All Photos taken in Waxahachie by Alan Mercer
Cody Joe Hodges was destined to be a performer. The first time he took the stage was at the age of five, while on a family vacation. At the time, his parents thought he was playing video games, when suddenly, they heard the band announce that someone from the audience had requested to sing a song. Five-year old Cody took the stage and sang “Amarillo By Morning”, and the rest is history.
Cody Joe Hodges’ music has been described as “real country”, influenced by some of the country greats from the late 70’s, 80’s and 90's – George Strait, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Willie Nelson (just to name a few). With his thrilling, high-energy performance, it is rare that you will find someone that reaches across the aisle to both the old and new generations, but Cody Joe Hodges does it every time. With a voice that ranges from silky smooth to raspy seduction, Cody Joe’s sound is something out of the past.
Cody Joe Hodges started playing music at an early age, but it wasn’t until his senior year in high school that he became serious about his art. Cody Joe wrote his first song, “Daddy’s Dream”, his freshman year, while living in the dorms at Texas A&M University.
Not long after graduating from Texas A&M in 2006, the young talent spent a short stay in Nashville. Afterwards, deciding to “get away from music” and move back to Texas and join the Army.
While in the Army, (duty station, Fort Carson), he was playing music on a street corner in Colorado Springs with a homeless man, when he was discovered by an Army affiliate. He was then asked to audition for the group "Harmony in Motion," a vocal ensemble based out of Fort Carson, Colorado. After auditioning, they extended an offer to join them, and Cody Joe began traveling across America playing military events, sporting events and private events.
Upon discharge, his dad had a talk with him about a career in the power line business as a lineman. This sounded like something exciting and also a great opportunity to draw upon for songwriting, so he joined the energy field in 2010. At the same time, he started a band called “The Linemen”, and released his first album in 2012.
In the spring of 2013, Cody Joe decided to exit out of the power line business and focus energy on his music as a solo artist, along with whatever plans God had for him. So far it has paid off, being awarded the 2016 Male Rising Star by the CMA’s of Texas.
Cody Joe lives life on the road, constantly touring and trying to get his music heard. He currently resides in Nashville, where he spends time developing his craft, performing, writing songs and networking with fellow songwriters and musicians on Music Row. From humble beginnings, Cody Joe Hodges brings the drive and determination to attain national results.
I met with Cody Joe Hodges and his wife and songwriting partner, Jamie McKean in Waxahachie, Texas for a few photos and an interview.
Alan Mercer: Since you are both here, let me start by asking if you write the songs together?
Cody Joe Hodges: Most of them we do. I had a few albums out and a couple EP’s before I met Jamie.
Jamie McKean: Most of them on the last two albums we wrote together.
AM: When did the two of you meet?
CJH: We met at the end of 2012. We’ve been hanging out ever since. Eventually we got married in 2014. Ever since then, I feel my songwriting has improved, but anytime you work with somebody on a daily basis and have that connection, you are going to write some good stuff.
AM: Are you both music and lyrics?
JM: I’m more on lyrics and he’s on music, but we both can do a little bit of both.
AM: Jamie, had you been writing songs before working with Cody?
JM: No, I’m actually a published poet.
AM: Wow, no wonder you write good lyrics. I love your song “God, Family & Country.’
JM: We wrote that one with two other songwriters in Nashville.
CJH: Yes, Alex Maxwell, from Pennsylvania, and David Everett Johnson.
AM: Well, you all did a great job with hat song. Cody Joe, how long have you been professional?
CJH: Professional…I’m working on that. (Lots of Laughter)
AM: That’s the best answer I’ve ever gotten.
CJH: I left my full-time job as a power lineman for the city of Brenham in 2013. My dad was a power lineman for forty years.
AM: You got some skills. That is a hard job.
CJH: When I got out of the army, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I sat down and had a few drinks with my dad, and he talked me into doing the power line business. So, I did that for a few years and then I met Jamie and the rest is history.
AM: Was it scary to quit your secure job for a music career?
CJH: Yes, there are just so many things that you don’t know that you don’t know. I made a few stupid mistakes up until the last few years.
AM: I think it’s called being naïve.
CJH: It’s all the little small stuff from the way you run your business to the way you treat people. It takes time to learn all that.
AM: Had you always been writing and performing?
CJH: I wrote my first song in September 2001. I remember seeing the twin towers fall on TV when I was at A&M in Fowler Dorm…Room 132. (more laughter) I was very inspired by that, so I wrote a song. I had fiddled around with some lines and melodies before that, but that was actually the first time I sat down to write a song.
AM: What did you write about?
CJH: I didn’t know what to write about, so I wrote a song thanking my parents. It’s called ‘Daddy’s Dream.’ It’s about me growing up in the Brazos Bottom with a dad who loved to hunt and fish.
AM: I love that Brazos Bottom quality you bring to your music. It is really unique and allows you to stand apart and stand out.
CJH: Thanks.
AM: That’s the hardest thing to do.
JM: Absolutely.
AM: Your songs are so appealing.
CJH: Definitively something different. I’ve always been a little different.
AM: That’s a plus.
CJH: I believe that. I feel like I’m just now growing into my body.
AM: Of course, it takes a person to be 40 years old before they even begin to understand life.
CJH: And, what are we doing here? We are figuring out our priorities.
JM: It takes that time to feel comfortable in your own skin.
AM: Are you writing or recording now?
CJH: As for recording, I’m going to wait for my next album. The thing is you need so much money and it can feel like you’re pouring your money down a black hole if you don’t have a certain understanding of how everything works.
JM: If you can’t afford to promote it, it does no good to release anything.
CJH: I remember when I released my first album, that nobody knows about.
AM: It’s no longer available.
CJH: Yes, I took out a loan for $15,000.00 and paid it back with my college loans. I found out the hard way that I did not know what I was doing.
AM: An artist can definitely go through some hard knocks while learning the ropes.
CJH: What I’m trying to say is it’s been a long process of trying to figure out how everything works. I’m just so glad to have Jamie. It’s taken a lot to get to where we are right now. In Nashville they say it takes a few million dollars to break an artist. I don’t want to go out there and half-ass something.
AM: I think this shows how you are taking your career very seriously.
CJH: We’ve only got one chance as artists.
AM: I want to ask how you decided to cover “House of The Rising Sun?’ I am in love with your recording of that song. It is sublime. It really lets your voice soar.
JM: The reason he covered it is because it does showcase his voice more than any song that we’ve written. He does it live at his shows and everyone always loves it. We had requests for him to record it.
CJH: People have been asking me to record that song for many years now.
AM: It’s a natural for you.
CJH: It was one of the first songs I learned. I learned it form a dove hunting friend of my dad. Every time I sing that song, I go back to my childhood and I think about that guy. Literally in my mind I have these visions of myself as a little kid, while I’m up there on the stage performing the song. It’s cool to be able to time jump like that.
AM: Are you going to record anymore cover songs?
CJH: Yes, but I always have to figure out how to make it not like the original. To me, if you don’t take an old song and make it your own, what’s the point of recording something that somebody else did, exactly the way the original artist did it? (Laughter)
AM: I’m so glad you are working steadily in Nashville, but I hope you will always come back to Texas and perform.
CJH: Oh man! All my family and friends are here. My family goes back to the 1800’s here. I didn’t want to leave to begin with, but some of us have to go to Nashville.
AM: I keep hearing that Nashville has changed so much lately.
CJH: It has, but life changes. That’s all it is. You have to go there and figure out what God wants you to learn. God has us all up there for different reasons and I don’t know what we’re doing up there in Nashville, but I can tell you that we’re having fun and I’m not drinking too much and THAT is a good thing.
AM: That is good.
CJH: We didn’t write ‘One More Drink’ because we weren’t drinkers. (Laughter)
AM: I was just going to ask about ‘One More Drink.’ That must be a popular song to do at shows.
CJH: Oh yeah.
JM: That’s usually his show closer.
CJH: If you know Cody Joe music at all, you know ‘One More Drink.’
AM: It’s a great drinking song.
CJH: Not too long after I met Jamie, we were down in Mexico on the beach and she asked me if I had a drinking song. I had songs that had drinking in them. Then she said, “No, a drinking song that makes the crowd want to sing along.” I told her I didn’t think I’d written a song that anyone would want to sing along too. (Laughter)
AM: I love your Cabo, Mexico song!
JM: We wrote both those songs in Mexico.
CJH: When I listen to those recordings now, I don’t even feel like I’m the same guy anymore. Which is great because it shows progress.
AM: Also, you have lot of charisma Cody Joe.
CJH: I feel like my parents are that way. I feel like I picked up any charisma from my family members along the way. Over Christmas I counted over fifty family members and that’s only on my dad’s side. I have always had a lot of people to learn from. These are some of the best people I know, and they have a lot of charisma. I hope I got even a drop of what they got.
To learn more about Cody Joe Hodges visit his web site https://codyjoehodges.com/home