Who knew actor Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a The Rock had such good taste in music? Well his 82.5 million followers on Instagram do now after Sunday evening he let his love for Cody Jinks, and specifically Cody’s song “Somewhere in the Middle” from his 2014 record ‘Less Wise’ be known.
Jinks stopped by the set of Conan on Thursday (1-26) in a Scott Copeland and The Haters T-shirt to make his national television debut. The honesty, the emotion, and the real-life themes that resonate with listeners well after the song has ended is the reason Cody Jinks has won himself a fervent fan base.
The prog rock stylings of Pink Floyd are probably not the first segment of classic rock you would pick for translating well into the country format, especially with so much old rock stuff now sounding more like country than the country music of today. But “Wish You Were Here” is an exception to that rule with its acoustic heart.
Folks like Sturgill Simpson, Chris Stapleton, and Jason Isbell were not overnight sensations. It took years of effort and these artists reaching their mid 30’s before it all came together for them. And if you put your ear to the ground, you get the sense that a similarly shaped groundswell is building beneath Cody Jinks at the moment.
2016 was a difficult year to be a traditional country music fan in many respects, and not just from the death of so many legends. In independent circles, it was a year of having to settle for albums prefaced with explanations of why the artist decided to move away from their country influences, even if it was just slightly, or just on a temporary basis.
It has once again come that time of year for reflecting back on some of the best albums released in the last 12 months or so, not to treat country music as competition per se, but as an exercise undertaken with the intent of expanding your musical knowledge in hopes the gaps that formed due to the busy lives we all live get filled in with joyous little music projects.
With absolutely no hyperbole intended, William Michael Morgan earning a #1 on country radio for his debut single “I Met A Girl” is a historic moment in country music. It’s a point in time when an undeniably traditional country song from an undeniably traditional country artist has topped the chart after a long vacancy for a traditionalist at the top spot.
His new album I’m Not The Devil is an ambitious, unwavering, slow and plodding volley of songwriting body blows that makes no apologies, incorporates no compromises, and gives no quarter to those with open hearts that love to listen to music that makes them swoon with one emotional onslaught after another, all served in a down home deep-fried country style.
If you’re wondering where the hell all the real country music has gone, it has joined forces and is headed towards a venue near you. Texas country singer songwriter Cody Jinks, and throwback honky tonk badass Whitey Morgan have embarked on a co-headlining tour set to roll through Texas, the South, up the eastern seaboard and into the Midwest.
You’ll be hard pressed to find another country album for the rest of 2016 as heavily anticipated by fans in the know as Cody Jinks’ I’m Not The Devil. Due out August 12th, the reigning Saving Country Music Song of the Year winner feels poised for a breakout with this one, and the snippets released from the record so far have folks salivating for the whole thing.
When it comes to picking the “best” songs from a given time period, it’s a much more subjective chore than selecting the best albums or the best artists. Our relationship with songs is just so much more intimate. The emotions songs can touch tend to range so much farther on the spectrum. To discover a song that really touches you, it’s not just dependent on the songwriter to write and perform a compelling tune.
Being willing to go where a song takes you is the challenge in the heart of every music lover. Hopefully one of these songs released in 2015 will take you some place you want to be, or somewhere you’ve never been before. These songs were selected on their own merit, not from the strength of the artist or album from where they came.
Some independent country fans love to harp on whose name is in the biggest font in the headliner positions, but the names Stagecoach invites each year to fill out the roster gives you great hope for the future of country, and tells you who to look out for in the coming months and years, this year especially.
Being willing to see where a song takes you is at the heart of every music lover, and in this spirit I present eleven hand selected songs released in the first half of 2015 that will hopefully take you someplace you want to be, or somewhere you’ve never been before. This is the cream of the crop in my opinion; the gut punchers not for the faint of heart.
Fans of Flint, Michigan’s rambunctious throwback wild-eyed honky tonker Whitey Morgan and his backing band The 78’s have been waiting half a decade for a new studio album, and their country music prayers are about to be answered, or at least they will be in May when Whitey Morgan releases his latest record ‘Sonic Ranch.’
Looking like a hippy, writing like an Outlaw, sounding like a Texas country stalwart, and touring like there’s no tomorrow, the name Cody Jinks belongs smack dab in the mix when you’re speculating on who is the best and the brightest in the current crop of insurgent country songwriters. “Adobe Sessions” is a really solid album, and one that some are saying marks an early entry for Album of the Year.