Cody Johnson is putting the finishing touches on his next album, the follow-up to Leather and Leather Deluxe Edition. Although Johnson has yet to announce a title or release date, he does hint that he has a few special guests on the project.
“I know that me and Luke Combs, we cut one together,” Johnson reveals to Audacy. “We finally got on it.”
Johnson also reveals that he got Brothers Osborne to join him on one of the tracks as well.
“That was kind of a last-minute deal,” says the singer. “I heard this song, and I was like, ‘Man, this sounds like John and TJ.’ And they had happened to be reaching out at the same time, like, ‘Hey, when we do our next project, would you do this song with us?’ I was like, ‘Yeah, absolutely. Would you do this with me on my project?’ So it’s kind of a trade-off.”
Johnson also says there are a few more guest artists he hopes to include on his next record, ones that have yet to be finalized.
“There’s a couple of collabs that haven’t happened yet. It’s still just a lot of cell phone conversation. …So there’s gonna be some cool surprises on here,” he adds.
Cody Johnson Talks About Working On His Next Album
The father of three admits there is some pressure with his next album, thanks to the success of Leather and Leather Deluxe.
“When you win ‘Album of the Year’ with ‘Leather’ before the ‘Leather Deluxe’ comes out, your back’s against the wall as far as expectations,” Johnson concedes. “I think I don’t ever focus on trying to be better than anybody else. I really just want to — if I can just constantly beat myself, and if my next song is better than the last song, and my next project is better than that project, and my next performance is better than the last performance, then that’s what keeps me motivated and driven.”
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Cody Johnson Talks About the Sound Of His Next Project
Johnson is making sure his next project has something for everyone, regardless of their musical tastes.
“I took like a half-and-half approach to this record,” Johnson says. “Some of this stuff is like so stone cold country, or it’s like so left Motown, or it’s like really leaning rock, or it’s really leaning bluegrass. I don’t have a radio agenda with those songs. It’s just I recorded these songs because I love these songs and I wanted you to hear me sing these songs, so you can take about half of that and put it over here for ‘this is who I am.'”
“Then you’re gonna hear certain ones on the record where you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s gonna be huge,” he continues. “‘That’s gonna be a big song,’ and you’re gonna hear that one on the radio. [I’m] trying to whittle it down. I’d like to get it down to about 16. I’ve got about 20 tracks, and it’s pretty hard because once you invest the time in the studio with them and you kind of get to know them, it’s really hard.”
Photo Credit: CMA / Josh Brasted