It’s ON.
One of the pound-for-pound best acts in the business, the great Cody Johnson, officially announced the release of his upcoming double album on the Whiskey Riff Raff podcast yesterday.
We knew he was working on an 18-track project, we knew he was lookin’ for some good ’90s country songs to cut, and now, we finally have confirmation (and the release date) we’ve been waiting for.
Titled Human: The Double Album, the 18-song collection is set to drop in October, and later this week, Cody will be releasing a duet with a country music LEGEND.
Here’s what he had to say about the decision to record a double album:
“I had too many good songs. There was such an outpouring of songs that other artists wouldn’t look at… whether it was their labels, their publicists, or whoever… they’re just good country songs.
I felt like ‘why not?’ We’ve got the time off, we’ve got the opportunity, we got the means, let’s go cut ’em.”
He added that the album will be released as a “Side A” and “Side B,” with songs that compliment each other specifically placed on different sides. It’ll play like two separate albums, however, when you listen to it as a whole, you’ll get to feel the highs and lows, the ebbs and flows, like you would from a full setlist at a Cody Johnson show.
“I got to take Side A and Side B, and I sat down for about 3 hours the other day and kind of cross referenced what songs have similar tempos, what songs have similar feels, what songs have similar subject matters… and separate those and pair those songs up on Side A and Side B… so you’re really getting two albums.”
And the title, Human? It comes from a song on the album, Cody’s favorite song, written by Tony Lane and Travis Meadows. For Cody, there wasn’t a song on the record that spoke to him more than “Human.”
“It spoke to me so much about my life and my relationship with my wife… you know, I have personal issues that I go through, I have doubts, and I do have reservations about things… I want people to relate to that. Because we’re all in the same boat.”
But that’s not all, Cody broke down the entire release schedule, including a duet of “Sad Songs & Waltzes” with Willie Nelson.
The duet comes out this week (May 14th), and then each month, all the way up to October, Cody will release one song from Side A and one song from Side B, before dropping the remaining nine songs.
“On June 14th I believe, we will release two more, and then in July, two more.
And then all the way up to October we’re gonna release two songs, that way you’re gonna get nine of them. But you’re not gonna get all nine from Side A or Side B, this is one from A, and one from B, in no particular order. And then in October we’re gonna drop the last nine.”
He went on to add that his upcoming documentary, Dear Rodeo: The Cody Johnson Story will be released in August and that he’ll also be releasing a Christmas album this year as well.
It’s been a long layoff, but CoJo is about to make up for it BIG TIME.
I’d go ahead and give the whole podcast a listen, but you can jump to the album conversation right around the 22-minute mark:
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Cheers, y’all.
