Cody Johnson: Why ‘Leather’ Album Win Was Deserved
Cody Johnson is making a huge name for himself in country music these days, and when he won CMA‘s Album of The Year award for Leather back in November, I cheered. I really think he deserved it because that Leather album has made an impact on not just his career but I think country music as well.
I must admit, I really like Cody. As a fan of country music, I love his records. And as a journalist, I like him because he’s not just nice (most country artists are nice), he’s really interesting. He’s really good at telling stories and expressing himself to the media. He has a vision for himself and his music and he stands by it. He is a true champion for traditional country music, but he’s open-minded enough to collaborate with a relative newcomer like Jelly Roll.
When I first came face-to-face with Cody Johnson, it was backstage at the CMA Fest. I asked him about the then rumor that Carrie Underwood would be doing a duet (“I’m Gonna Love You”) with him. At the time, I told him that Carrie doesn’t agree to every request for a duet. He seemed surprised by that and was so flattered that she liked him enough to do the song with him.
Johnson told me before the now number-one duet came out, “I said I didn’t want to record it unless I could have Carrie on it. [But] I just knew that it was gonna work out. We had never sung together, so when we got in the room, and we started singing together, It was like family harmony.” It’s a good example of how he had a vision for something and he made it happen.
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That song came off of the Leather Deluxe edition (released November 2024), which featured many new songs. On the original Leather album, Cody enjoyed a couple of career-making hits like “The Painter,” and “Dirt Cheap.” “The Painter” was a song Johnson did not write, but it related to his and his wife Brandi’s relationship so well, that he had to record it. One of the signs of a great artist is that they put the best songs on their album, regardless of who wrote them. Cody prioritized the album over his publishing checks.
Then there is “Dirt Cheap,” probably one of my favorite songs ever. When I first watched the video, I cried, it was that touching and relatable. It tells the story of an older couple owning property and choosing to keep it even though they were offered life-changing money for it. That’s about as country as you get. It’s a song that could have been written in the 1950s; it’ll still be relevant in the 2050s.
Those two songs alone make Leather a great album. But all the songs in between on the original Leather and then the Deluxe Version are all gems, including his duet with his buddy Jelly Roll called “Whiskey Bent.” He said of Jelly, “Jelly’s one of my favorite people to hang out with. You may not look at me and know this, but I have a pretty jaded past as well.”
Other stand-out songs and album cuts on Leather include, “Long Live Country Music,” and the title cut, “Leather.” This album hits all the marks and does what country music does best: it tells stories.
If you’re not familiar with Johnson or his music yet outside of his singles, give this album a listen from top to bottom and I have a feeling you’ll become a card-carrying fan looking for tickets to his next show.
