Cody Jinks: “F**k Nashville, We’ll Start Our Own Damn Club”

photo: Brad Coolidge

Warning: Language

Surging traditional country music artist Cody Jinks just released his latest record Lifers via Rounder Records, and is getting ready to launch his inaugural, personally-curated Loud & Heavy Fest in Ft. Worth come Saturday, August 18th. And if you wanted to know just how committed he is to doing things his own way, how inspired he is by the oldtimers and Outlaws that came before him and the camaraderie they showed towards each other, well he’s about to tell you.

As sort of a precursor to Loud and Heavy Fest, Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Colter Wall, and Ward Davis, along with Dallas Moore and Craig Gerdes all participated in the Tailgate N’ Tallboys music series at the Peoria Riverfront in Peoria, Illinois on July 21st. Also on hand was Paul Cauthen, who commonly tours with Cody Jinks and others in the cadre. Cody Jinks is usually a man of few words while on stage. He let’s his music do the talking. But after Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Ward Davis, and Paul Cauthen sang together during Cody’s set, the usually non-talkive Cody Jinks burst out,

“Ain’t this shit fun? See this is shit you used to see back in the 70’s when all those motherfuckers were out there singing and playing together, playing and singing and recording each other’s songs. We’re bringing that back! We said ‘Fuck Nashville, we’ll start our own goddamn club.'”

And that’s exactly what Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Sunny Sweeney, Nikki Lane, Colter Wall, Paul Cauthen, and the other participants in Loud and Heavy Fest are doing, with Cody Jinks acting as the spearhead. One thing Cody Jinks fans should be watching for is the debut sales figures for Lifers as the final numbers are tallied. Though Kenny Chesney is likely to beat out Cody, don’t be surprised to see an eye popping number of initial sales due to the grassroots support Cody Jinks enjoys.

And don’t get too torqued that Cody Jinks just took a flamethrower to an entire city. When he says “Nashville,” clearly Cody’s talking about the part that wants nothing to do with real country music. After all, his label Rounder Records is Nashville-based, as are many of the compadres he collaborates with. This is about the Music Row system that artists like Cody Jinks, Sturgill Simpson, Jason Isbell, Margo Price, and many others are rendering obsolete as they prove you can make music your own way, and still be successful.

 Video by Joseph Smith.

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