achieved without major label support or widespread radio play.^[2]

Johnson made Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo history in March 2018 by becoming the first unsigned/independent artist to play to a sold-out crowd.^[21] His seventh album, Ain't Nothin' to It, was released on January 18, 2019. It includes the single "On My Way to You", which was his first Top 20 hit on Country Airplay. The album and single were both released via Warner Records Nashville. In 2019, he collaborated with Brooks & Dunn on a new version of their hit song "Red Dirt Road", which appears on their album Reboot. Johnson's eighth album, Human: The Double Album, was released in October 2021.^[3] In 2024, he collaborated with Terri Clark on a new version of her song "I Just Wanna Be Mad" for her album Take Two.^[22]

Studio albums

• Black and White Label (2006)
• Six Strings One Dream (2009)
• Black and White Label (2011)
• A Different Day (2011)
• Cowboy Like Me (2014)
• Gotta Be Me (2016)
• Ain't Nothin' to It (2019)
• Human: The Double Album (2021)
• Leather (2023)
• Leather Deluxe Edition (2024)