Cody Johnson now pierces hearts with his new powerful duo with Carrie Underwoodthe first single from his highly anticipated Luxury leather. But if you want Johnson to talk about the song from the just-released album that tugged at his heartstrings the most, he’s more likely to bring up a completely different track — one that made even the self-proclaimed cowboy “rough around the edges”. cry.

But then, how could this proud daughter dad not get upset when he hears “Come on, Cowgirl”?

During a recent media roundtable in Nashville, Johnson poignantly described the moment he first shared the story song — which chronicles a years-long father-daughter relationship in just 217 exquisite words — with his wife of 16 years: Brandy, and their daughters, Clara Mae, 9, and Cori, 7.

Shortly after learning the song for a possible addition to his album, the 37-year-old artist recalls how he was rehearsing it in the office of his Texas ranch when his daughters stopped by. “And I was like, ‘Everyone sit down, I want to play this song,'” he recalls.

He admits he avoided looking girls in the eye just to get by – but then his wife walked in and he knew he had to do it again.

“And I read the lyrics,” he says, “and I have tears rolling down my cheeks…and I look up and they’re all crying and smiling at me.”

At that point it was curtains. Johnson stopped the song, put down the guitar and hugged his family for a tearful group hug, which was quickly followed by a firm decision. As he says: “How do you not cut this song?

“C’mon, Cowgirl” is just one of 13 new tracks awaiting fans on what is now essentially a double album – a baker’s dozen songs that join the 12 original songs, released almost exactly one year. While so many other “deluxe” albums contain a handful of tracks equivalent to a ladle of sauce, that was never Johnson’s plan. He intended to serve – in rancher parlance – a side of prime beef.

Putting a year between releases is a lesson Johnson says he learned Humanhis 2021 double album comprising 18 tracks.

“There are a lot of things on this album that were overlooked because there was so much content,” he reflects.

This time, his label head suggested the division, and Johnson set about creating two distinct halves of a whole: “I had to dive into each song and figure out which ones have a similar tempo?” Let’s separate them. Very well, the subject? Let’s sort of separate them. Perhaps in the same key or close to the same melodic structure? Let’s separate them.

What unites the entire project is Johnson’s rich voice and impeccable taste in song selection, starting with “I’m Gonna Love You,” her searing duet with Underwood that now makes its way into the charts.

Johnson reveals he always had Underwood in mind for the duo. “It’s like Carrie Underwood or nobody,” he says. “I just heard his voice.” But he also reveals that their first performance of the song – with parts recorded separately – failed to achieve the goal he was aiming for.

“It didn’t slap you in the face like I thought it would, and I’m like, man, I don’t want to ruin this,” Johnson recalled. “And she said, ‘I think we should sing it live.'”

The artist loves to evoke the magic of their voices as they merged in the same studio space. “I look at his mouth and I can see where each breath goes,” he says. “We just look at each other, move away a little bit. It was weird because it was the first time Carrie and I sang together, and it was just perfect family harmony. And I think that’s a testament to the caliber of singer that she really is.

Cody Johnson and Carrie Underwood

Johnson now hopes the song will work its magic on the charts. “I feel like it’s big enough that it could even be a crossover-type pop song, like a big iconic thing,” he says. “I want it to just be its own thing.”

Johnson co-wrote three of the tracks, including one, “Georgia Peaches,” which he says “came out of nowhere.” The inspiration: the “big old pitcher” of 80-degree Georgia peach moonshine he keeps on his tour bus.

“It’s delicious,” Johnson says. “It’s also very, very sneaky. You have to be very careful because it’s so good.

One night, after a gig, Johnson and bandmates Jake Mears and Jody Bartula were having a lubrication session with the drink, and a few drinks in, Johnson just blurted out the first line of what is now the song: “Georgia Peaches, They’ I’ll tear you all to pieces / once you put them through a copper line.”

Fortunately, Johnson was sober enough to record “record” on his phone, and the song that evolved — about an outlaw moonshiner — eventually gained a presence on the album.

Johnson is also a co-writer on “The Mustang,” which he considers one of his favorites from the project. The credit, he says, was actually a gift from collaborator Wes Bayliss after Johnson changed part of the melody.

“I do that all the time on songs, and no one makes me a writer, just so you know,” Johnson says. “But Wes did it.”

The song uses the life of a tamed wild mustang to tell a human story, and although Johnson says he had no hand in the lyrics, he immediately saw himself in it: “I used to run like a mustang / with your head down. the wind / at a pace too fast to recognize / the places I have been.

“This song came to me at a time in my life and my career – and, I’ll be honest, in my marriage too – where I felt like I had reached a very low point,” he says . “I looked in the mirror and said to myself that I really don’t like what I see. …At that moment, I asked myself: Am I even worthy of prayer? For example, does God hear me when I pray?

Johnson actually owns a stubborn horse that tends to run away, so he easily understood the connection in the lyrics between a skilled rider and a higher power.

“As the guy with the reins, I have certain pieces I can put in his mouth, and that will stop him,” Johnson says of his horse. “When you apply that to your relationship with God, it’s like sometimes he lets us run away – and he let me run away in my youth. Like, ‘Okay, fine, go ahead.’ You’re going to come back anyway, because when you’re hungry, I’m the one who’s going to feed you. And that metaphor sort of stuck.

The message, he said, “did something for me.”

Today, Johnson says he’s in a much better place — one that allows him to reach the career heights he’s enjoyed since his breakthrough 2021 blockbuster “‘Til You Can’t.”

“This year marks 18 years of playing live music for a living, if – in the beginning – you could call it a living,” he says. “I’ve been preparing for this my whole life… This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life, so I’m happy.”

Later this month, he’ll find out if he’s reaping more of that career success: He’s up for five CMA awards, including album of the year (for Leather), single of the year (for “Dirt Cheap”) and male vocalist of the year. He also scored two nominations, for “Dirt Cheap” and “The Painter,” for video of the year.

Cody Johnson

Johnson admits he didn’t even pay attention to the news the day the nominations were announced. “When I get home, I check it completely,” he says, “and so my phone blows up and there are 48 missed calls and 107 text messages, and I wonder: Who died? And I pick up the phone, and it’s all congratulations.

A past recipient of six nominations, including music video and single of the year, Johnson says he strives to keep these new nods in perspective.

“I think if you want one thing too much, it might disappoint you,” he says, but “I’m really grateful to finally be recognized in these areas, because you have to remember that I’m the guy who He 18 years ago, they said: you’ll never make it in Nashville. The cowboy hat doesn’t work and your music is too country for the radio. So when you’re nominated for so many CMA awards, it kind of comes to mind.

Of course, there is no laurel in Johnson’s makeup. He spent most of the year on the road, taking his Leather tour in arenas and stadiums, and in January he will launch a Leather Deluxe tour. And he’s already talking about returning to the studio to “start again and really try to surpass himself.” Leatherif it is possible.

He says he’s considering another duet with Jelly roll (“Whiskey Bent” is their collaboration on Leather) and possible duets with Lainey Wilson and beginner in country Post Malonewho made advances towards Johnson.

“I was like, well, when you’re done doing duets with everyone in Nashville, let me know and we’ll do something!” Johnson said.

He knows another hit might already be in the rich bank of material he continues to add to, including a song he and his wife, Brandi, wrote during their lean years.

“I played her the first verse and she told me, you know, the second verse should be from a woman’s point of view,” Johnson says. “And I was like, ‘Well, tell me what she would say.’ …And we sat there and wrote this song together, and it’s beautiful, but it never made it onto an album.

Johnson recently reacquainted himself with it, playing it on his tour bus just to pass the time, and he says he realized, “It’s really damn good.” Like, it’s really good.

It’s tempting to think that fans will one day be able to discover this for themselves.