You love to see it.
If there is anybody in all of country music that you can look to for proof that you don’t need a Nashville record deal, you don’t need country radio, and you don’t need to play the cookie cutter Music Row game to be successful in country music, it’s Cody Jinks.
Without a single ounce of radio play, “Loud & Heavy,” from Cody Jinks’ 2015 album Adobe Sessions went Gold in the spring of last year. And then “Hippies and Cowboys” from his 2010 album, Less Wise, followed up with a Gold certification of its own later that summer.
But then, “Loud & Heavy” went Platinum.
And unheard of accomplishment, Cody Jinks is the first independent artist in the modern era of country music to have a Platinum record, and he deserves every ounce of the praise he receives. No awards shows, no record labels, no late night shows… no nothing. Just old fashioned hard work, actual talent, and great songs that connect with country music fans.
Remember when Sony Music Nashville head Gary Overton famously said “if you’re not on country radio, you don’t exist”? Welp, how you like them apples, Gary?
But today, after finally receiving his platinum album, he took to Instagram to thank the fans for getting him there:
“I don’t get excited about very many things, but this is super cool. I wanted to share it with you guys mostly because you guys helped me to do this and I’m very much appreciative.
I got my first Platinum record… presented to Cody Jinks to commemorate the Platinum Certification of more than 1 million copies of the CJ music single ‘Loud & Heavy.’
So this means the world, this isn’t some BS, predetermined ACM or CMA piece of shit. This is real, this is something that you guys helped us do.”
A-fucking-men.
And with his new album Mercy hitting shelves in November, something tells me this won’t be the last Platinum record Jinks gets to hang on the wall.
But what fans might not know is that Cody’s son Larson actually inspired “Loud & Heavy,” when he was just two years old. The story goes a little something like this…
Cody was taking his son to Tractor Supply Company to sit on some tractors for his second birthday… and they found themselves in a massive downpour on the way over. Thunder, lightning, buckets of rain… and from his car seat, Cody’s son started saying “loud thunder, heavy rain” over and over again and the rest was history.
Now, he’s the proud owner of a Platinum country record too.
Ain’t nothing like that Red Rocks version though…
