In November, just after winning CMA Album of the Year for Leather, Cody Johnson was ready to get back to his life on the ranch in Texas.
“We just shipped out a bunch of calves last week, and [we’re] getting some new cows pulled in: a couple of new bulls and we’re going with some different breeds,” he explained. “Like, I breed Braford cows, which [you get from] a Hereford bull and Brahman cows. And I think we’re fixing to get into the black Angus business a little bit for some more beef-type cattle.”
“And that’s when I go home and flip the switch off,” he told ABC Audio. “I mean, I’m not Cody Johnson the singer. I’m the rancher, the husband, the dad and, you know, I take my kids hunting and fishing and all that. And then whenever I get to come out here [to Nashville], I flip the switch and turn into this guy.”
In 2024, Cody topped the chart with both “The Painter” and “Dirt Cheap,” accomplishments that are equally close to his heart.
“Country songs are what I live for,” he said backstage after picking up his CMA trophy. “Besides [my wife] Brandi, besides our two beautiful daughters, it’s the only thing in life for me that’s a constant. It’s in my blood. It’s in my DNA. I wake up with it every day in the forefront of my mind, trying to make country music that means something.”
That night as the Country Music Association handed out its Willie Nelson Lifetime Achievement Award, Cody felt a kinship to the honoree onstage.
“To be a guy that comes along and says, ‘I want to change country music for the better,'” Cody said, “I want 35 years from now to be that guy that’s sitting up on stage like George Strait, where they say, ‘He did something.’ And that’s it for me.”
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