Cody Johnson Co-Hosts 3/15-16

The co-host this wknd is Cody Johnson, who is in our Top 5 this week with “I’m Gonna Love You,” featuring Carrie Underwood. Cody co-hosts the show from Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena, where he was headlining two sold-out shows. He talks about winning the CMA Album of the Year award.

Cody was very excited to play two nights in Nashville: “We’re actually playing the shows in the round.  All the seats behind us are sold.  We took down our video wall, and it’s a much different element when you have to cover a 360 view.  I think the fans appreciate getting the extra tickets.”

Cody had some special guests for his two Nashville shows: “For the first night, I had Randy Houser and Marcus King as special guests.  Then for the second night, we have Ian Munsick, then Carrie Underwood is coming out to sing our single, ‘I’m Gonna Love You.’  Then at the end of the show, me & Luke Combs are gonna shotgun some beers and sing ‘Beer Never Broke My Heart.'”

Lon asked about recording the duet with Carrie: “We did it separately, but we didn’t like the energy.  She suggested, ‘What if we go in and sing it live together?’ So we went in together, they pressed record, and what you hear on the countdown is a live take, it’s she & I singing together.”

Cody described one moment from the recording session: “There’s a moment in the bridge that wasn’t planned.  We were waiting for a guitar solo. We made eye contact, I saw her take a breath, and I went with her.  It just happened.   We didn’t discuss it at all.”

Last year, Cody won CMA Album of the Year.  He told Lon it was a complete surprise: “That’s why I didn’t have a speech prepared. I thought Jelly Roll was going to win it.  When they announced my name, I thought, ‘You gotta be kidding me.'”

Opening for Cody on this tour is Drew Baldridge.  Cody said, “Today he said he had a gift for me, and he got me a saddle. It says ‘Leather Deluxe 2025 Tour’ on it.  It’s a beautiful hand-tooled saddle, made in Texas.  He did his research.  It was the right size.  Just perfect.  So thanks to Drew for that!”

Cody also has great stories this week about Megan Moroney, Luke Combs, Ella Langley, Nate Smith, and Jelly Roll.

NEXT WEEK: Katie Neal with Dylan Scott

Tags: featured

Category: CO-HOST