Full throttle.
Today, Cody Johnson released his song with Jay Buchanan called “Rabbit Gets The Gun,” which they previously put out exclusively on Amazon Music. Now, fans can hear it on any of their preferred streaming platforms.
You will recognize Jay as the frontman for the rock band Rival Sons, and he and Cody previously did a surprise performance of their song at Stagecoach Festival in April during Cody’s headlining set, where he also brought out Boyz II Men.
Speaking after the show Buchanan, according to Rock Poser, Buchanan was blown away by CoJo’s country loving crowd:
“What an incredible night, what a beautiful audience. The vibe was so generous, how could you not just give everything you’ve got in return?”
Cody is pure country, but he’s spoken a lot about his influences from other genres and love for music of all kinds, and he previously called Rival Songs his “favorite rock band,” making this a very natural collaboration:
“Rival Sons has always been my favorite rock band. I loved being in the studio with him (Jay Buchanan). It was an out-of-this-world experience. He has so much soul and grit, and an unmistakable voice. We are so excited about our recording and want to get it out as soon as possible.”
They recorded “Rabbit Gets The Gun” in Nashville with the legendary producer Dave Cobb, and the song was written by Levi Lowrey and Travis Meadows. It’s the perfect balance between country with a whole lot of rock edge, and Jay says he was “immediately interested” when Cody reached out.
He admitted that he’s had plenty of country artists reach out about working together over the years, but no one was ever as authentic as CoJo and that made all the difference, as Jay referred to him as “a different breed”:
“When Cody reached out, I was immediately interested. I’ve been approached by country artists these last few years but it always felt like a marketing-first, art-second thing so I passed. From our first conversation Cody was clearly a different breed and the song was clearly on point.”
He added that they recorded at the historic RCA Studio A, and he felt that the “underdog story” of the song was the perfect fit for both of them:
“Recording was easy and collaborative, feeling like an excuse to hang and share road stories which is the way it should be in RCA Studio A. After singing side by side and working all day together it’s no surprise to see Cody at the top of the hill he’s on, dude’s got the chops and charm in spades along with a good dose of Texas onery. Hell of a voice.
As for the song itself, I suppose it could be interpreted any number of ways, but in the end, it is an underdog story. After a couple conversations, we realized that’s something that both Cody and I deeply relate to from lived-in, hard-worn experience. Song’s got a beast under the hood… or saddle.”
Cody released his album Banks Of The Trinity earlier this year, and that tracklist included country collaborations with Luke Combs and Brothers Osborne, and I’m sure his fans will be excited to finally get “Rabbit Gets The Gun” released everywhere.
It’s gritty, it’s pretty dang rock and roll, and it’s really fun to get to hear this side of CoJo. The Texas native is typically very country, and while this is a bit of a departure for him sonically, his powerful vocals fit perfectly on a song like this.
Check it out:
“Rabbit Gets The Gun”
