Cody Johnson Approaches Every Show The Same Way

Cody Johnson's performance of the Willie Nelson classic "Mama, Don't Let You Babies Grow Up To Be Cowboys" was one highlight of last week's ACM awards in Texas. When it comes to taking the stage, whether at one of his concerts or the ACM Awards, Johnson will make sure he leaves the audience with a memorable performance.

He told us, "Leave nothing behind. We play this show like it's the last show we're ever going to play. This is the show we get remembered for. I hit the stage with the exact same mentality and the exact same intensity every single night because we're not guaranteed tomorrow, so it's like you gotta go out there, and you gotta play it like it's the last one. You gotta play it with the same intensity as if you're never going to get to do it again."

Cody added, "Now, after the fact, we can be like, 'Man, that was cool,' but when you're in the moment… you're like, leave no doubt, leave nothing behind, make sure they remember your name."

Johnson's" 'Til You Can't" was a multiple nominee at the recent ACM awards. While the song did not win any ACM awards, the song did win at the recent (4/2) 2023 CMT Music Awards for CMT "Performance Video of the Year."

When it came to the music video, Cody says it hit him in a big way when he first watched it. He told us, "Honestly, I've never really been into music videos a whole lot. It's not necessarily like, 'Oh, I want to make a music video.' When I saw this video after it was through, I was like, 'Wow.' It's so powerful and so well done; I was very proud of it."

Cody Johnson has been making waves in country music in the last few years and has been taking home some awards including winning the Single of the Year award at the 2022 CMA Awards for his 'Till You Can't." He also won a 2023 CMT Music Award for Performance of the Year.

Cody recently announced during a CMT nominations special earlier this month, that he will be releasing a 24-track double album, titled Cody Johnson: Leather. And the new project will feature a duet with Carrie Underwood. He revealed this when he was asked what it was like to compete with Underwood for a CMT Award. "I actually just recorded a duet with her yesterday for my new album coming out. And getting to know her — man, she's such a pro and everybody that she surrounds herself with are all very professional, as well. I don't mean this to sound bad, but it's kind of hard to compete with that."

The new album will be Johnson's second consecutive double album, as his October 2021 project, Human, was also a two-disc project with 18 tracks.

As Cody continues his climb in country music, heading for superstar status, we take a look at the last couple of years of this Texas country star's life in Nashville and beyond.