Cody Jinks Talks New Album, New Music, New Sobriety

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Cody Jinks at the Bourbon & Beyond Festival


Editor’s Note: This interview was conducted by Jason W. Ashcraft, with additional reporting by Kyle “Trigger” Coroneos. Photos by Jason W. Ashcraft.

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Years from now, future generations of country fans will look back on Cody Jinks like we look back upon Willie and Waylon during the Outlaw era of the 70s. He changed the game, broke down barriers, and rewrote the possibilities for independent artists. While many of his peers at the top of independent country have signed to major labels, Jinks has worked to divest himself even more from any other entity bigger than himself. Jinks isn’t just the star, he’s also the boss.

Cody Jinks was one of the headliners at last week’s massive Bourbon & Beyond festival in Louisville, Kentucky. Before he took the main stage for his highly anticipated set, Jinks sat down with Saving Country Music reporter Jason W. Ashcraft to talk about his recent sobriety, as well as his music. This includes a re-issue of his album 30 coming September 27th, his long-rumored tribute to Lefty Frizzell, future music on the way, and his currently album Change The Game.

“My life’s kind of an open book and ‘Change the Game’ is that,” Jinks says about the March release. “It was a tough record to write. It was a tough record to record because I was going through a lot in my life. My family was going through a lot. And in a lot of ways, we still are. It was a shedding of some skin. And quite frankly, I had to quit drinking because it was taking me down mentally.”

Jinks says that getting sober was a transformational moment in his life that was both dramatically unburdening, but challenging on a personal and social level.

“I had to learn how to be sober. I was 43 years old and I took my first sober plane ride. I played my first sober show. I had my first Halloween party at my house that my wife and I host every year, sober. I had to learn how to do everything again. So you’re talking about writing and working on a really heavy record. And at the same time, I’m trying to get sober. I left on the road and didn’t come home for 14 years. My kids didn’t know me. They’re teenagers now. So I’ve been righting a lot of wrongs with my family.”

Jinks continues, “I’d never been who I am, if that makes any sense. So finding myself, going through an identity crisis, going through imposter syndrome, and going through all these things that you don’t look at somebody on stage and go, ‘Wow, that person is going through that? Well, they sure do look so confident up there, don’t they?’ But sometimes we’re up there freaking out. And that’s a reflection of that record.”

Add on top of getting sober and recording an album, at this same time, Cody Jinks decided to part with his long time management, True Grit.

“Being sober, it cleared up a lot of bandwidth,” Jinks says. “It gave me the mental capacity to be able to shoulder all of this stuff. I have 30 employees, man. We’re running a bunch of people out here and these aren’t people that work for a record label. These people work for me.”


Cody Jinks says he’s got lots of new music coming out in the coming months and years, including his reissue of 30 from 2012 out September 27th.

“It’s a re-release remaster of my ’30’ record we did years ago with a bonus track. December, we’re dropping a Lefty Frizzell tribute record I recorded about four years ago. Finally gonna get that out, see the light of day. Next year, we’re releasing two EPs I believe, or we may just do one big record of hodgepodge of a whole bunch of different kind of stuff that we think is really cool that we’ve recorded, that we’ve sat on for years. So we’re just going to dump a bunch of content this next year.”

At the same time, Cody Jinks is also working on his next proper, big studio release.

“We just got out of the studio in June. We’re going to go back into the studio in February of 2025. And probably one or two more times in ’25 in between the tour cycle. And I’m looking at major record release, the big thing, not just, ‘Hey, we’re dumping content,’ but like the big thing in January of 2026. Because we’ll be almost two years removed from ‘Change the Game’ at that point.”

And all of this comes as Cody continues a relentless touring schedule that has included his own major headliner dates, as well as opening massive arena and stadium shows for some of the biggest names in country music. Where it used to be that major label artists would book opening acts from their label’s roster, now they’re insisting Jinks open for them, even with no affiliation with any label whatsoever, simply because Cody Jinks is who they want revving up their crowd.


“I just went out on a stadium tour with Luke Combs and was treated better than I’ve ever been treated by anybody,” Jinks says. “Eric Church took us out last year. That’s two huge country names. I’m very thankful for that, and I’m very guarded. I still don’t play with anybody I don’t want to play with. If if I’m on a bill it’s because I want to be there. People are opening for me because I want them opening for me because I want to give our crowd a great show with a great support act, be it two or three of them.”

As Cody’s stature has grown, his sound has also evolved. He might be about to release a Lefty Frizzell tribute album, but he’s not even sure if he should be called country anymore.

“I think we’re a rock and roll band or just an American band that that that has a steel. That’s my honky tonk roots because where we came from. We’re out there throwing down triple leads with two smoking guitars and a steel. We’ve kind of evolved into just this big mishmash of just American music. And I’m proud of that. You could put us in a biker bar. You could put us opening for George Strait. We just played a show with Black Label Society. You can put us with anybody. We will hold our own.”



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