Well worth the wait.
Though Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan, Ella Langley and more have cemented themselves as some of the biggest stars in the genre over the past few years, two of the most successful, straight-down-the-middle artists in country music have remained none other than Luke Combs and Cody Johnson.
Despite having incredibly different starts in the genre, with Combs experiencing immediate mainstream success upon the release of his debut single “Hurricane” and Johnson cutting his teeth for years before becoming one of Texas’ biggest success stories of the last decade, their similarities are hard to ignore. Because of this, the pair have become incredibly good friends. Famously, CoJo dedicated his first-ever ACM Entertainer of the Year win last month to the Combs in an emotional speech.
“I want to dedicate this to somebody you guys probably didn’t expect me to dedicate this to. There’s a man that was up for this award that I personally watched devote his life to country music, and I was there the night in Australia when his wife gave birth to one of their sons.
And I watched the anguish, and I watched the defeat on his face for not being there because he was across the world playing music in a sold out arena. And the next night, right after it, I watched him get on stage and absolutely murder the stage and go on stage and play country music and preach the message of country music to a bunch of Australians across the world.
So tonight, I want to dedicate my first Entertainer of the Year award to my buddy Luke Combs. I love you, brother. Thank you.”
With all of that being said, a collaboration between CoJo and Combs has been long overdue at this point. And with the release of the “Dirt Cheap” singer’s new album, Banks of the Trunity, today, it’s finally here.
Despite the prospect of the pair teaming up being on many fans’ wishlists for years, Johnson would tell Billboard that he was a bit hesitant on the song at first. This was thanks to writers, Ray Fulcher, Casey Brown, Josh Phillips and Drew Parker, who specifically penned the track as a conversation between the two. Thankfully, Combs was all in from the first time he heard it.
“If you take that chance and an artist is like, ‘I’m not really comfortable with the representation of myself in this song’ or whatever, there goes your song, because you can’t really pitch it to another artist. But Luke was like, ‘There’s no way we can’t do this song.’ So, it was a done deal. [Lines about] tattooed knuckles, gold plated buckles and me talking about this wild card band selling out every seat, it literally sounds like me and Luke sitting in a bar, just shooting the bull.”
What results is an incredibly fun romp that does exactly what the title suggests: Johnson shooting the bull with Combs.
From a songwriting perspective, it’s pretty fascinating, given the fact that “Shoot The Bull” opens up with Fulcher and Co. penning it exactly like Combs and CoJo having a conversation with each other. From Combs commenting on the Texas native’s tattoos to Johnson remarking that “Beautiful Crazy” singer is selling out every seat in stadiums, they left no detail spared on the track.
Once the chorus rolls around, it’s just about everything that you would expect and want from a collaboration between the two superstars, with the pair lamenting that they simply want to forget their problems, listen to some George Jones and shoot the bull.
“Let’s load up some silver bullets, saddle up some old barstools
Set our sights on 2 a.m. and let the rowdy cut loose
Forget all of our problems, take that corner quarter jukebox to school
Crank up a little possum and shoot the bull”
Overall, “Shoot The Bull” is an incredibly fun outing from CoJo and Combs. Given the star power present here, I expect this one to be serviced to radio incredibly soon and receive a couple of nominations for Music Event of the Year at the upcoming award shows.
Banks of the Trinity Tracklist
- “Horseback”
- “Hello Lonesome”
- “Fool Proof” (feat. Brothers Osborne)
- “Take Me Back (Leave Me There)”
- “Banks of the Trinity”
- “I Want You”
- “I Have”
- “Bible for a Boy (For Jaycee)”
- “Kissing a Married Woman”
- “Every Man”
- “Motel Miss You”
- “Shoot the Bull” (feat. Luke Combs)
- “Cricket on a Hook”
- “Time Bomb”
- “Thank Somebody Country”
- “Yippy Ty Oh Hey Hey”
“Shoot The Bull”
Cody Johnson Tour Dates
July 11 – Cavendish, Prince Edward Island – Cavendish Beach Music Festival
July 17 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Drew Baldridge
July 18 – Columbus, Ohio – Nationwide Arena with Ian Munsick & Walker Montgomery
July 25 – Jacksonville, Florida – Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena
August 8 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – Paycom Center
August 22 – Knoxville, Tennessee – Food City Center
August 29 – Saint Paul, Minnesota – Grand Casino Arena
September 12 – Tacoma, Washington – Tacoma Dome
